9.19.11

Bibliographic Review Synopsis

African Identity Bibliographic Review

            I will conduct my bibliographic review on articles discussing the African identity in the Americas. I hope to look at identity as viewed by slaveholders and free whites as well as the identity of Africans as seen from their perspective, whether as a collective group or as sub-groups from the Africa that were creolized in the Americas.

            My first article is African Identity and Slavery in the Americas written by Michael A. Gomez. Gomez considers the lack of research conducted in respect to Africans during the slave trade and the misinterpretations of Africans as a homogenous group. In his writing he notes various nations of Africans that were brought to the Americas and their tendency to mimic tradition from the old world. Gomez discusses stereotypes of various African ethnicities and focuses on the point that Africans were not simply Africans, but heterogeneous nations of people with differences in beliefs, customs, religion and physical build and concludes that better research must be conducted to explore the identity of Africans in the Americas.

            The second piece I will look at is Black Laughter: Foundations of Irony in the Earliest Jamaican Literature by Barbara Lalla. This piece examines Creole blacks in 18^th century Jamaica and their impact and role in literature. It discusses songs and tales created by slaves that were generally funny and witty, but had strong painful undertones and discusses literature that stereotypes blacks in Jamaica as buffoons. I chose this article because I think the complexities of ironic literature can tell quite a bit about a specific group and because the article fails to recognize various African identities, focusing on Creole blacks. I think that is a good element to discuss contrasting views of identity with other articles.

My third article Socially Not So Dead! Slave Identities in Bourbon Nueva Grenada, by Renée Soulodre-La France, discusses the personal identity of slaves in Nueva Grenada. This article examines the heterogeneous roots of African slaves and individual identities. The article outlines numerous cases where slaves used colonial legislation in an attempt to attain freedom, procure a better quality of live in servitude and fight for their humanity. This article focuses more on the individual identities of various people and speaks of how identity was manifested in the slaves’ attempts to fight their oppressors.

For my fourth article I am reading The African Diaspora: Revisionist Interpretations of Ethnicity, Culture and Religion under Slavery by Paul E. Lovejoy. This article examines the idea that categorizing or understanding the identity of slaves is dependant on future research of African history and African identities in Africa. He argues that slaves maintained their culture in America, not as a survival technique, but because they still adhered to their home cultures and still felt a part of those cultures. Lovejoy examines religious cultures and the affect religion had on slave actions in the Americas and tells that “creolization” only happened after the Atlantic trade was ceased. His article stresses the importance of ignoring Eurocentric ideas in respect to slave identity and further examination of African culture before slavery to understand the various African identities of slave communities and individuals.

My last article, Mistaken Identities? Olaudah Equiano, Domingos Álvares, and the Methodological Challenges of Studying the African Diaspora by James H. Sweet looks at individual identification of slaves and the impact that their identification has on the study of African culture in the Americas. This article notes changing identities of various slaves, claiming one nation or ethnicity and changing their claims dependant on various situations, as a tool to make the strain of life in the Americas easier. The article touches on misinterpretations and erroneous correlations between nations and ethnicities of Africa, by Europeans, and explores the self-identity of slaves and why their self-identity may be vastly different than European interpretations.

With these five pieces of writing I intend to explore the identity of self among African slaves in the Americas, the identity of “nations” or transplanted and surviving cultures as well as the role of the European outlook towards African identity and the process of creolization.

Citation

           France, Renée Soulodre-La. "Socially Not So Dead! Slave Identities in Bourbon Nueva Grenada." Colonial Latin American Review 10.1 (2001): 87-103. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Apr. 2011

 
 

Gomez, Michael. "African Identity and Slavery in the Americas." Radical History Review 75 (1999): 111-120. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Apr. 2011.

 

Lalla, Barbara. "Black Laughter." Journal of Black Studies 20.14 (1990): 414-426. EBSCO Host. Web. 22 May 2011.

