Prince Abdul Rahman – Marcus Mitchell

Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori was a young prince raised in a life of affluence by his legendary father, Sori the Great, chief of the Kingdom of Futa Jallon in West Africa.  A general in his father’s army, Abdul Rahman became a prisoner of war and was sold into slavery at age 28.  From a life of power and privilege, he fell into exile and enslavement in a strange land, in Natchez, Mississippi, where his master referred to him derisively as “Prince”.  There he endured unimaginable indignities, yet was able to carve out a new life by working his way into an exceptional position, marrying a fellow slave, and eventually building a family with many children.  Thanks to several improbable twists of fate, he was granted his freedom and ultimately returned to Africa.  Through hard work, deep faith and unwavering determination, Abdul Rahman rescued his wife and several children from enslavement. Before he died, his royal status was acknowledged in the land that had held him in bondage. 

Thomas Foster – Bruce Holmes

Thomas Foster, a farmer recently arrived in the Spanish territory of Mississippi, purchased Abdul Rahman and one of his lieutenants for 930 pesos.  A diligent and hard-nosed businessman, Foster was ambitious and deeply religious. He owned Abdul Rahman for four decades. In that time, his relationship with the African changed many times, from purchaser to punisher to boss. After some years, Foster rewarded honest service with a leadership role on the plantation. Having benefited enormously from “Prince’s” knowledge of crops and men, Foster refused for years to sell him. Finally, under pressure from the federal government, he signed over his most valuable slave to the Mississippi journalist Andrew Marschalk on condition that Abdul Rahman not be allowed the privileges of a free man within the United States.  In the end, when Abdul Rahman succeeded in raising the funds to free some of his family, Foster refused to sell.  Thomas Foster died the same year as Abdul Rahman.  While Abdul Rahman received printed obituaries on the news of his death, Foster passed away without much notice. 

Isabella – Dawn Ursula 

Isabella was 25 years old at the time of her marriage to Prince Abdul Rahman. Whereas he was a Muslim, Isabella was Christian and attended church regularly in Washington, Mississippi.  Ultimately, the pair had five sons and four daughters.  In 1827, when Abdul Rahman was permitted to leave the plantation for Africa, he immediately raised the funds for Isabella to accompany him.  They returned to West Africa together, and she continued to live there once Abdul Rahman passed away.  Eventually, two of her children joined her and lived out their lives in West Africa. Descendants of those children returned to the United States in the 1990s. One, Artemus Gaye, appears in the film. He lives in Washington D.C.

Andrew Marschalk – John C. Bailey

Andrew Marschalk brought Natchez its first printing press and became the first newspaper publisher in the Mississippi Territory.  He had a nose for a good story and began writing and printing romanticized articles that eventually called national attention to Abdul Rahman’s plight.  Marsckalk had a colorful personality.  A friendly and  genuine person, he often spoke first before thinking. He helped Abdul Rahman compose a letter to Henry Clay, then Secretary of State, requesting the African royal’s emancipation.  Ultimately, the letter proved successful. The subsequent tour that Abdul Rahman made through the north as a free man raising funds to liberate his children was conceived and supported by Marshalk. Yet before it was done, Marshcalk turned on Abdul Rahman to further his own personal agenda with the presidential candidate Andrew Jackson and with Thomas Foster.

Dr. John Coates Cox – Wilson White

One-eyed Irishman Dr. John Coates Cox befriended the young Prince Abdul Rahman in Africa. Through a turn of events so astounding as to appear providential, a quarter century later Dr. Cox reunited with the Prince, and worked to secure his freedom.
As a young man Dr. Cox was a ship's surgeon on a voyage to the west coast of Africa. He went ashore, became separated from his companions, and arrived near death in Timbo. Abdul Rahman father, King Sori, saw to Dr. Cox's wounds and saved his life.
In Mississippi Dr. Cox was given the opportunity to attempt to repay his debt.

Secretary of State Henry Clay

In an effort to sustain diplomatic relations between Morocco and the United States, Secretary of State Henry Clay requested Abdul Rahman’s emancipation from slavery.  Morocco was the first nation to recognize the United States as a sovereign nation. Its geographical position at the mouth of the Mediterranean, and its sultan’s readiness to protect American trade there, made diplomatic relations extremely important. 
 

President John Quincy Adams

 When the story of Abdul Rahman’s history and current situation began to spread, President John Quincy Adams intervened. As a result, Abdul Rahman was allowed free passage (though still technically enslaved) to return to Africa.  When Abdul Rahman approached President Adams to ask for funds to free his children, Adams refused. For he had learned that the man was Western African, not Moroccan, and therefore of no diplomatic use to America.

 

David Walker – Theodore M. Snead

  David Walker was one of early America’s most respected and feared anti-slavery advocates.  He warmly welcomed Abdul Rahman to Boston’s African Masonic Lodge.  Walker’s fiery abolitionist articles, published in the first African American newspaper, the Freedman’s Journal, ignited deep-seeded fears in slaveholders throughout the South.  Walker gave an inspirational speech encouraging the Masons to donate funds to help free Abdul Rahman’s children.