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JOSEPH E. HOLLOWAY
The Origins of African-American Culture
The history of the New World is a story of cultural interaction, integration, and assimilation. The rediscovery of the New World by Columbus in 1492 opened the gate to world powers and prompted colonialists and private individuals to search for wealth. The fertile land attracted farmers, especially from Spain, Portugal. France, and England. The new immigrants needed cheap labor to mine precious metals and to work on plantations. Their desire led to the transatlantic slave trade, in which millions of Africans were brought to the New World to meet this new labor demand. The transatlantic slave trade established a permanent link between Africa and North America as Africans sold into ~~ery.Jr:~n.spli1~fed their .<:l}l!ur.~s 10 the New World. The la'rgesClorced migration in history, the.•slave trade biougfilaii·e~ti.I1l'H-ea-half-mf[liQn·AfI:i~ariS to'wlIatis now the .!1niJi~~:s.·ta~s qversome two hundred years. This total is thought to represent about 7 percent of the entire transatlantic slave trac'::, thollgh the c:xact figures are in dispute and the total volume of the slave t'ade illaV1cver ;~e known. If one considers those who perished in the slOc:.c2de5 2~'; 0n :r·~ cargo ships in estimating the volume of traffic to the New worId, tr.: totall:ldY well be over forty million. So great was this tTaffic that lhir'; of the people of v
Arrie'an descent lived outside of /bJrica.'" /es cc:·ne from d~.~s_e 1 I regions of Africa but particularly from thos,,, ; aiong the coast ;t. tiiiouSh West Africa to Central Africa (set map on r~age 2 ..' .. Scholars over the years, in their endeavo:s tc cef an .~tncan-American culture separate from European-America~ (ult":.,,,, jscov·.::ed a significant number of cultural and linguistic propert';:5 C' ;;.:"-, can or:gin and labeled them Africanisms. Until recently schoiars 'JS
The history of the New World is a story of cultural interaction, integration, and assimilation. The rediscovery of the New World by Columbus in 1492 opened the gate to world powers and prompted colonialists and private individuals to search for wealth. The fertile land attracted farmers, especially from Spain, Portugal, France, and England. The new immigrants needed cheap labor to mine precious metals and to work on plantations. Their desire led to the transatlantic slave trade, in which millions of Africans were brought to the New World to meet this new labor demand, The transatlantic slave trade established a permanent link between Africa and North America as AiE!~~ns s?,~~ !nt<:>, ,~~~~e.ryJ.r(ln.spl.3.n~~d their~lJI!ur~sJo the New World. The largesCr2~<:~d migration in history. the sJav.~_ trade biougniaii'e~tiIIiat~ nalf-miflign Afti~aris to wl).at ;;; now the ,!J.ni.!~sts,'tq~S Qyer some two hundred years. This total is thought to represent about 7 percent of the entire transatlantic slave trac'::, tholig'l the exact figures are in dispute and the total volume of the slave t ade ma V 1everx known. If one .. considers those who perished in the siOc>adc5 a~,: 0" 't,' cargo ships in estimating the volume of traffic to the New World, tr ',' total11ay well be over forty million. So great was this t;-affic that "'Jy : ;~S(' .; lhin: of the people of v African descent lived outside cf Africa,'" ,\~; ;G'~ 5 ,'cs c.,ne from diveZ'se regions of Africa but particulariy from ths:;\' ar(~s i ';:>U~i;-; ~ aiong thecoast y( thioll&h West Africa to Central Africa (set ma;;: 8D cage :.' ' ' Scholars over the years, in their endeavo,:s tc ee:' '<: an J. tncan-Amer:can culture separate from European-Americar cult":(c"iscoV( :.-ed a significant number of cultural and linguistic properi.·~s 0: A~~can m:gin and labeled ~. them Africanfsms. Until recently scholars :JSt>~. ll-: ....er::n 4(ricanisms syn onymously with West Africanism.:. implyir:[. 'J::2 ::;:c, 'lIt:..;,,' heritage of the majority of the North American ',;ave popt-o ;at;::; , ",",' West .~drican in origin .. and that this culture was homogeneous Tn:) e. ,'iY ar;_~ies against the assumption of West African cultural homogenei:y, L~tead L sees the culture as conglomerate and heterogeneous. Focusing on the example of S.1Uth Carr jG.2 ')0' " jirwing its overview to that state, this essay also sheds light OD the:hc" I~tical.:ontroversy that arose from scholars' attempts to identify the m;;;o;- .,Jricar. cultural groups
that contributed to the developm:.m of Afri: > • P .;, me:, 'lure, I will show thatalthough the.West Africans arrived in I'iorLl, f";;TIC lea in :.;reatei:' nU.IlJ.Q~i,s,
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2 AfRICANjSM~ IN AMERICAN CULTURE The Origins of African-American Culture 3
NORTH AMERICA Goree "'~\~ ~ ~i"" .9"'- Sudanlc ~... Susu "'- Hausa c;:. ~~Manda !.jano RI ~\,e( ~,,~ '?~!~ ver Cape Mount:?'Q Akan Fon c Kru 0", 0'/ l Coast -1/- Coas Slave Ril/ er (-1 Coast III .:-./~ -1-/- ~
