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Activities: Context Activities Stirring Things Up: Slaves and the Creation of African American Culture  Back to Context Activities
While it is important to understand the harshness and oppression that were inherent in slave life, it is equally important to appreciate the fact that African American slaves developed a vibrant life-affirming culture in the face of tremendous adversity. Because slaves came from many different regions of Africa--and thus brought with them a rich variety of cultural traditions--they were far from a homogeneous group. Bound together by shared labor, hardships, and joys in America, they formed what might be called a creole culture. "Creole" is a linguistic term for the phenomenon of two or more languages merging into one new language, but it can also usefully be applied to the phenomenon of two or more distinct cultures merging to form a new culture. Combining linguistic, musical, religious, and other cultural traditions from many regions of Africa with Native American, English, and other European traditions, slaves forged a dynamic culture that incorporated customs and practices from all of these places in innovative ways. The culture the slaves developed in turn influenced and transformed the cultural practices of their white masters. Slave culture was by no means homogeneous within the United States; it could vary as much as individual people do. Furthermore, slaves who lived in the low country of South Carolina might have little in common with urban slaves in New Orleans or slaves on a cotton plantation in Georgia. But everywhere, African American slaves dealt with adversity by forging communities that provided them with a sense of cohesion and pride. Slaves transmitted jokes and wisdom through a sophisticated tradition of folk tales related to the West African legacy of "trickster tales." Often centering on the stories of animals who are not physically strong or intimidating (such as rabbits, monkeys, or spiders), trickster tales portray these supposedly "weaker" animals consistently outwitting the stronger animals who try to oppress or control them. Such stories have an obvious significance to a people oppressed by slavery. Slaves also drew on their African inheritance of trickster tales to create "John Tales," the stories of a slave trickster who outwitted whites. Visitors to and memoirists of slave communities consistently celebrated the richness and beauty of the musical traditions the slaves created. Their famous spirituals, or Sorrow Songs, combined European Christian hymn traditions with sophisticated African rhythmic patterns and a "call and response" form in which a leader sings or chants a few lines and the group repeats or offers variations on the lines in response. The songs thus follow African traditions in allowing for improvisation and communal authorship. Slaves used them to transmit communal ideals and values, take their minds off their labor, covertly protest their situation, subtly mock their white masters, and secretly pass messages and information to one another. African American slaves also made music with instruments such as drums, horns, and fiddles (sometimes crafted out of rustic objects) to play lively dance tunes at parties or "balls" held in the slave quarters. Because physical movement and dance are an important part of African musical traditions, slaves frequently incorporated expressive dances into their renditions of songs. Black musicians usually provided the music at white assemblies and parties in the antebellum South, so their musical and dance traditions also had a significant impact on white culture. The slaves' development of dance styles and songs has had an enormous impact on the character of music and dance in the United States (and indeed in much of the rest of the world) to the present day. Some slaves gave up dancing when they "got religion" because white preachers insisted that such physical displays were sinful. But though they would forego dancing to maintain their piety, they created the "ring shout" as a replacement. Clapping and beating time, the slaves would sing religious songs and move around in a single file circle tapping their feet in the "shout step." Although the ring shout looked like dancing to many white observers, slaves insisted that it was not. They did not cross their feet when they performed it, and, by their definition, a dance involved crossing one's feet. The evolution of the religious ring shout is indicative of the way slaves adapted themselves to Christianity: they absorbed what was useful and meaningful to them, combined it with African sources, and created something new. Most African slaves brought from their African religions a belief in a Creator, or Supreme God. They were thus able to graft their traditional beliefs onto the Christian figure of Jehovah. Many came to interpret Christ, the saints, and Old Testament figures within the context of the African religious system of minor, or lesser, gods. White masters usually taught their slaves about western religion in an effort to instill in them a Christian doctrine of obedience and humility, but most slaves rejected this version of the Bible in favor of a more empowering Christian spirituality. Turning to black slave preachers who celebrated the more redemptive possibilities of Christianity, slaves identified with the stories of Moses and the Israelites triumphing over those who had enslaved them. They also focused on the concept of heaven and eternal paradise as a reward for what they had endured in this world. Combined with their Christianity, many slaves maintained a traditional belief in magic and the supernatural. "Conjurers," charms, and spells were an integral part of life in many slave communities. Because white masters did not always approve of African American adaptations of Christianity, slaves often held secret meetings where they could practice their religion free from white interference. Even today, black and white Baptists in the South often attend different churches and have very different worship practices. Incorporating rituals of singing, shouting, and movement, African American religion--like many of the other cultural practices the slaves developed--is an ecstatic, life-affirming experience. Questions
[1763] Timothy H. O'Sullivan, Five Generations of Smith's Plantation, Beaufort, S. Carolina (1862), courtesy of the Library of Congress [LC-B8171-152-A]. This photo by a northern photographer in a Union-occupied area illustrates how enslaved African Americans maintained families when they were able to do so. [2742] Anonymous, The Old Plantation (c. 1790-1800), courtesy of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center. This is an image of slaves dancing and playing music on the plantation, possibly in South Carolina. Slaves used dance and music as entertainment, while drawing on and combining African cultural influences. [3090] Harriet Powers, Pictorial quilt (c. 1895-98), courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Many slave and freed women used quilts to record their histories. Some quilts communicated messages; for example, quilts using the color black are believed to have indicated a safe house on the Underground Railroad. [4327] Anonymous, Slave Quarters on St. Georges Island, Florida (n.d.), courtesy of the New York Historical Society. Slaves photographed in front of cabins on the Gulf Coast. Slave quarters throughout the South were similar in size and shape, but these cabins were built of "tabby," an aggregate of shells, lime, and sand more common to the Caribbean region. [7131] Anonymous, Many Thousands Gone (c. 1861-65), courtesy of Henry Edward Krehbiel, Afro-American Folksongs: A Study in Racial and National Music (4th ed., 1914), Fisk University. Sorrow Songs often referred to current events through religious language. The lyrics of this song refer partly to the slaves who crossed Union lines, often joining the Union army during the Civil War. The lyrics simultaneously look to the afterlife. [7229] Orville Carrol, Green Hill Plantation, Virginia, Kitchen, Exterior View (1960), courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Publications Division [HABS, VA,16-LONI.V,1B-2]. Large plantations resembled villages or small towns, with many outbuildings. [7230] Orville Carrol, Green Hill Plantation, Virginia, Kitchen, Interior View (1960), courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Publications Division [HABS, VA, 16-LONI.V, 1B-3]. The kitchen on a large plantation provided cooked food for those living in the main house. Slaves usually had their own fireplaces for cooking the separate rations provided them, typically corn and pork. |
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