         Lovejoy, Paul . "The African Diaspora: Revisionist Interpretations of Ethnicity, Culture and Religion under Slavery." Studies in the World History of Slavery, Abolition and Emancipation 2.1 (1997): none. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Apr. 2011.


 

Sweet, James. "Mistaken Identities? Olaudah Equiano, Domingos Álvares, and the Methodological Challenges of Studying the African Diaspora." American Historical Review 114.2 (2009): 279-306. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Apr. 2011.

Short Essay #5

Short Essay #5

            A concept evolved over time, freedom is an idea embedded into every individual and its working definition varies dependant on one’s experiences and desires for their own liberation.  “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Or, Gustavus Vassa, the African” is just that, interesting. Equiano’s account of his own life is interesting on the premise that he unintentionally lived an extraordinary life, seemingly unbeknownst to himself, and that his working concept of freedom constantly evolved in an attempt to liberate his body and soul from the shackles by which they were bound.

            The evolution of Equiano’s concept of freedom began in his boyhood where he was opportunistic enough to be born to a Chief of his nation in Guinea. Equiano spoke of slavery in his homeland and generally good treatment towards slaves, with one great differentiation being the prohibition of slaves dining with freemen. Interestingly enough wives and children were not to dine with husbands either, implying that in Equiano’s homeland freedom was partially afforded to all and restriction of liberties imposed on most. Upon the kidnapping of Equiano and his sister he began his journey to find himself as a man and to develop a new sense of what his personal freedom was to become.

            In Equiano’s early travels as a slave he is impressed with the notion that attaining education in Christianity and trade would deliver him from his shackles and he sought knowledge to no avail. Despite loyalty to his master Equiano was sold to his master Robert King of Montserrat. It is then that Equiano witness intolerable cruelties imposed upon black men and women of the West Indies, despite, himself, serving under a gentile and honest master. Being a seafaring slave Equiano’s view of freedom developed into a concept that one should attain freedom through honesty and not deception. It was this concept that prevented Equiano from flight and eventually his toils as a merchant afforded him the sterling necessary to purchase his physical freedom.

            Despite purchasing his physical freedom and possessing a manumission of freedom Equiano was not freed as his concept seemingly changed once again. Still trading with his former master, whom he still referred to as master, Equiano was not unbound from the injustices and inequalities imposed upon blacks in the West Indies. Many times Equiano was swindled in trade and was offered no legal recourse; as well he was nearly kidnapped on various occasions. It was not until Equiano eventually found the salvation of Jesus Christ until he truly became free. In his travels Equiano’s view of freedom transformed from physical enfranchisement to spiritual salvation and finding Jesus Christ allowed Equiano to not fear death and damnation, but to live his life knowing that his freedom would be delivered upon death. Ironically Equiano’s view of freedom had come full circle, though with different motivations. As a boy in early disenfranchisement Equiano hoped for death as seemingly a better alternative to the desperate conditions of slavery. As a spiritually enlightened man Equiano embraced death as his final journey to the kingdom of God, leading him to spread the word of Christianity to his African brethren as a vehicle to ensure their true freedom.

            Understanding Equiano’s travels to be unique it is adequate to say that his concept of freedom was similar to other Africans in the eighteenth century, yet also dissimilar. Equiano was afforded much freedom in comparison to many of his brethren. As embodied in Jeffrey Bolster’s thesis, an African on the seas had much more freedom of trade and movement than his peers on the plantation. To many slaves Equiano would probably have been considered extremely fortunate for his opportunities to travel and trade up to the point of purchasing freedom. Despite this main difference freedom through salvation is a constant in all cultures and religions, implying that Equiano’s final concept of his freedom could be shared with other Africans as well as Europeans.