~. the Bantu of Central Africa had the largest homogeneous culture among the iqwOited Afiicansand"ihe "sfiiiiigesnmpad' CHi tfiedeveI6pm.~.~J()(A~ coast of the present-day Republic of Ghana. Slave Coast designates what is American culture. I will also address the problem ofmuliiplidty in the origins currently Togo and Benin and a small coastal portion of Nigeria. Bight of of Africanisms in North America by identifying the contributing African Biafra refers roughly to the Niger Delta. cultural areas. CULTURAL AREAS GEOGRAPHIC AREAS Herskovits was the first scholar to identify the cultural zones of Africa.4 His The historical literature shows little agreement on regional and coastal names model is usefuL but his cultural regions are too large to apply to specific along the West African coast. Melville J. Hcrskovits used the term Guinea cultures?'thus the cultural areas from which the slaves came must be revised Coast to include the southern portions of the Gold Coast (Ghana), Dahomey into smaller ailtural c1uSterS:Manae.M~2-:,g:rY!!L.Akan, Suaanic, Niger (Republic of Benin), and the Bight of Benin (the Niger Delta).2 Philip Curtin CiossRrver;'-Nfger-m~1f(Cana 'BaniU'-'The Bantu cluster is further divided into noted that Guinea as a geographical designation was always an unstable B'akongo, 'Ovimbunclli-;-andliiba Lunda. The cultural map on this page shows concept, changing in usage with each century. Early in the sixteenth century these areas in relation to the percentage of Africans arriving in South Carolina it referred to the whole western coast of Africa from the Senegal River to the from each cultural cluster. Orange River. Later it included the coast from Cape Mount to the Bight of According to Herskovits the areas that furnish~J.he_.&~~~~f B~nin. Curtin concluded that during the eighteenth century Guinea roughly slaves were the ':~asrn-ortlie'Selleg~l,Ri~, ."~}ljI!~,~,~~~~r~j!~ng designated present-day Gambia, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau. 3 especially the southern portions of what are today known as Ghana and the 1/ For clarity I will follow Curtin's definition of Guinea, roughly designating Republic of Bentn), and the Niger Delta. Herskovits nci'iedtliat'AfrlcanSfrom r the area between the Senegal River and the Sherbro estuary, including the t~t§lne:~'c'o~ih§.~~I~Q.I.!~ibe!1!!....the IVQry Coast, the Bight of Benin, Canary and Cape Verde Islands, Guinea-Bissau, and present-day Gambia, tl:!.~., q"?l? CO~s,tL,~@,9.l!!~X,_~n.£J!1£.~~gast.Ql ggllS of Nigeria were mQst often Senegal, and Sierra Leone. The term Grain Coast refers to what is known today cited: in the historicalliterC!.ture of slavery. He identified these cultural zones as as Liberia. Windward Coast represents all of present-day Sierra Leone. Ivory the mostsigniflcant in the formation of the patterns of New World "Negro" Coast represents all of present-day Ivory Coast. Gold Coast identifies the coastal behavior.5 stretch from Assini in the west to the Volta River in the east, equivalent to the While historical documents are vague in terms of precise ethnic distribu -o~ '\. ;susu -.. ~~ ~ " 4l Menoe Mano River Hausa AFRICA G';. v~ . ~ ~\,,0\ """ ~f,~o Akan Fon Cape Mount Kru Co 0>"" -'11' Slave Riyar (-'1 Coast <9 <0 ~ ~ i;i>~ '1-'1' SOUTH /c IJ .§>~ ~ ~~ ~o AMERICA Cui"'.. CI...... lor t South Cerolln. (j t Mande 25'" Luba 2. ManO River 1'" The Guinea Coast 3, Akan 11'" 4, Sudanlc tl Cabmda\· °c Malamba 5. Niger CrOSs Rlye, ~. the Bantu of Central Africa had the largest homogeneous culture among the coast of the present-day Republic of Ghana. Slave Coast designates what is irrwQiteaAfrlcans 'an ,*" '".--/ 4 A"C'i,JU,NlSMS IN AMERICAN CULTCRE The Origins of African-American Culture 5 tion, they do give the .regional points of origin, designating cultural areas. It is TABLE 1. Africans Imported into likely that cuh"ual gmups living near the centers of trade rather than on the South Carolina, 1706-1724 peripheries fOlnd t~e:r way into the slave trade. We can assume that groups Hving within a radius "/vo hndred miles of the ports of departure made up Number Number the Africans tai~en W',ort:, Am-::rica. According to Herskovits the locale of the Year Imported Year Imported slave trade wa' the rc;tric:ed region of West Africa rather than the continent 1706 24 1716 67 as a whole. Rt'cem research indicates, however, that Africans arrived from 1707 22 1717 573 much of the A::lantic CoaST of Africa, from the Senegal River to the ports of 1708 53 1718 529 Angola, where buyc" ,c-"nec and became familiar with the diversity of 1709 107 1719 541 Africans living on the coast and in certain parts of the interior.6 1710 131 1720 601 1711 170. 1721 165 1712. 76 1722 323 THE SLAVE TRADE IN SOUTH CAROLINA 1713 159 1723 436 In 1670 a permanent sertlemer:t of African slaves arrived in South Carolina 1714 419 1724 604 1715 81 Total 5,081 from the English coJo;lY (If Barbados in the West Indies. Peter Wood con cludes that this CarLDean background contributed to the colony's initial Adapted with permisSion from Elizabeth distinctive mix·ure of African 2nd European elements.7 Donnan, Documents Illustrative ofthe History of the Slave Trade to America, 4 (Washington. The transa~)3mic slive;rade was in full-scale operation by the late 1600s, D.C.: Carnegie Institution. 1935), 255. Doci:iments"froni noo (01730 aiev'ague in Identifying African ethnicitY:but '- we do have dala on total importations. Between 1706 and 1724, 5,081 Afri cans arrived in colonial South Carolina (table I), and between 1721 and 1726, TABLE 2. Africans Imported into South Carolina, 3,632 were imported (table 2). Even though relatively few Africans were 1721-1726 imported during the early years of the colonial period, they outnumbered the Number white population. In just twenty years afterthe original settlement the African Period' Imported" ~opulation in the C'arolinas was equal to that of Europeans.,.13Y 1715AJ~J~,~l}s ~. outnumbered Europeans 10,500 to 6,250. By 1720 Africans had outnumbered May 30-September 29, 1721 104 Europeans lor more than a decade. 