Short Essay Three

     In his book, Black Jacks; African American Seamen in the Age of Sail, Jeffery Bolster argues that black sailors were key to the creation of a black America. He claims that creole culture originated not in Africa or America, but “in the expanding commercial world linking the two” (Bolster, 9), for the men in this realm were central to “African Americans’ collective sense of self, economic survival, and freedom struggle” (Bolster, 2).  While the significance of African American sailors to their community cannot be denied, perhaps their role is overstated in Bolster’s thesis. Certainly, other demographics of the African American community contributed to the development of the creole culture. Additionally, the culture displayed by black jacks was not so unique; it was similar to the creole culture in other parts of the New World at its core.

     In major trading hubs of New England such as coastal Massachusetts only “25 percent of male slaves” were “experienced at shipboard work” (Bolster, 7). In other parts of America such as South Carolina, “mariners constituted about 9 percent of… skilled slaves in the eighteenth century” (Bolster, 21). These percents show a relatively small percent of African Americans working as sailors, and the number of black jacks would diminish leading into the Civil War as the nation passed various legislation that kept African Americans off boats. The men who were sailors were gone for long periods of time. With so few black men in the sailing profession, and the time away from home the few black sailors experienced, it would be difficult to spread the culture they would have developed at sea. Moreover, these men may have been exposed to more of the world and worked, at times, on par with white men, but these experiences would have been irrelevant for the majority of African Americans who lived in a very racist world and would almost never have the chance to be equals with a white man. It seems unlikely that such a small, and specifically tailored part of the African American community could dominate the development of culture.

     One of the examples Bolster uses to support his argument is the tale of the prisoners of the War of 1812 in prison Number Four. When prison Number Four became entirely black, the sailors elected one of their own as king. The process of election was an American custom fused with the African notion of king and the power/responsibilities that entails. Bolster looked at this event and said the black sailors were “[relying] on specifically African American political forms to govern Number Four” (Bolster, 109), accounting their actions to a nationality not felt by other blacks in the New World and a creole culture they pioneered. But there is no evidence presented that suggests this electoral process was derived by African seamen, as “Negro Election Days” or “Pinkster holidays” had taken place in some New England towns since the middle of the seventeen hundreds (Bolster, 108). Looking at their actions, we see that what they did actually lines up with Thornton’s description of creole culture for the whole of the New World as a give and take; infusing parts of African culture with a new climate. This story, like many of the other stories presented in this book, could just as easily been about Africans in any other part of the New World with a few minor changes.

     The economic and personal opportunities provided to black sailors distinguishes them among their community, but to say that black sailors forged the creole culture in America is a bold statement. Black sailors undoubtedly influenced the creole culture, but something as expansive as culture requires the input of many. Looking at the creole culture the sailors did display we see that it is not so different from the rest of the New World. At its core it is a culture based on adapting African customs to fit a new environment just like the other creole cultures. African American “Americanism” is not so different from other creole cultures. Bolster overstated the significance of African American sailors to the development of creole culture, for while they would have influenced its development, they were not the only ones to do so or were they necessarily the most influential.

Essay Two

     Thornton argued that Africa was strong and independent during the era of expansion into the Atlantic World. According to his research, Africa was had a strong enough economy, culture, and military to stand up to Europe. Any interaction with Europe was voluntary on the part of Africans. But do his views hold true for the whole of Africa? By looking at the letters of Queen Njinga Mbandi Ana de Sousa of Ndongo, available through the book Afro-Latino Voices, we see Thornton’s argument validated in some ways, but questioned in others.

     Looking at the relationship between Africa and Europe, as presented in Njinga’s letters, we do in fact see a strong Africa holding up against a European nation, Portugal. For thirty years, Njinga fought against the Portuguese to maintain her position as queen. The length of this struggle shows that neither side had too high of an advantage in areas of tactics, weaponry, and number of solders. Clearly, this African nation’s military was not backwards. When the fighting ended, Queen Njinga led efforts of diplomacy through frequent correspondence with Portugal. Although Portugal would influence Ndongo, they never dominated the country. Ndongo was independent and more than capable of conducting business with this European nation.

     Thornton argued that the slave market existed long before Europeans came to Africa, due to their method of measuring wealth by people, and that “Europeans simply tapped this existing market” (Thornton, 73). In Njinga’s letters, we see a strong political connection to slavery. She uses slaves to barter for the release of her sister. In giving slaves to the Portuguese, she says, “accept them as my offering to mollify Your Lordship” (McKnight & Garofalo, 51). The fact that Njinga uses slaves to barter reinforces Thornton’s argument that African wealth is measured in people.

     Njinga’s letters are evidence for the blending of the African and European cultures into a creole culture, mentioned by Thornton. Here we have a Queen of a free African nation who was baptized, interested in European adornments, and though she did not speak Portuguese, she had many people in her court who could and who had been exposed to European education. More importantly, as Njinga Europeanized herself her people followed, and “they, too, gave up their Imbangala ways” (McKnight & Garofalo, 39) for the Catholic lifestyle.  Clearly, Europe was a strong influence Ndongo’s culture, perhaps more than Thornton indicated. He had said, “the process of conversion … was really a process of exchanging and evaluating revelations” (Thornton, 255) and perhaps this is true, but in the case of Njinga it would appear that conversion was more total or thorough.

