In the previous posts i have established that:
- most of the slave trade that passed through Cape Verde took place in the 1500’s/1600’s
- involved people from the Upper Guinea region
- with destinations in the Hispanic Americas
- only northern Brazil had significant Upper Guinean slave imports in the 1700’s/1800’s
- a separate Cape Verdean diaspora arrived in the Americas out of their free will, most of them living in the USA but many also residing in Argentina.
This brings me to my next question: to what degree do African Americans and Cape Verdeans show overlap in their African ethnic/regional origins?
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Leaving aside any geneflow resulting from intermarriage between Cape Verdeans and African Americans in the Post-Slavery period. Just focusing on the connections dating directly from the Trans Atlantic Trade and talking strictly shared ethnic origins from Upper Guinea.
First of all it is known that hardly any slaves were shipped from Cape Verde to the USA or to the Anglo Caribbean because Cape Verde had already stopped being a large scale slave exporter at the time the English colonies started to import slaves (late 1600’s) and it was officially forbidden to trade with the protestant foreigners. Still some Cape Verdean individuals did end up in the USA and also Antigua, Barbados and Jamaica as the English did maintain a contraband trade with Cape Verde throughout the 1700’s and late 1600’s, focussing mostly on salt, textiles and food supplies. But apparently whenever there was a severe drought (Cape Verde has a Sahelian climate) slaves were to be had for a bargain and sometimes even free persons were forced to sell themselves or got kidnapped. The numbers involved were neglible though in the greater scheme of things. Below chart taken from the slavevoyages database. It only shows what’s been documented so it could have been more but not drastically so.
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Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database (2010) (http://www.slavevoyages.org/)
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The English did however buy many slaves from the same broadly defined Upper Guinean area where Portuguese and Cape Verdean slavetraders had operated in previous centuries. It is often said that out of all English colonies or even all New World colonies the USA received most of these Upper Guinean slaves, proportionally speaking. Below chart is taken from the slavevoyages database. It shows almost equal shares of direct slave imports from Senegambia to the USA and the Spanish Mainland (mostly Cartagena/Colombia), so that statement might need revision. The USA does have a clear edge however when it comes to Sierra Leone and Windward Coast. Taken together direct Upper Guinean imports could be as high as 35% for African Americans! This chart doesn’t include any indirect slave imports via the West Indies though. So it should NOT be taken as anything absolute or definite, just indicative!
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Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database (2010) (http://www.slavevoyages.org/)
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Ideally you would want to have the same kind of breakdown for Cape Verde but this isn’t available because most slave voyages from Upper Guinea to Cape Verde simply weren’t documented also whatever was documented has only survived to a very small extent. While admirably covering the English, Dutch and French slave trade to a very large extent, the slavevoyages database is still far from complete when it comes to covering the early Iberian slave trade and especially when passing through Cape Verde! Also much of the illegal contraband and intercolonial slave trade has not been captured yet (for other disclaimers see this link to other charts taken from the slavevoyages database).
Now there’s obviously many caveats when trying to extrapolate the African origins of modernday populations from slave trade statistics so you can’t just assume a straightforward connection with this chart which is also likely to be incomplete as i already mentioned. But just for the sake of argument i will briefly try to outline the main areas of shared Upper Guinean ancestry between Cape Verdeans and African Americans according to my knowledge:
- the region called “Senegambia and offshore Atlantic” includes Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde itself; no doubt it represents the main potential for shared ancestral connections
- the region called “Sierra Leone” in fact also includes Guinea Conakry (Pongo & Nunez), it’s most likely more important for African Americans than for Cape Verdeans but there should be shared ancestry from these parts as well.
- the region called “Windward Coast” includes both Liberia and parts of Ivory Coast, it’s practically inexistent as a source of ancestral origins for Cape Verdeans but of some minor importance for African Americans.
Getting more specific it’s known from historical sources that English and Portuguese slave traders operated from different slaveports within Upper Guinea. Generally speaking most Upper Guinean slaves brought over to the USA arrived via Gambia and Sierra Leone/Guinea Conakry while for Cape Verde it was Guinea Bissau & Senegal and their respective hinterlands. Despite obvious overlap this might have resulted in a differentiated ethnic mix from the same wider area of Upper Guinea for Cape Verdeans and African Americans. My website cvraiz.com offers an overview of the most likely top 20 ethnic origins for Cape Verdeans. I’m comparing that list with what i happen to know of the ethnically specific Upper Guinean origins for African Americans. I will get into more detail in future posts.
Very generalizing and speculatingly i’m guessing:
- Within Senegambia the most ethnic overlap might have been for the Mandinga of Gambia/Guinea Bissau, the Wolof and Sereer of Senegal being less important for the African Americans than for Cape Verdeans, while ethnicities specific for the Guinea Bissau/Casamance area will be much more representative for Cape Verdeans and interior ethnicities from eastern Senegal/western Mali will be relatively more important for African Americans.