            Equiano’s interesting and notable life paints many pictures of people and is a proof that not one group can be understood to act or think along a linear plane. Equiano experienced Europeans and Christians that welcomed him into their lives, churches and homes and taught him anything he wished to learn but he also encountered swindlers and rouges. In his travels Equiano was fortunate enough to serve under generous, honest and fair masters but also encountered evil and ruthless masters and kidnappers. These accounts surely imply that the relationship between Africans and Europeans was not an easily defined interaction, but complex and dependent on individualized scenarios. Through his travels Equiano gained, lost and again regained faith in man, himself and in God. His constant struggle with his own convictions and the heterogeneity of the morals of others shaped Equiano’s concept of justice and freedom into one embedded in salvation of the soul, not liberation of the body.

             

            

Essay 4

Short Essay 4

The peculiarities surrounding the application of the Freedom Principal in 18^th century France beg the question of the true nature of individuals and society in their attempts to liberate slaves that found themselves on the French mainland. Sue Peabody’s “There Are No Slaves in France: The Political Culture of Race and Slavery in the Ancien Régime” outline various judicial cases and legislation in place throughout the century regarding the nature of slavery in mainland France, as well as cites individual cases of the courts and the struggle for a definite answer among magistrates and legislatures. The writing serves as a fine documentary of key incidents regarding slavery in the 18^th century, but leaves one to formulate their own postulation towards the nature of the actions of individuals in this era.

Outlined by two very important pieces of legislation which were never put into place,  Edict of October 1716 and Declaration of December 15, 1738, all slaves in France must be in country for the purpose of religious education or to learn a trade.  (Peabody, 1996) Were any slaves in country for other reasons, popularly as servants to their masters, they were to be manumitted from slavery upon filing for their freedom with the courts. The early sentiment towards the nature of slavery in France coinciding with France’s acceptance of colonial slavery for economic gain leave the impression that the existence of slavery within the borders of France was only acceptable under the circumstance that a slave was becoming a more refined individual through religious endeavors or by honing their professional skills. Were a slave in France, either unregistered or not involved in proper educational endeavors, they were to be freed from their bonds. The mentality behind this doctrine leaves a strong impression that France understood the economical importance of colonial slavery and was unwilling to depart from the practice, but would not allow bondage in their homeland unless it was for the betterment of the individual and society. One can derive that the French sentiment towards slavery at home was from the stance of humanitarianism and progression of the French culture.

Individually there were three reasons for one to represent a slave in the courts. Generally speaking one would represent a slave for personal economic gain and payment, for practice and experience in the courts or from a humanitarian perspective. (Peabody, 1996) In many cases more than one mode was at play. This simple situation is an indicator of the general feeling towards slaves in France from my interpretation. While some represented slaves pro-bono and strictly under the Freedom Principal, others did so because it posed the opportunity for lavish and continual reward in payment.

France itself suffered from similar complexities and the occurrences of the late 18^th century highlight the duality in the nature of France. Registration of slaves evolved into registration for Negroes and mulattos. (Peabody, 1996) Poncet de la Grave lobbied for decades to have interracial marriage and child bearing become illegal, and eventually in 1782 saw his wish granted. Racial purity overshadowed freedom as freed slaves were commanded to leave France, slave owners were demanded to transport their property to the colonies and slaves in passage with their owner were forced into prisons while their owner conducted business. It is here that the motivation of those behind freedom for all can be questioned. Was freedom granted or fought for to create a society of equality or was it fought for to rid France of economic ties with Blacks and rid their country of a multiethnic population?

The duality of arguments against slavery in France shifted focus from the oppression of slavery to oppressing the black population. As with the motives of those who represented slaves for their freedom, there seemed to be not one, but a complex web of motives and reasons involved in the handling of slavery in France during the 18^th century. Some involved surely took action based upon their humanitarian ideals of the Freedom Principal while others perhaps masked their goal of financial gain behind a veil of those principals. France as a nation seemed less interested in any humanitarian method of thinking and acted in ways to ensure economic growth abroad while keeping the home front civil.