8 In 1724 thewhH~ population inc()Jonial September 29, Inl-September 29, 1722 215 South Carolina was estimated at 14,OOO,'the black populatfo'n'at'3i:ooo-.9 A September 29, 1722-September 29, 1723 527 September 29, 1723-September 29, 1724 602 S'Wissnewcomer, Samuel Dyssli, observed in 1737 that Carolina "looks more 'v September 29, 1724-September 29, 1725 433 like a negro country than like a country settled by white people:n0;t' September 29, 1725-September 29, 1726 1,751 ;. '"l" WEST AFRICANS Total 3,632 Between 1670 and 1700, Africans were imported to South Carolina pre Figures reported by Wrn. Hammerton, Nav. Officer, Port of y Charles Town; adapted with permission from Donnan, Docu _11/ 4()Il1inantly fro,m ','G.,u,,i,n,,ea.", The ma,jorit 0,f these uGUinea,',,'.A,·fricans,',w",ere ments. 4, 267. #¥ Wolofs and t. ... September 29, 1725-September 29, 1726 1,751 '1 "\,' ~ ' WEST AFRICANS Total 3,632 Between 1670 and 1700, Africans were imported to South. Carolina pre Figures reponed by Wm. Hanunenon, Nav. Officer, Pon of ~Il / rlorrunantly from "Guinea." The majority of these "Guinea" Africans.w~re Charles Town; adapted with pennission from Donnan, Docu ments, 4, 267. ~¥ wolofsimd oth:~!.M.(ln(jes, such as Bambaras, Fulani, and Susus. The WglQis. I tEe most numerous of the gro'ilps to arrive in the United in the African 'States stigated by Mauretanian marabouts. The disintegration of this one-time large I seventeenth century, were mostly house servants who had extensive and empire caused instability, resulting in prolonged warfare as the Cayor region / close contact with European-Americans. They.were, perhaps, the first Afri attempted to dominate other secessionist states. Each Wolof state tried to fill ! cans whose cultural elements and language were assimilated by and retained I the power vacuum. I I The long-term effect of this instability and continual j within the developing culture of America. They also had greater opportunitiss warfare was that large numbers ofWolofs were taken as prisoners ofwar, sold ~ for admixture L .~~;~?;:. ~;". .; .",.:...~" ,{l', 7 6 AFR!(ANISMS IN AMERICAN CULTURE The Origins of African-American Culture TABLE 3. Origin of Slaves Imponed TABLE 4. Slaves Imponed into South Carolina, by Origin and Time Period into South Carolina. 1733-1807 Number of Number of Percent of Coastal Region Cargoes Slaves (Est.) Percent Region of Origin Slaves Early Period 1733-44 West AfDca Senegambia 17 1,031 6.2 Senegambia 19.5 Sierra Leone 0 0 0 Sierra Leone 6.8 Windward Coast 0.5 34 0.2 Windward Coast 16.3 Gold Coast 5.5 Ll84 7.2 Gold C'-Iast 13.3 Bight of Benin 0 0 0 Bight of Benin 1.6 Bight of Biafra 2 609 3.7 Bight of Biafra 2.1 Angola 46 9,831 59.5 Total 59.6 Madagascar, Mozambique 0 0 0 Others (Africa, Guinea, and Unknown) 32 3,844 23.2 Central Africa 103 16,533 Angola 39.6 Total Mozambique-Madagascar 0.7 Middle Period 1749-87 Aoa,:-"ed w'ch permission from Donnan, Docu Senegambia 116 16,038 26.3 ments. 4. passim. Sierra Leone 27 4,210 6.9 Windward Coast 64 10,397 17.1 Gold Coast 55 8,604 14.1 Bight of Benin 6 1,394 2.3 Hnke are related ethnic groups that speak dialects of a single language and Bight of Biafra 3 396 0.6 share the same Mande culture. Malinke, however, are Muslim, the Bambara Angola 37 9,030 14.8 anti-Muslim. Collectively, these West Africans from Senegambia through the Madagascar, Mozambique 0 ,0 0 Bight of Benin and Biafra represented 60 percent of Africans imported into Others (Africa, Guinea, and Unknown) 75.5 10,875 17.8 South Carolina through the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (table Total 383.5 60,944 3). But their heterogeneous cultures placed them at a disadvantage in in fluencing African-American culture. Final Period 1804-7 Senegambia 8 506 1.7 CENTRAL AFRICANS Sierra Leone 9 1,383 4.8 17.6 As Creel points out, the Donnan and Treasury Report data based on docu Windward Coast 42.5 5,123 22.5 3,282 11.3 ments from the early period (UlJ::::1:4Uh()w th ethniC-and cultural group were being imported into South Carolina.', Peter Wood found documents showing that between 1735 and 1740,70 percent of After 1739, fewer Angolans were brought into the colony, for by then the all incoming Africans were Bantu from the Angolan region near the Congo southern planters were prejudiced against them. In the southern planters' River (table 6). Of II,562 Africans imported in that five-year period, 8,045 minds, the Angolan dominance contributed to the unrest of 1739, in which were from Angola. The next largest group listed (2,719) was from "elsewhere Angolans revolted, killing whites while en route to Florida. Documents in Africa." From Gambia only 705 Africans (6 percent of the total) were describing the Stano uprising mention that "amongst the Negroe Slaves there brought into South Carolina. probably to be trained as house servants. .\. -", I '..' '. .. \ i .1. ~ \ ,:II ", \' ,. · ..... rc.l'd«(W~ West Africa Sene gambia 17 1,031 6.2 Senegambia 19.5 Sierra Leone 0 0 0 Sierra Leone 6.8 Windward Coast 0.5 34 0.2 Windward Coast 16.3 Gold Coast 5.5 1,184 7.2 Gold C0ast 13.3 Bight of Benin 0 0 0 Bight of Benin 1.6 Bight of Biafra 2 609 3.7 Bight of Biafra 2.1 Angola 46 9.831 59.5 Total 59.6 Madagascar. Mozambique· 0 0 0 Others (Africa, Guinea. and unknown) 3,844 23.2 Central Africa 103 16,533 Angola 39.6 Total Mozambique-Madagascar 0.7 Middle Period 1749-87 Ada",cd w~,h permission from Donnan, Docu· Senegambia 116 16,038 26.3 menrs. 