Baquaqua's narrative was finally published on 21 August 1854, at which time he was a 30 -year-old man with a spectacular background living in Chatham, Canada West, a town populated by a large black population (Krueger, 1997; Lara, 1989; Austin 1997). As the editor of the book, Samuel Moore, explained on the cover and in the preface and compiler notes, he had written down and revised '[Baquaqua's] own words' (Baquaqua, 1854, title page).  
His biography was partly an abolitionist tract denouncing the evils of the slave trade and the experience of slavery, but also an advertisement for his desire to return to Africa as a Christian missionary, concluding with an explicit appeal for funds for that purpose in the final sentence: ' $[s]$ hould a call be given him to return once more to the land of his birth, he will cheerfully respond, and is sure friends will not be wanting to aid him in his benevolent purpose' (Baquaqua 1854, p. 65; Law and Lovejoy 2007, p. 192). Both those aspects should be considered when analysing the biography. The pamphlet was written with specific objectives beyond that of recounting episodes from the life of a formerly enslaved person and served to finance a journey to Africa as a Christian missionary with a practical knowledge of Arabic and other languages.