Visiting North America did not undermine his desire to travel to Africa. However, after visiting various parts of the Caribbean and leaving New York for  
Canada, he was swindled out of $£ 300$ and left penniless by his employers. In this context, he was forced to relocate to Detroit based on the support and advice of one Reverend D. T. Johnston. In Detroit, Said became a teacher, and in 1863, he enlisted in the all-black 55th Massachusetts Regiment that fought in the Civil War, indicating his solidarity with those committed to ending slavery. It is clear that he falsified several dates after the early 1860s, to suppress his stint in the 55th Regiment, probably because of the danger of reprisals from the Ku Klux Klan. Thanks to Civil War records and newspaper stories, however, we know about his experiences in the United States during the Civil War and the period of Reconstruction that followed.  
After the Civil War, Said taught school in Charleston and then elsewhere in Georgia for two years before moving to the region of St. Stephens in Alabama, where he established his own school for black children. In his account, Said tells us that he embraced Swedenborgianism, apparently in Charleston, without revealing who introduced him to this fringe Christian sect of Swedish origin. In Alabama, Said also devoted much time to writing essays and may have started or even completed his autobiography. In 1882, Said was living in Brownsville, Tennessee, but he either died there or dropped out of sight that same year.  
Said's narrative is silent on his experiences in the Union Army and on many other issues, but it does reflect his African origins, his enslavement, and his endurance during the desert crossing. Also, his account focuses on his educational mission as well as his quest for promoting liberty and returning to Africa. Given its broad scope, we can see that the narrative is much more than a slave narrative. Said's life helps to elaborate on the contention that African-born slaves sometimes adapted to dramatic changes and new experiences.