4. passim. Sierra Leone 27 4,210 6.9 Windward Coast 64 10,397 17.1 Gold Coast 55 8,604 14.1 Bight of Benin 6 1,394 2.3 linke are related ethnic groups that speak dialects of a single language and Bight of Biafra 3 396 0.6 share the same Mande culture. MaHnke, however, are Muslim, the Bambara Angola 37 9.030 14.8 anti-Muslim. Collectively, these West Africans from Senegambia through the Madagascar, Mozambique 0 0 0 Bight of Benin and Biafra represented 60 percent of Africans imported into Others (Africa, Guinea, and Unknown) 75,5 10,875 17.8 South Carolina through the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (table Total 383.5 60,944 3). But their heterogeneous cultures placed them at a disadvantage in in fluencing African-American culture. Final Period 1804--7 Senegambia 8 506 1.7 CEN~L AFRICANS Sierra Leone 9 1,383 4.8 As Creel points out, the Donnan and Treasury Report data based on docu Windward Coast 42.5 5,123 17.6 22.5 3,282 11.3 ments from the early period (I,Jn::::~HL shgw th(it 60 P~Ic~gl of the Africans"* Gold Coast Bight of Benin 0 0 entering3'YJD .C_~iI1a. ~('!.r~_JI.9)J..Lang91iil...tIl. 5;:e!l~r~ll.!:\:~rica; during the Bight of Biafra 2 909 3.13 mmare-period of the trade, 1749-87, the figure dropped to IS percent because ° Angola 55 15,305 52.7 of the Stono Rebellion; and in the final period, 1804-7, Bantu forced im Madagascar, Mozambique 2 473 1.6 migration rose to 53 percent (table 4). A summary of these data shows that Others (Africa, Guinea, and Unknown) 19.5 2,048 7.1 Angolans made up about 32 percent of the slaves brought into Charleston Total 160,5 29,029 (table 5). Other data indicate the percentClge actually was closer to 40. Toward tile .mid-1700s, then, more Angolans than any··otner-Afri.@D Adapted with pennission from "A Reconsideration of the Sources of the Slave Trade to elhrilc -and cultural group were being imported intoSotlth Carolina. Peter Charleston. S.C.." an unpublished essay by William S. Pollitzer. Wood found doc~ments showing that between 1735 and 1740,70 percent of After 1739, fewer Angolans were brought into the colony, for by then the all incoming Africans were Bantu from the Angolan region near the Congo southern planters were prejudiced against them. In the southern planters' River (table 6). Of I I ,562 Africans imported in that five-year period, 8,045 minds, the Angolan dominance contributed to the unrest of 1739, in which were from Angola. The next largest group listed (2,719) was from "elsewhere Angolans revolted, killing whites while en route to Florida. Documents in Africa." From Gambia only 705 Africans (6 percent of the total) were describing the Stono uprising mention that "amongst the Negroe Slaves there brought into South Carolina. probably to be trained as house servants. .\ ""t". -l ~,,' '. .' \ I J.. ~ . ' . \ i.' ~ ., ., ...... , (, I..{ t( w\Hf The Ori.qins of African·American Culture 9 8 AcRICANISMS IN AMERICAN CULTURE TABLE 7. Origin of Slaves Imported into South TA8LE 5. Summary of Slaves Imported into Charleston, S.c. Carolina, 1752-1808 Total Slaves Coastal Region (Estimated) Percent Number Origin of Slaves Senegambia 17,575 16.5 Direct from Africa 65,466 Sierra Leone 5.593 5.3 "Africa" 4,146 Windward Coast 15.554 14.6 Gambia to Sierra Leone 12,441 Go!e: Coast 13,070 12.3 Sierra Leone 3.906 Bigh! of Benin 1.394 1.3 Liberia and Ivory Coast Bighl of Biab 1.914 l.8 (Rice and Grain Coasts) 3,851 Angola 34.166 32.,1 "Guinea Coast" Madi:gascar. \1ozambiquc 473 0.4 (Gold Coast to Calabar) 18.240 Othe.~ (Africa. Guinea. and Unknown) 16.767 15.7 Angola 11,485 Tmal 106,506 Congo 10,924 Mozambique 243 Adap,.·ct W!t', :'eEl1!SSlOn from "A Reconsideration of the Sources of the East Africa 230 SIJve ·rrade to ·Charlcsto,) S.C." an unpublished essay by William S. Pol litzer. Via West Indies 2,303 Total 67,769 TABLE 6. Origin of African Slaves Arriving in Charlestown, Match 1735-March 1740 Adapted with pennission from Donnan, Documents, 4, 310. passim. From From From Elsewhere From West Year AnBola Gambia in Africa Indies. etc. Total accordance with the percentage of basic lexical items they contained. Among 1735-36 2,029 612 10 2,651 the twenty-eight languages, Tshi-Luba, or Luba Kasai, had 47 percent of the 1736-37 2.891 188 224 23 3,326 basic vocabulary, Luba-Katanga had 50 percent, and Bemba 54 percent. For 1737-38 827 228 7 1,062 1738-39 1.606 314 575 12 2,507 the Africans)n .~_0.E!h 9E91.!.n..?..rJhe~~!.~t.?.~~.~!:J!.~ess..1!l!B!J!!!g!U!rocess W1r 1739-40 692 203 1,080 41 2,016 tlieifielO.ing {-) ',,;,."-; 10 AFRlCANISMS IN AMERICAN CULTURE The Origins of African-American Culture 11 TABLE 8. Origin of African Cargoes in South Carolina, 1732-1774 TABLE 9. Origin of Slaves Imported into Virginia, 1710-1769 ------'------ Number Number Number Origl'! of Origin of Cargoes Origin of Slaves Gamhia 70 Whydah 4 Direct from Africa 45,088 Ang0Ja 55 Bance Island 3 "Africa" 20,567 Africa 40 Grain Coast 3 Gambia (including Senegal) and Goree) 3,652 Sierr:'. Leone 24 Bassa 1 "Guinea" (Gold Coast, Windward Coast) 6,777 Afrie" via West Indies 24 Benin Calabar and Bonny 9,224 Gold Coast 21 Cape Coast Angola 3,860 Wind Nard Coast 15 Congo Madagascar LOll Senegal 14 Gabon Coast Via West Indies 7,046 Guinea 8 Gambia River Via other North American ports 370 Cape Mount 7 Tortola Total 52,504 Rice oast 6 West Coast Anamabo 4 Adapted with permission from Donnan, Documents. 