 “There Are No Slaves in France” excellently outlined the duality of the nature of man and posed the question of “Why?” Why did some staunchly oppose slavery, while others staunchly opposed blacks in France? It is my conjecture that the nature of France and those individuals that took part in the issue of Slavery in the 18^th century acted for personal reasons. Rarely does one act purely on the premise of an abstract, although their actions may embody the principals of that abstract. France acted in a way to keep the economy overseas strong and to maintain balance at home. Individuals acted in various ways dependant on their personal ethics. Although bound in overarching abstract ideals, this text indicates to me that actions taken in most cases were done so for the personal gain, or societal gain deemed best, of the individual.  

PSE

Primary Source Exercise:

Slave Transport and Middle Passage

Source 1:

 http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/slavetrade.htm

Source 2:

 http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/slaveship.htm

Source 3: http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/scripts/sia/gallery.cgi?collection=slavetrade

Christopher Bennett

HST 300: 10749

Primary Source Exercise

        “Slave Trade: the African Connection” reveals the role in African slave traders in the European slave Market. The article outlines slaves being captured in inner Africa as war prizes or as kidnap victims and brought to Western Africa as property to be sold. This article tells of the canoe conditions where slaves were forced to lie partially submerged in water during their journey to Bonny. As well it outlines that slaves seen unfit for purchase by captains would be disposed of by murder in many cases.

       Source two tells of the undesirable quarters on a slave ship through middle passage. Slaves were put in cargo holds with no room to move, and often times shackled tightly to the floor. Rev. Robert Walsh tells of a stench and filth in the slave hold and of the decrepit state of life of the slaves. He mentions that many slaves were branded and often thrown overboard for illness. Walsh tells of the excitement in the slaves to simply breathe fresh air and to drink a sip of fresh water.

       The picture is of a woman being branded following her purchase in Africa by her new owners. The caption states that owners would use red-hot iron to brand their slaves on the neck or back.

       The account of the slave trade and passage in Africa was a gruesome event in the new slaves. The slaves were treated with no dignity or humanity as they traveled to Western Africa. They faced horrid conditions in African canoes and if rejected by European captains would lose their lives. This experience relates to the middle passage and the second source in the way that lives of slaves got worse on a trans-Atlantic ship. Quartered in unbearable proximity to peers, malnourished, treated poorly by captains and disposed of at first sign of ill-health further carry out the lack of humanity with which the slaves were treated.

       The second source speaks of slaves in the middle passage being branded with hot iron to show ownership. As shown in the photograph of the woman being branded, one can see the lack of remorse in the eyes of the two white men. They even look as though they derive some pleasure in their actions. Walsh was appalled by the brandings of the slaves he encountered; it is obvious to see why when looking at the picture. There are no more vulnerable physical positions than on one’s knees with an enemy at your back and having complete control over you. The aspect of branding coupled with the close quartering and beatings on the middle passage are again, indicative of inhumane conditions and a vision of slaves as no more than that of oxen.

       Similarly, the first article and the photograph embody the maltreatment and value placed on a slave’s life. While the white slave trader would brand and beat his property without remorse, the African owner who initially kidnapped or won the slave in war showed no mercy or humanity to people of their own ethnicity. As the article states that a slave not accepted by a captain could often be beheaded on the spot, we can see that their owners placed no value upon the life of the slaves, whether African or European.

        One can liken the mentality towards a slave to the current mentality towards beef cattle without much difficulty under the premise that they are closely quartered, barely kept alive and disposed of when their potential for use is gone. These three sources do well to outline the horrid treatment from capture through Atlantic crossing that African slaves experienced by their captors.

           

            

Short Essay #3

            In examining the writings of Thornton and Garofalo the question in mind was the importance of African cultural influence on Africans in the Americas. Thornton argued slave trading to be a voluntary endeavor for African societies, both before and during European involvement and that African culture survived in the Americas through religious “witchery”, runaway slave societies and freedom to create attire in African style. Similarly, Garofalo argued that African culture survived the middle passage and was embedded into the Creole culture of black America. Considering the case of Paula de Eguiluz in “Afro-Latino Voices” one can see that despite American, Christian influences, the tribal worship practices from Africa were apparent in the Americas. Both authors made a strong case for strong African influence and survival of African culture in the Americanization and creation of Creole culture among Africans in the Americas.

