First African to Cross the Atlantic: The Unnamed Moor with Columbus

The first known person of African descent to reach the Americas was an unnamed Moor who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his first voyage in 1492.

This individual was part of Columbus’s crew during the historic crossing that initiated sustained European contact with the Caribbean. While later enslaved Africans arrived in far greater numbers, this unnamed Moor holds the distinction of being the first documented African in the post-Columbian New World.