4, 175-244, passim. Total 306 Adapted with ;::.:rrnission [,om Donnan. Documents, 4, 276. THE AFRICAN HERITAGE IN AMERICA Jacques Maquet divided the cultural areas of black Africa into six civiliza THE SLAVE TRADE IN VIRGINIA tions-the civilizations of the bow, the clearings, the granaries, the spear, the cities, and industry. The ones that concern us here are the civilization of The picture is somewhat different in colonial Virginia. According to Hers the clearings, which includes the Guinea Coast, part of Sierra Leone, Liberia, kovits's tabulation of data from Elizabeth Donnan's Documents Illustrative of the IVOry Coast, the Bight of Biafra, and the Congo-Angola region, and the the History of the Slave Trade to America, Virginia imported some 52,000 slaves civilization ofthe cities, which encompasses the Guinea Coast, including parts between 17 IO and 1769, but the origin of some 20,000 was given only as of Senegambia and the Niger Delta, The people of the clearings were familiar "Africa" (table 9). This shows that Virginia had no strict selective policy or with the cultivation practices for rice, indigo, cotton, yams, maize, sorghum, strong preference for any particular African ethnic group. While Virginians okra, and sesame. The urban dwellers based their civilization on trade and showed some preference for Africans from the Senegambian coast and hinter commerce, and they had strong centralized political authorities. They were land, they lacked the prejudice the South Carolina planters had against Igbo also excellent cattlemen and agriculturalists, familiar with the cultivation of males and Africans from the Bight of Biafra, as indicated by the large numbers yams, maize, corn, okra, palm oil, and sorghum. The Ashanti and Daho of Igbos Virginia imported. It is quite possible that South Carolina's mer means in particular perfected art works in stone, bronze, and iron.~ chants sent their male Igbo cargo exclusively to Virginia because ofthe refusal of local planters to purchase Igbo men. The African slaves' cultural heritage was based on numerous West and Central Afrkaii"'cu'ttures brought "togeffier- collectively trom Senegambia These data indicate that many of the slaves coming into Virginia came (~ol'of;"Mai!(l~:n.go!-~~iillJike:-ffambara;Fulaiir,-paPeT,-tlmEa, Bola, and from the West Indies, where they had already undergone an initial process of Baianu:), the Sierra Leone coast (TemrieandlVt:ender·tneI:IDenan coast !'::!i, acculturation. By the time they settled in Virginia or North Carolina they had I\t De,"Go1a, Kisi, Bassa-;-and'Grebo) , and the siitvecoasi-(Yorub Adapted with ,,~rmjssion from Donnan. Documents, 4, 276, THE AFRICAN HERITAGE IN AMERICA Jacques Maquet divided the cultural areas of black Africa into six civiliza THE SLAVE TRADE IN VIRGINIA tions-the civilizations of the bow, the clearings, the granaries, the spear, the cities, and industry. The ones that concern us here are the civilization of The picture is somewhat different in colonial Virginia. According to Hers the clearings, which includes the Guinea Coast, part of Sierra Leone, Liberia, kovits's tabulation of data from Elizabeth Donnan's Documents Illustrative of the Ivory Coast, the Bight of Biafra, and the Congo-Angola region, and the the History of the Slave Trade to America, Virginia imported some 52,000 slaves civilization of the cities, which encompasses the Guinea Coast. including parts 6 between I7 10 and 17 9, but the origin of some 20,000 was given only as of Senegambia and the Niger Delta. The people of the clearings were familiar "Africa" (table 9). This shows that Virginia had no strict selective policy or with the cultivation practices for rice, indigo, cotton, yams, maize, sorghum, strong preference for any particular African ethnic group. While Virginians okra, and sesame. The urban dwellers based their civilization on trade and showed some preference for Africans from the Senegambian coast and hinter commerce, and they had strong centralized political authorities. They were land, they lacked the prejudice the South Carolina planters had against Igbo also excellent cattlemen and agriculturalists, familiar with the cultivation of males and Africans from the Bight of Biafra, as indicated by the large numbers yams, maize, com, okra, palm oil, and sorghum. The Ashanti and Daho of Igbos Virginia imported. It is quite possible that South Carolina's mer means in particular perfected art works in stone, bronze, and iron.+ chants sent their male Igbo cargo exclusively to Virginia because ofthe refusal The African slaves' cultural heritage was based on numerous West and of local planters to purchase Igbo men. Cenirai AfriCan-clIltures-ljrougfit-iogei:ller- collectively froin Senegambia These data indicate that many of the slaves coming into Virginia came (Wolof,HMaiiaingO;-MaHiike~"Bambara:Fiilatii;"'"l'apeT,-f.im6a, Bola, and from the West Indies, where they had already undergone an initial process of Balante),ili_c 'Sierra Leo~e -coast -(Teinrie. ajid Menae):--tlletiOerlan coast!'{.e.i, acculturation. By the time they settled in Virginia or North Carolina they had De,"Gola, Kisi,Bassa; and-C;'idm): -and the SlaveCoasT(yorul>a;Nupe, Benin, I~'~ '., undergone a second stage of acculturation, losing more and more of their Edo-Bine Niger Delta African heritage and culture with each stage of acculturation. D~homean[FonLEwe:-Ga,gop(), (iri~an!~LJ!.orriilie came Efik-Ibibio, Ijaw, Ibani, and IgboS(CiiIi5ars). From the Central African More recent data on slave importation into Virginia reveal, however, that Virginia imported a large number of Africans directly from Africa. A report cQi~.rC:ame Bako'ngo:-MalIm60,"Bam6o-.-~~~~~;)raic~mb~~~~~~~~, Lo~nga; Luango:-an~~QY1rJ.113,1Ii[4u..- . . to the Board of Trade showed that between June 1699 and October 1708, 60 AfHcan'culuiral patterns predominating in southern states clearly reflect 6, 7 Africans wet; brought in, only 679 by way of the West Indies (Bar the specific cultural groups imported. That is, the upper colonies tended to be bados). Between 1699 and 1775 Virginia imported 69,006 blacks, and Vir most heavily populated by West Africa:nsana:th.e.Jol'Y~.LfOlo.!1ies. by peo~e ginia was second only to South Carolina in the direct African importation tr~m Centra] 'Afiica-:-'The- upper colonies InCluded New York, New Jersey, of slaves. 