- Within Sierra Leone/Guinea Conakry, the most ethnic overlap might have been for the Temne from northern Sierra Leone, they were known as “Sape” by the Cape Verdeans/Portuguese in the 1500’s/1600’s. In the 1700’s the infamous English slave fort of Bunce island was also located in their territory. Otherwise African Americans probably have more varied origins from throughout this region, incl. the Mende from southern Sierra Leone, an area which was probably very marginal for Cape Verdeans. From Guinea Conakry it’s likely that African Americans again have more varied origins as well as more interior ones, the most overlap is probably for the Susu or Fula.
Tracing African Roots 
Very interesting article. I am African American and I think I have three Cape Verdean DNA matches. I just got one a couple of days ago.
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Thanks Ky! Many African Americans tend to receive Cape Verdean matches from what I have seen. I am actually preparing a new blog post about the DNA matches being reported for Cape Verdeans on Ancestry so keep an eye out for that.
Generally speaking when it comes to African American (AA) matches for Cape Verdeans (CV) and vice versa I tend to think there are several possible ancestral scenario’s (assuming it’s an IBD match). None of them to be ruled out in advance. A mutual European ancestor who left descendants in both Cape Verde and the US could still even be possible I guess. In this case there wouldn’t even be any direct Cape Verdean connection. Using a chromosome-browser to establish if the shared segment with your Cape Verdean match is either African or European would be ideal of course. But unfortunately not always possible.
Looking at the size of the shared segment also can be helpful. All things being the same you would expect larger amounts of shared DNA (>10 cM) to suggest a recent connection with Cape Verdean-Americans who started arriving in the US during the early 1800’s. They were the first Africans to voluntarily migrate to the Americas! They are primarily located in the Massachusetts, Rhode Island area but there’s also been an early presence in California. Despite relative endogamy they have often also intermarried with African Americans across the generations. If you have any family ties to those states that might possibly explain such CV-AA matches I suppose. And then it would be a direct Cape Verdean connection, but not due to slave trade.
Your MRCA (most recent common ancestor) could also have been from anywhere in the Upper Guinea region (Senegal-Sierra Leone). This person could have had one relative taken as captive to Cape Verde while another was taken across the Atlantic. In this scenario you don’t actually have Cape Verdean ancestry but you do share the same Upper Guinean ancestor with your Cape Verdean match.
As mentioned in this blog post relatively very few Cape Verdeans were taken as captives to the USA, only 69 according to the slave voyages database. This is just going by documented sources though. Most likely the actual number is somewhat bigger but not drastically so. And strictly speaking they might not even have been Cape Verdean born but just passing through as captives from the Upper Guinean mainland. This is a neglible number if you compare to the estimated almost 400.000 Africans to have disembarked in the US. Therefore I personally believe the odds of having a match by way of this scenario are the slimmest, but it’s still a possibility I suppose.
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Thank you for this article. I am African American and don’t have a good family history paper trail but I recently took two separate DNA tests that showed I had Cape Verdean and Iberian ancestry. I was confused because I thought there was zero chance of any Cape Verdeans being sent to the Americas during the slave-trade period but I guess I was wrong and that is likely how my ancestor got to America.
Sorry I meant to say above that it was likely it was due to their free will and not due to slavery that my Cape Verdean ancestor got to America I meant. Thanks again for this article.
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Hi Fonte,
I’m a DNA match with a pair of African-American sisters from South Carolina. We share 15 cm on Ancestry and we appear to be of similar age. We only match on Senegal and Mali: one sister has 10% and the other 12 % Senegal and they both have 12% Mali. I don’t show any shared matches with them on Ancestry but we are also on Gedmatch and we share DNA with another Cape Verdean. All three of us share a 9cm segment with the Cape Verdean match on Gedmatch on the same chromosome beginning at the same location. We also have triangulation between myself, the sisters, and the other Cape Verdean match.
The sister’s cousin, who I am not a match, manages their family tree which goes back to the sisters 2nd great-grandparents. Their family tree on Ancestry does not show anyone with a Cape Verdean surname. I sent a message to the cousin and asked if she knew of any distant Cape Verdean ancestry. She did not and also stated she cannot find any ancestors outside of South Carolina. She also stated that due to slavery she has so far unable to go further back than 1870.
Using the Chromosome painter on Ancestry, 23andme, and FamilyTreeDNA that segment of chromosome 3 shows West African ancestry on 23andme and FamilyTreeDna. On Ancestry.com the segment has Mali instead of Senegal. The other pair on chromosome 3 shows West African and North African ancestry on both 23andme and FamilyTreeDNA. Only Ancestry shows a small segment of Portuguese ancestry for me along with Senegal and North Africa.
Unless there is a Cape Verdean ancestor she is not aware of, do you think we may have a common African ancestor? Even though the sisters do not show any Iberian estimates on Ancestry.
