Background
Boukman Dutty was a self-educated slave born on the island of Jamaica, his first names on the island mean "book man", his last name means "dirty". He was later sold by his British master to a French plantation owner after he attempted to teach other Jamaican slaves to read, who put him to work as a commandeur (slave driver) and, later, a coach driver. His French name came from his English nickname, "Book Man," which some scholars, despite his having been a Vodou houngan, have interpreted as meaning that he was Muslim since even in Africa a Muslim was referred to as a "man of the book": "It is likely that Boukman was a Jamaican Muslim who had a Quran, and that he got his nickname from this."
Read more about this topic: Dutty Boukman
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