14 a . AfKjCA1\;SM~ IN AM5RICAN CULTURE The Origins of African-American Culture 13 TABLE 10. North American Slaveholders' Occupational Preferences in The Yorubas!.~hs, and Payypaws were sold exclUSively to the Amer- {l African Slaves ~market ~<;2!:!s~.~hey vy~nsiAlabama, and Louisiana. list, imported primarily to be common field laborers. For still unknown An examination of contemporary sources makes it obvious that slave reasons, Igbo women were highly sought after. owners in America had specific preferences concerning the regional origin of The Mandes also worked as rowers, transporting crops and supplies as potential slaves (table !O). Guinea. Old Calabar, Bonny, Calabar, Whydah, they did in their traditional watercraft on the Senegal and Gambia Rivers. Pawpaw (Popo). and Nagoes were the names used in the historical literature These coastal Africans imported the art of netcasting, which became an to indicate the place of origin of slaves to be purchased for the American established tradition in the tidal shallows of Carolina. Men who could handle market. Whydah was the capital city of Dahomey. Pawpaw served as a nets were also able to make them; in 1737 a runaway named Moses was common name for Popo, a port city in Dahomey. Nagoes commonly stood for regarded as "well known in Charleston having been a Fisherman there for the western Yoruba, and Old Calabar and Calabar were names for the Igbo some time and has been often employed in Knitting of nets."I? region. The table shows that North Americans preferred Senegambians (Man Evidence supporting the fact that house servants were recruited from dingos, Fulani, Bambaras. and Malinkes) as house servants-butlers, maids, specific ethnic groups from West Africa is found in Myrtie Long Candler's nurses (nannies), chambermaids, and cooks. They wanted slaves from the reminiscences of life in Georgia. She tells us that her family's house servant West African region-Whydahs (Fons), Pawpaws (Fantes), Yorubas (Na Black Mammy was said to be "descended originally from the Guinea tribe."ls goes), and Coromantee (Asante-Fante)-to work as domestic servants and That Black Mammy was a house servant and came from Guinea was no artisans. These groups were also employed as carriage drivers, gardeners, accident. carpenters, barbers, stablemen, wheelwrights, wagoners, blacksmiths, saw A document showing a preference for Guinea Africans is a letter the yers, washers, and bricklayers!Ipe N?J1'h AInericansJ~poned-AfJ:icans.irom Reverend John Urmstone wrote on December 15, 1716, from North Carolina, tn~ Windward or Grain Coast (Mande and ManoRivergrotlps~bec~.s>f asking his correspondent to arrange for the purchase of Guinea Negroes, ihei'ifaniiliarity with the cultivation of rice. indigo, and tobacco. "three men of a middle stature about 20 years old and a Girl of about 16 '" ...... " ..... \.1'U5v \....'/ Cross River - , Dahomean (Fon), Fanti Akan to be submissive." These qualities and their "disposition to take floggings .. , Artisan Bambara, Me!inke Mande made them ideal slaves for the generality of masters./'lS Whydah, Pawpaw (Popo), Coromantee (Asante Akan The planters in North America were known to purchase slaves specifically Fa:lte) from these groups in West Africa to serve as house selVants and artisans. The Rice cultivator Temne, Sherbro, Mende, Kishee (Kisi), Papel, Mande Africans that were considered most suitable for the American market were Goree, Limba, Bola, Balante the Senegambians, particularly Fulani, who "had a strong Arabic (Muslim) Vai, Gola, Bassa, Grebo Mano River Field slave Calabar. Ebo (!gbo), Efik, Ibibio strain in their ancestry," Because they were believed to be of mixed heritage Niger Delta with an infusion of Arabic blood, they were considered the most intelligent Cabida, Bakongo, Malimbo, Bambo, Ndungo, Bantu Co:,go, Balirr:be, Badondo, Bambona, Luba, Africans and were to be trained especially for domestic service and as hand Loango, Luango, Umbundu, Ovimbundu, icraft workers. Phillips, quoting Edward Long, noted that "they are good Pernbe, Imbangala commanders over other Negroes, having a high spirit and tolerable share of fidelity: but they are unfit for hard work, their bodies are not robust nor their Data from U, B, Phillips, Anumcan Negro Slavery (New York: D, Appleton, 1940), 42; Phillips, Life and Labor in the Old South (Bos:on: Lmle, Brown, 1929), 190; and Daniel Littlefield, Rice and constitution vigorous." The Mandingos were considered gentle in manner but Slaves (Baton Ro;.. :c: Loub:ma State 0Cjiversity Press, 1981); Gilberto Freyre, The Masters and the prone to be thieves. Since they were believed to fatigue easily because of a Slaves: A Study in the DevelDpment of Brazilian Civilization (New York: Knopf, 1946), delicate physique they were employed in the distilleries and boiling houses and served as fire watchmen.!6 Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, and North West Africans selected to work in the fields generally came from Sene Carolina, The lower colonies included South Carolina, Georgia-eastern gambia and included the Goree, Serer, Fula, Balante, and Papel. Groups coastal areas that were a part of the original thirteen colonies-and northern preferred from the Sierra Leone region were the Mende and Temne. Africans Florida, The Deep South included the fertile delta region of Mississippi, from the Grain Coast chosen for agricultural labor were the