Ed
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Hi Ed, those are very interesting findings! You’ve already established a lot by also looking into triangulation and the admixture of the shared DNA segment. Very impressive! This is something which I always recommend doing.
To give you a short answer: yes I do think it’s possible that you and your DNA matches all share the same mainland African ancestor. Most likely from Upper Guinea. This is what I always suggest as being one of the possible ancestral scenarios when Cape Verdeans match with African Americans (see also my comment from 27 Nov 2018).
But it’s tricky when you want to get more conclusive. I suppose this could be done when you find another DNA match on Gedmatch who shares the exact same DNA segment and happens to be either Senegalese, Gambian, Guinean or even Sierra Leonean. For that last option I did find it intriguing when you said “On Ancestry.com the segment has Mali instead of Senegal.”. Because so-called “Mali” is actually also often reported for people from Sierra Leone.
Another promising research avenue might exist if you and that other Cape Verdean match happen to find out on which exact family line you are related. Especially when this goes back to before the mid-1800’s I suppose the likelihood of a shared Upper Guinean ancestor will increase.
I have to say though that 15 cM is a considerable amount of shared DNA. And this might indicate rather recent shared ancestry (possibly to be traced back to the 1800’s) between you and the sisters from South Carolina. So another ancestral scenario (involving a shared CV migrant ancestor) cannot be ruled out yet. On the other hand I do also find it noteworthy that on Gedmatch you only found 1 additional CV match. Have these sisters found any other CV matches on Ancestry? I take it Ancestry is not showing any shared DNA matches between you and them?
Normally when African Americans have a single distant CV line from say the late 1800’s/early 1900’s they will still have dozens of CV matches, if not more. See also this comment of a guy from TN who discovered he had a distant CV ancestor.
For what it’s worth I myself also have atleast 20 African American matches who do not appear to have any CV migrant connection from the 1800’s/1900’s. And so I am assuming they may share an Upper Guinean ancestor with me. The way I establish this is by looking if they have any shared CV matches with me, or if they are part of the so-called “Portuguese Islander” community, also any pronounced levels of “Senegal” or Portugal” might be indicative. Also African Americans with recent ties to New England, FL or California will have greater odds of having distant CV migrant ancestry (even if they may not be aware). Such matches are actually much more frequent for me (probably hundreds if not over a thousand). But if all of this does not apply then i will indeed assume a scenario of a shared Upper Guinean ancestor. Which would be the case for the 20 or so matches I mentioned earlier.
These “strictly” African American matches for me are usually quite small. Shared DNA ranges from 7cM to 14 cM. Interestingly many of them have family origins from South Carolina. But really this is not so surprising because this state is known for having an elevated level of ancestral ties with Upper Guinea and also the Rice Coast. For example those 10/12% “Senegal scores for the sisters you are matching is above average when you look at the results of African Americans, nationwide.
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Hi Fonte,
The Cape Verdean match that I and the sisters share DNA is a distant match for me. I only share that one segment of 9 cm. Per Gedmatch; she uploaded her DNA from MyHeritage.com. I’m also on Heritage but she is not on my shared list.
Ancestry is not showing any shared DNA matches between me and the sisters but Ancestry does not list shared matches that are less than 20 cm. I plan to message their cousin to see if she can take a look at their shared matches for any Cape Verdean surnames. I will also ask her cousin if the sisters have any African matches as well. I also look to see if my African-American matches have Portuguese ancestry as well as pronounced levels of Senegal and Mali ancestry.
I have 37 African American matches with no shared matches unfortunately most do not have a large family tree that is public to determine if they have CV migrant connection in the last 150 years. They range from 6 cm to 17 cm also most have more than 10 % of Mali ancestry and all do not show any Portuguese ancestry. The DNA match of 17 cm has 25% Mali ancestry. I also have noticed if on African-American matches if they have Cape Verdean ancestry is even if it is a great-grandparent or a 2nd great-grandparent they would have Portuguese ancestry as well as Senegal and Mali ancestry and also a number of shared Cape Verdean matches with me.
Comparing the chromosome painter on Ancestry and 23andme. The segments listed as
Ghanaian, Liberian & Sierra Leonean on 23andme are on two of the same chromosomes but shorter in length than the segments listed as Mali on Ancestry. With Ancestry including the segment I mentioned that is listed as Senegambian & Guinean on 23andme but Senegal on Ancestry. I assume this is because of the different algorithm used by each company.
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Looks like your using very similar methods as I do. Please let me know if you get any further with this, I would love to know!
About comparing the chromosome painter on Ancestry and 23andme you probably already noticed that Ancestry is much less detailed than 23andme. This is because they are “smoothing” smaller DNA segments of a certain region into related/neighbouring regions. That’s why often the entire chromsome is simply depicted as being one or only two types of admixture. In most cases 23andme will be more accurate therefore.
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