African slaves in American culture
African slaves in the United States had various cultures and traditions that had an impact in the American culture. The African slaves merged with the Americans to become African Americans. It was common for the white masters to restrict the Africans from practicing their cultures, but the African slaves managed to merge with the Americans and incorporate their cultures, during this period. There were some African cultures that came to be dominant in American culture. An example is the use of drums to communicate amongst one another. This resulted to a creative and a dynamic culture that has had a reflective impact on the cultures of Americans and the globe. With time, the African cultures grew in America. The African slaves managed to expand their traditions in food, religion, art, music and literature. Some sociologists believe that Africans had lost their cultures in America and other believed that they had not lost their cultures in America. One of the most significant cultures of Africans that is practiced in the United States is in Mason-Dixon, in the south. The Africans desired to establish their own culture and traditions, and this made them develop their cultures discretely from the cultures of Americans. As a result, cultures of Africans have turned out to be a vital part of cultures of Americans, and yet it remains to be a different culture from those of Americans.
During the earliest times of slavery, the white masters were strict with the slaves because they intended to take control of them by taking their cultures from them. These white masters marginalized and isolated the African slaves. However, this made the African slaves to maintain and retain their cultures in the United States. Their white maters used politics to handle the slaves who were rebellious in Haiti, Brazil and the United States. Civil rights movements, slave rebellions and African cultures have managed to shape the cultures of African slaves and economic actions. African cultures are evident in a number of ways, which include music, language, economics, religion, dance, fashion and lifestyles. In America, the legislations that were created to deny Africans their rights to their cultures and traditions strengthen the traditions and cultures of African slaves. As a result, cultures of African slaves have had a transformative effect in American culture.
Slave owners hardly educated the slaves because they thought that the slaves would revolt against them or escape. Therefore, the African oral traditions were the ways of conserving culture, morals and history of African slaves. A number of these cultural components have been moved from one generation to another in storytelling. The folktales of Africans gave them inspiration to teach one another. African oral traditions were characterized by a number of forms. The preachers of African American origins tended to perform instead of speaking. The emotions of the speaker’s movement, volume and tone, would be characterized by action and climax during the sermon. During the sermon, there is usually a lot of dancing and singing and structured pause. Such techniques would always bring the audience to the stage for performance. African Americans would also use the spoken word to influence modern American cultures. Rap music is also an example of extended African culture amongst the Americans.
Music
The Western African tradition drummers of djembé managed to adapt their traditions into American cultures. The clothing and bags of the right man are usually printed with patterns of kente clothe. African music originates from African ethnic groups that include sub-Saharan, Sahelean and Western regions in Africa. African traditions that were cultivated during slavery promoted the application of music in teaching lessons, passing messages and history. During African slavery, Africans would merge European hymns with some African elements to build up spirituals. Several Africans would sing in the voice of lift ev’ry plus the national anthem of America.
The influence of blackface minstrel show in the 1800s influenced the Africans In the early twentieth century; a number of music forms with origins in the American society changed the popular music of America. During this period, there was the development of African films like King Vidor’s Hallelujah. There were also operas like Bess and Porgy. There was R&B, soul and Rock and roll. These genres turned out to be popular amongst the white audiences. There was also African American slang use of rhymes to critic their enemies. Hip-hop turned out to be a multicultural movement that was quite vital to a number of Africans. The movement of African Americans also initiated the development of funk and later hip-hop music forms like rap and crank. In the twenty first century, African American music became widely appreciated amongst the Americans.
Dance
The first African dance to get a prevalent popularity in the United States was the Cakewalk. African slaves had a lot of influence in the dances amongst the Americans. The African slaves considered dancing as part of their tradition when working and during exceptional occasions. A number of these traditions like ring shout and body language has survived as part of modern African Dance. In the eighteenth century, African dances started to appear in shows. These shows indicated caricatures of African Americans. African dances such as tap received prevalent popularity. This is because white choreographers would often hire African dancers like Bill Robinson. African American dance originates from the earlier forms of African dances. Groups like Alvin Ailey theatres have contributed to the development of African dance.
American dance has also been highly influenced by African dances which are mostly hip hop.
Religion
Africans were known to practice several religions, although Christianity was quite popular. There are also Muslims who comprise fourteen percent of Americans, and these Muslims are of African origin. Christian African Americans were classified as the black church. While Africans were enslaved by their white masters, they were stripped of their religions and eventually adopted Christianity as their religion. However, the slaves managed to adopt some of their African cultures in Christianity. Some of these practices were enthusiastic singing, African rhythms and shouts. African churches spread the word of God according to the Christians doctrines which stated that everyone was equal in the eyes of God.
There were also African Americans who were Muslims. Muslim was a popular religion in West Africa because of it was peacefully introduced during the trans-Saharan trade. Several African slaves managed to maintain their identity as Muslims, but their descendants did not manage to do so. Most of the African slaves were forced to convert to Christians. Most Muslims currently adopt their traditions. Apart from Christianity and Muslim, African slaves also followed other religions like Buddhism and Judaism.
References
Clark, K. A. (2005). Defining moments: African American commemoration & political culture in
the South, 1863-1913. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Fisch, A. A. (2000). American slaves in Victorian England: Abolitionist politics in popular
literature and culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gates, H. L. (2011). Life upon these shores: Looking at African American history, 1513-2008.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Williams, H. A. (2005). Self-taught: African American education in slavery and freedom. Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