Bassa, De, Gola, central Alabama, and Louisiana. and Grebo. In South Carolina the Igbos were at the bottom of the preference An examination of contemporary sources makes it obvious that slave list. imported primarily to be common field laborers. For still unknown owners in America had specific preferences concerning the regional origin of reasons, Igbo women were highly sought after. potential slaves (table 10), Guinea,,. Old Calabar. Bonny, Calabar, Whydah, The Mandes also worked as rowers, transporting crops and supplies as Pawpaw (Popo), and Nagoes were the names used in the historical literature they did in their traditional watercraft On the Senegal and Gambia Rivers. to indicate the place of origin of slaves to be purchased for the American These coastal Africans imported the art of netcasting, which became an market. Whydah was the capital city of Dahomey, Pawpaw served as a established tradition in the tidal shallows of Carolina. Men who could handle common name for Popo, a port city in Dahomey. Nagoes commonly stood for nets were also able to make them; in 1737 a runaway named Moses was the western Yoruba, and Old Calabar and Calabar were names for the Igbo regarded as "well known in Charleston having been a Fisherman there for region. The table shows that North Americans preferred Senegambians (Man some time and has been often employed in Knitting of nets.".7 dingos, Fulani, Bambaras, and Malinkes) as house servants-butlers, maids, Evidence supporting the fact that house selVants were recruited from nurses (nannies), chambermaids, and cooks. They wanted slaves from the specific ethnic groups from West Africa is found in Myrtie Long Candler's West African region-Whydahs (Fons), Pawpaws (Fantes), Yorubas (Na reminiscences of life in Georgia. She tells us that her family's house servant goes), and Coromantee (Asante-Fante)-to work as domestic servants and Black Mammy was said to be "descended Originally from the Guinea trlbe.".8 artisans. These groups were also employed as carriage drivers, gardeners, That Black Mammy was a house servant and came from Guinea was no accident. carpenters, barbers, stablemen, wheelwrights, wagoners, blackSmiths, saw yers, washers, and bricklayers.l'!'pe N~,IJJ).AInerka.ns)~ported..Afr:icans..from A document shOwing a preference for Guinea Africans is a letter the t.h~.Windward or Grairr Coast (Mande and Mano River groups)-bec~.J)f Reverend John Urmstone wrote on December 15,1716, from North Carolina, theirfarriiliarity with the cultivation of rice, indigo, and tobacco. asking his correspondent to arrange for the purchase of Guinea Negroes, "three men of a middle stature about 20 years old and a Girl of about 16 ;'>.~~ ""l~:}: 'I I .~.. 14 AFRICANISMS IN AMERICAN CULTURE The Origins of African-American Culture 15 years." He soon wrote again "insisting that he could not remain in North attempts at raising livestock in North America had followed their custom of Carolina without twc) fie!d workers and a domestic servant." 19 That Urmstone raising small herds confined to pastures. While settlers felt uneasy about open wanted Guinea Neg:z)es to work as house servants and field workers suggests grazing at first, numerous Africans coming into South Carolina had witnessed that Africans from L:;.e Guinea Coast were used both for field and domestic and understood the success of this practice from their African experience. work, particd,,::ly if; 1..1)e cultivation of rice after the I 740s. Peter Wood believes that from this early relation between cattle and Africans Igbos and AngOlans from Central Africa were selected primarily for the the word cowboy originated in the same way that a slave who worked in the field. Gilbert') noted 'li:':it "for the English colonies the criterion for the house became known as a houseboy.22 importation .jf slaveS from Africa was almost wholly an agricultural one. ~mRi9.nswere also employed as medicine men, blacksmiths, harness What was preferred was brute strength, animal energy, the Negro ... with makers, carpenters, and lumberjacks. They brought with them highly de- ~ / good powers of (ph? resistance." Technological skills were also impor veloped skills in metalworking, woodwork, leatherwork, pottery, and we3v- ~ tant, and plaNers were prima:ily concerned with how to apply such skills to hig. offierslaves ·U'otniii5Sf"Plantat!ons Were taught with systematic care to agricultural pursuits in America,2o Thus the majority of Angolans were used . excel in cabinet-making, iron crafts, blacksmithing, various domestic work as field slav,:, bec~>.se :hev were large and robust The whole plantation and tailoring," Edith Dabbs reported. "It is not uncommon for slaves to be system was field .;laves; they did the bulk of the work that made taught by an apprentice-type association with skilled African craftsmen."23 slavery efficit;v ZTL Ccc£lomical. Slave merchants took great care in their advertisements to inform poten The first :prefere!2Ce in South Carolina was for Africans from the Gambia tial buyers of the African region and geographic point of origin of the slaves region, the Wind', 10 AFR1CAN1SMS IN AMERICAN CULTURE The Origins of African-American Culture 17 cargo would be assigned to the field was directly attributed to their acquain tance with 'he cuItvation of rice, South Carolina's principal crop during the retentions among this group and traced many Americanisms back to Wolot: colonial pellOd, Otl1er ,lave advertisements mentioned other regions. ~' us u:.s!!!din~C1!