     Much of what Thornton said about African culture in the Atlantic World appears to be true according to the letters of Queen Njinga of Ndongo. The nation of Ndongo was not overpowered by a “superior” European military; they were evenly matched. Slavery, in this African nation, had existed long before contact with European. In fact, it was an integral part of the economy used for bartering in lieu of land. The key difference between Thornton’s recount of African culture versus what we whiteness in this primary source document is the degree to which Africans incorporated European traditions into their own. When the people of Ndongo accepted Catholicism, they totally gave up their Imbangala ways, which clashed with Catholic ways. There was less of a give and take than Thornton suggests. In the end, more of Thornton’s ideas were supported than contradicted, and looking at this source overall, we see Thornton’s notion of African verified.

Short Essay One

     In the past historians, looking at the role of Africans in the Atlantic world, often characterized them as a backwards people. Focus was placed on the European role in settling the Atlantic and in doing so Europe came across as all-powerful, coercing the weak, unknowing Africans into the slave trade and other unfavorable deals. Modern historians know this was not the case. African interaction with Europe was voluntary and they had enough military power and resources to not trade with Europe if they so desired. African culture was not backwards as historians and Europeans once thought. Their culture was distinctly different from that of Europe, but this did not inhibit Africans. Their culture was so strong that much of it would transfer over to the New World through the slave trade.

     The nations that composed Africa at this time were many and small due to a high ratio of land to people; “one could say with confidence that political fragmentation was the norm” (Thornton, 105). Estimates place over thirty nations in Africa, with at least “thirteen distinct African languages” (Thornton, 185), though each language had multiple dialects. With the beginning of interaction with Europeans, creole languages began to form for use in trade, such as fala de Guine, an Africanized Portuguese. At this same time, creole religion began to take shape across Africa based on the shared beliefs; that there was a spiritual world, after death spirits go there, the living learn of this spiritual world through revelations, and false revelations can be spread by “Satan” like figures. One of the key cultural misunderstandings in Africa’s role in the Atlantic was their participation in the slave trade. Africa did not sell people into this trade because of a severe economic need, they sold people because “slavery was rooted in deep-seated legal and institutional structures of African societies” (Thornton, 74). In African there was much more land than people and as a result, there was no concept of land ownership, they measured wealth in people. “Europeans simply tapped this existing market” (Thornton, 73) when they traded for slaves. The social role of slaves in Africa reflect their value in this culture as “slaves were often treated no differently from peasant cultivators” (Thornton, 87) and could enjoy a great amount of freedom when “employed as administrators, soldiers, and even royal advisers” (Thornton, 88).

     African culture was not destroyed during the Great Passage as once thought, though the culture did adapt in its relocation to the New World. When Africans came to the New World, they often were shipped in groupings from the same region, allowing Africans to be near others with similar cultural identities. This unity allowed Africans to “[bring] with them a cultural heritage in language, aesthetics, and philosophy that helped them to form the newly developing culture of the Atlantic world” (Thornton, 129). As they reached the various plantations and other places of work “some owners allowed slaves to build a community and encouraged family formation” (Thornton, 169) in belief that it would help morale and productivity. Slaves sometimes were able to find others who spoke their native language, whom they would then marry and form communities with, passing the culture from Africa down through their children. Others would marry outside of their nation as “one half of marriages involved culturally diverse partners” (Thornton, 212). Even in these circumstances, slaves were able to communicate and share their culture due to the creole language first developed in Africa. The children of slaves would learn the local creole language as their mother tongue and eventually with this blending of languages “Afro-Atlantic culture became more homogeneous than the diverse African cultures that composed it” (Thornton, 206). Creole religion would also unify African slaves throughout the New World. The religions across Africa already shared many concepts, and a creole religion had begun to form before the transfer to the New World in the Congo and other parts, but once they came to the New World “Christianity provid[ed] a sort of lingua franca that joined various national religious traditions” (Thornton, 268). Economics in the New World took place through bartering with Petit Marronnage, or work stoppages and temporarily running away. Slaves, especially those with unique skills, used the threat of Petit Marronnage to negotiate for better conditions and more freedom from their masters. Grand Marronnage, total escape, also took place usually by slaves fresh off the boat or warrior who still desired to be warriors. When they did manage to escape, they would form new communities with strict authoritarian rule and slavery.

     There are inevitable similarities between African culture in Africa and in the New World since the culture in Africa was the basis for the culture of the New World. The same cultural core concepts are found at the root of both societies, but at the same time “the African nations of the New World were not simply re-creating Africa; they were developing African concepts in the radically new political and cultural environments of the Americas” (Thornton, 326). The different environment, social standings, and influence from Europeans in the New World demanded change from the Africans. As a result, we see a more unified culture between Africans across the New World. This creole culture pushed their religion towards Christianity, blended their languages, and evolved their music, among other aesthetics.

     As we examine both the culture of Africans in Africa and those in the New World, we see two strong players in the Atlantic. Their cultures were influential on the development of this region of the world, yet both parts were under played for years. The culture of Africa allowed the slave trade to occur in the first place. The African culture of this era and its people were strong, holding their own with Europe. From one side of the Atlantic to the other it may have changed some, but the roots are the same and it shows.

Introduction

My name is Elizabeth Frumerie I am a junior at ASU and apart of the honors college. I am majoring in secondary education for history. I have taken courses in African American history, the history of Arizona, Modern South East Asia, Asian Civilizations, the Russian Empire, America as an Early Republic, and general American History (through AP courses in high school). I also have a slight knowledge of French history from a study abroad program to France through the honors college. I plan to teach history to 7th and 8th grade once I graduate from ASU.