            Contrasting those ideas is Jeffrey Bolster’s thesis that African Americans saw themselves as African-Americans as opposed to Africans, and that their patriotism to their home in America inhibited sowing the roots of a “black American” culture through seafaring labor in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. An underlying topic of Bolster’s writing is that African-American influence in sea trade was not a new concept to Africans, but derived from the maritime African culture which existed long before any European or American influence.

            Having endured hardships of the middle passage and slavery, African-Americans saw life in a different light than whites. The life of a mariner was not an exemption to this idea, as white sailors deemed their employment as slavery and degrading work. Contrarily, life on a sea vessel was an opportunity for a black freeman or a slave sailor, whether a seaman or a “boy” in the crew. Marine life afforded African-Americans the opportunity to involve in petty trade, collect some amounts of wealth and experience limited freedoms in which plantation slaves did not enjoy. (Bolster, 1997) Despite these limited freedoms and opportunities most African-American mariners never became wealthy, or even financially secure, but the opportunity to provide income for one’s family gave a sense of dignity and worth, as well as a sense of traditional manliness, to mariners of African descent.

            Setting apart African-Americans as explained by Bolster and Africans in the Americas outlined by Garofalo and Thornton is their intent in actions.  Both Thornton and Garofalo outlined runaway slaves in similar fashion. Runaway slaves took flight in bargaining attempts, or in attempts to join runaway societies of other Africans, as well as native societies sympathetic to Africans according to Garofalo and Thornton. What separates the African-American in this regard is that runaway slaves generally had the intent of returning to their home. Men that took flight to the seas or Haiti in search of freedom did so to better their lives, potentially buy their freedom and the freedom of their family, and to return back to America. Many African-Americans that found sanctuary in revolutionary Haiti accepted Haitian citizenship, but kept their American “passport” with full intent to return home at some point. (Bolster, 1997)

            The function of the African-American was to be included in American society, to secure necessities of life for their families on American soil and to better their quality of life in America. Sailing allowed for this to happen, and for black culture in America to take root. African-American sailors, and prisoners during the war of 1812, had influence on their white counterparts. Black sailors, while filling traditional cook and servant roles in many cases, found it possible to advance rank in some cases and receive compensation similar to that of their white peers. The ship broke down race lines in favor or rank lines on many occasions and forged bonds between white and black sailors. This fact in itself is indicative of an African-American culture that differs from African culture in the Americas as presented by the two former authors. Africans in America sought emancipation and return to Africa, or sovereign ruling in their own homogenous community, while African-Americans sought inclusion, though not assimilation, into America. (Bolster, 1997)

            Jailing of black sailors in southern port towns, re-sale into slavery and low employment rates during times of scare made the life of an African-American sailor one of hardship, but being on the waterways allowed for the spread of black ideals between northern abolitionists and southern slaves. The port and wharf towns in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were the hubs of international news and propaganda, and the spread of the African-American ideals was made possible by black sailors and traders which resulted in many regulations. One of which, being mandatory imprisonment of black sailors while in port. Hardship was a way of life for African-Americans though, and the sea trade allowed for the “African-American community” to be born and grow through its infancy.

            African-Americans, as outlined in “Black Jacks”, were American men of color, both free and enslaved, that took to the seas as a means of opportunity for financial gain and freedom. They took to the sea as a means of gaining respect and dignity in their communities and families, and in doing so planted the seeds for the rise of an African-American culture, dedicated to their nation as well as to their color, with a desire to become accepted and respected as equal American citizens, not to break away from their American colors, as other Africans desired to divide themselves from European culture altogether. 