~~~K, bOfl / b~ woo9ie, bU9, john, phJn~ .Y'fm:1!tY, ~ ,i ho1JE!:. "dig, fuZkJ.QtIJ.t...i.oJJzlo!.!!t h.lee!!l....aJ!fL!!Y:!mbo.iut,njzp.29 CONCLUSION Many other enslaved Africans were employed as field slaves. This occupa tion, in fact, was engaged in by the majority ofAfricans, su~es~ ~i1 it ':' Slave artisans and domestic servants, mainly West Africans, worked in close among.ttu;:,fklli slaves that milch of Afrigm-American cuThure and langua e PEOXimi~j(; Et:rop,;iI;-AIT1eriCiins'and ;~re-~c;!~e~, t?J~!y~JTf~~~(cuIUiral evolved. These field slaves were mainly Central Africans who, unlike the ide11!!tie~ to refleCt mascers' Control and capacirYJQ':<;:iY!liz~" tl~~Afri Il! S~nega~bians, brought a homogeneous culture identifiable as Bantu. The c~ns. Brso;Jg~~t~ field worAer5-:--:1argelyc:e!!t~~J Africa~s._.::v~re relatively i cultural homogeneity of the Bantu is indicated by a common language. '. r~~~~,frc'n.I}liS L,'omromLg, "civilizing" influence. G,ive,.n "th,e c,on,st,ra"ints Once the Bantu reached America they were able to retain much of their tk imposed on artisans and domestic servants by plantat~o!t owners, one ~ay f cultural identity. E.;Eorced isolation of these AIpcans by plantati,9n q~rs logicallicondiide r:"!2! :he cultures of ~he Congo-Angola region of Central . al!2!!~,JhS;m..t 18 AFRlCANISMS IN AMERICAN CULTURE 13· Malcolm Guthrie, The Bantu Languages of Western Equatorial Africa (London: MOLEFI KETE ASANTE Oxford UniYfrsity Pr~ss, ,953). 14· Waite Minch ;1'OL, CeJi~ King, and Peter Waite, eds., Virginia Slave-Trade Statistics 1698'1775 ;chr;,on::1 Virginia Slate Library. 1984). xv. IS· U. B. Pnillips, Life and Labor in the Old South (Boston: Little, Brown, 1929), 190. 16. U. B. Phillips, American Negro Slavery (New York: D. Appleton, 1940), 44, 17· Sir Harry H. JohnslOn, The Negro in the New World (London: Methuen, 19lO), 31. African Elements in 18. Mrs. Mynie Long Candler, "Reminiscences of Life in Georgia during the 1850S and 1860s," Georgia Historical Quarterly (June 1949), 33(2): IlO. 19· Elizabeth Donnan, Docurants Illustrative of the History ofthe Slave Trade to Amer African -American English ica. 4 (Wash~ngton, D.C. Carwcgie Institution, 1935). 235. 20. Gilbert) Freyr"'. Thf MCJ.st,rs and the Slaves: A Study in the Development of Brazilian Civilization (l'-,ew Yo;:<: K:;opf. '946), 298. 21. James Thoma< McCowa,., Creation of a Slave Society: Louisiana Plantations in the The almost total absence of visible African artifacts in African-American Eighteenth Ce!!lury (Ruchester, :.i.Y,: University of Rochester, 1971). 22. Wood. Black Majoriry, 30-31. culture led to the general belief that nothing African survived the tyranny of 23· Edith \1. Dab:;" Sea Island Diary; A History of St. Helena Island (Spartanburg, American slavery. I Prohibited by slaveholders from participating in tradition S.C.: Repr:r. j 985/ 50. al ceremonies and rituals, Africans in the United States for the most part did 24· Virginiu Gazette Novernber 5. 1736; April 21, 1738; August 17, 1739; December not develop complete, formal African art forms. The functions of African 8, 1768; Jamary 15, 1767; August 13, 1772. artists were in fact nearly meaningless in such an alien context. But while the 25· South Carolina Gazette, June 6, 177 I. 26. South Carolina Gazette, JuJy 23, 1785. visible artifacts of religious sculpture gradually disappeared, subtler linguistic 27· Intervi,=w by a'Jthor wiTt" David P. Gamble, December 5, 1985. D. J. Muffett, and communicative artifacts were sustained and embellished by the Africans' "Uncle Remus Was a Hausaman?" Southern Folklore Quarterly (1975). 39: 151-66. creativity when any more conspicuous elements of African cultures would 28. Terry Alford, Prince among Slaves: The True Story of an African Prince Sold into have produced even greater repression. This essay surveys some of these Slavery in the American South (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977). complex verbal behaviors, which constitute continuity and relationship be 29· David Dalby, "The African Element in Black English," in Thomas Kochman, tween West African languages and African-American English. ed., Rappin' and Slylin' Out (Urbana: University of llIinois Press, 1972), 17(}-86. THE QUESTION OF RELATIONSHIP Despite the preponderance of pidgin and later of creole among early Africans in America, little investigation into the structure, history, context, or possible relationships with West and Central African languages was ever undertaken. Considered a corruption of English or the babbling of children, the language used by African-Americans was dismissed as unworthy of investigation. Furthermore, the persistent and prevailing idea among early American schol ars as well as laypersons was, that Africans had no culture. Such a view successfully impeded a discussion of language relationships. Melville Herskovits, Janheinz Jahn, and other writers on the subject have been vigorously attacked, not so much for their methods as for the inferences to be drawn from their methods. They theorized on the basis of field research in African cultures, diasporan and continental, and challenged many in terpretations about the African connection. Along with W. E. B. Du Bois, Alain Locke, and Carter Woodson before them, they provided, in effect, novel interpretations of old substances. A considerable intellectual meanness had to be combated by the initial cadre of communicationists who examined the continuity of black language behaviors from Africa to America. The racist assumption that black pidgin reflected an innate inability of Africans to learn English was current at one time.2 In fact, as Herskovits pointed out, the linguists who studied pidgin 19