Short Essay #2

Short Essay #2

            John Thornton asserts the basic idea, through numerous examples raging from religious beliefs to dress, that the culture of African life was not lost during the middle passage and that assimilation into European culture was supplemented by African influences and rituals, which allowed for a level of personal control over slaves and slave communities. In “Afro-Latino Voices” an interesting look, using documentation from the time period of the Atlantic Slave Trade, is presented to the reader. In certain aspects the latter contradicts the former, but generally speaking and in this consideration they complement each other in thesis quite in the idea that African influence on their newly adopted European culture was apparent.

             In investigating what is potentially the most important establishment in humanity, religion, we can draw similarities to the findings of Thornton and McKnight-Garofalo. The original religion of Africans relied not on sacred text but on personal interaction through revelations from their deity, differing immensely from their European counterparts. Despite this difference both parties believed in “this world” and “other world” as the concept of the earthly and spiritual realms of existence. (Thornton, 236) What came to be in the Americas was a form of Christianity practiced by Africans that appeased Europeans generally, but incorporated their beliefs in personal revelations and dream interpreting.

            Integration of practices from both religions and the cultural tension it can create is well documented in the trials of Paula de Eguiluz, Equiluz, a black slave and baptized Catholic, stood trial for witchcraft in 1624 under the pretense of using spells, murdering an infant and being in association with the devil, (McKnight-Garofalo, 175) a not uncommon accusation made against Africans in the new world. “From 1610 to 1660, more than four hundred people were tried by the Inquisition…Sixteen percent of the accused, punished and imprisoned were classified as blacks…” (Mcknight-Garofalo, 176) lending to the idea that African traditions of using charms, consulting with the spirits and dream interpretation had maintained through assimilation. The case of Paula de Eguiluz highlights this as a circumstance of traditions maintaining across generational lines, as Eguiluz Caribbean born.

            The foundation of African religion was based upon revelations that took form by numerous modes of manifestation. Augury and divination, dream interpretation, visions, and relics were all methods by which an African could receive a message from the other world. (Thornton 239) These practices opposed the beliefs of traditional Christians, but were integrated into the African Christianity that would develop in the Americas, resulting in cases such as Paula de Eguiluz’ standing trial for witchery. Of the accusations against Eguiluz initially confessed to being a believer in her dreams and creating a remedy from the bones of a corpse in an attempt to heal her ailed master, (McKnight, 179). Of the other charges she faced most notable include using spells and believing superstitions, sucking the life from a newborn child and creating a pact with the devil.

            In response to her accusations Eguiluz claimed her actions in the case of the death of the child were of good intent and in an attempt to help the sick child, that she never used spells and that those who were jealous of her lifestyle created the accusations. (McKnight, 187-189) Although she did confess to making a pact with the Devil in a moment of despair, fearing injury in a confrontation with her master. (McKnight, 191)

            The impact of this specific case is not that an individual woman was tried for witchcraft, but the implication that a person with a strong, self-declared devotion to the Virgin Mary and the Catholic church actively practiced herbal healing, spell-casting and dream interpreting, among other anti-Catholic spiritual activities, activities that are parallel with traditional African religious practices and that after reconciling with the church and taking punishment Eguiluz fell back into practicing on numerous occasions. From an unbiased perspective of religion one can observe this instance and decipher that loose Christian knowledge and African religious practices coexisted in the lives of the African in the new world. The fact that Eguiluz practiced tribal spirituality with the intent to fulfill her obligations to her Catholic lord and that those practices of Africa were imbed in her despite being a second generation slave in the new world indicate that the African tradition survived middle passage and incorporated itself into the Creole lifestyle of American born blacks.

            As stated by Thornton and validated by McKnight and Garafalo through the story of Paula de Equiluz, African tradition survived and maintained in the Americas and found its way into the multi-generational assimilation of blacks into the European lifestyle. Dream interpreting, spell casting, charms and relics all stemming from the tribal spirituality and superstition of Africans in Africa supplemented the holy texts of Catholicism and provided African people in the new world with a form of Christianity that suited their heritage and lineage.