Assignment #4

            Author Jeffrey Bolster wrote Black Jacks depicting the struggle black sailors faced while gaining and maintaining their independence.  Bolster mentions a former slave by the name of Olaudah Equiano who wrote his own account found in The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.  Equiano describes his life as a slave of a naval officer having ”served years in the Royal Navy and knew about impressment firsthand” (Bolster, 31).  It becomes quite clear in both narratives of Equiano’s overwhelming hatred for the imprisonment he endured as an African slave.  The loyalty or lack thereof on behalf of the African slaves is greatly explored in Bolster’s recounting of Equiano’s tale within the book.  The overall essence that thrived from Equiano’s account was his desire to do something greater, be something better, and aspire to a greatness that seemed almost too much for one man. 
            Bolster’s exploration into the world of African slaves onboard ships is incredible, because it delves deep into the subject that mot many would consider whilst studying slavery.  However, it uncovers the truth of many oppressed on board these ships using the first-hand account of Equiano’s tale.  Onboard, “Blacks frequently filled special billets as cooks, officers’ servants, or musicians, reinforcing their distinction from the seam proper” (Bolster, 32).  It became clear to these African’s on ships that their experiences were causing the development of a new culture.  They lacked a home nation, rather lived on the high seas and began to develop an identity.  “Equiano’s autobiography makes this clear.  He declines to label himself as an ‘African’ in the early chapters, referring to himself instead as an Eboe or as a man from Benin” (Bolster, 38). 
            The identity of a Black Jack was considerably fitting for men like Equiano.  The seas provided an identity and consistently changing scenery as opposed to being enslaved on a plantation.  Equiano’s willingness to identify himself as an Eboe gives way to the idea that he would have rather been on the seas rather than in Dartmoor Prison.  A prison that would have most likely caused more suffering than a plantation owner ever could.  While it is never clearly stated that Equiano himself would have rather been on the seas, it is implied that it was the preferred style of living.  This understanding may hold true for any black sailor during or around Equiano’s life most likely because conditions of living were considerably greater onboard a ship rather than in a prison. 
            Equiano clearly did not have a sense of national identity, rather it appears he held himself to a higher standard.  A standard that is seemingly too great for any one nation to contain him.  Holding Equiano to the standards of any nation and enforcing laws on him appears to be below him within his own standards for himself.  By earning his freedom it can ultimately be considered that his independence was more important than his ties to a nation that could limit these freedoms. 

           

References

Bolster, W. J. (1997). Black jacks: African American seamen in the age of sail. Cambridge, MA:   Harvard University Press.

Assignment #3

           Afro-Latino Voices by McKnight and Garofalo expresses the first-hand accounts of African life in the New World specifically focusing on the challenges African’s faced regarding religion, society, community, and rights. The exploration of these experiences is important to anyone learning about the African Slave Trade because it depicts a connection to an old culture, the education of a new culture, and the overall evolvement of a new culture, new identity. Author W. Jeffrey Bolster illustrates a different view of the African Slave Trade, specifically the incorporation of Africans into the American sailing community in the book Black Jacks – African American Seamen in the Age of Sail. Bolster explores the world of various African immigrants’ similarities and differences in regards to their experiences on the high seas. Both books are detrimental in contributing to the overall understanding of the African Slave Trade within the New World.

            Bolster explores the concept of African Americanism, making a strong argument in regards to their American identity. The primary argument Bolster makes regarding African American sailors is that they are Americans first and Creoles second. These African American sailors were defined as citizens by federally issued Seaman’s Protection Certificates (Bolster, 5). This gave African American sailors an identity, an American identity that would also tie them tithe nation.  This primarily was the result of “a radical African American patriotism, demanding black inclusion in the United States” (Bolster, 7).  The significance of this desire caused a great impact on the role of African Americans on the high seas.  The result was a strong sense of nationalism and pride in the land they called home.  It is important to remember that Bolster also identifies them as Creoles, this comes second to their desire to conform rather than be separate.

           In contrast, to Bolster’s African American sailor descriptions, McKnight and Garofalo explore the concept of African Latinos who seemingly hold an opposing outlook in comparison to African Americans.  African Latinos had no desire to assimilate within their New World culture.  The overall assumption that is implied in Blackjacks is the desire for African Latinos to be self-sustaining.  African Latinos escaped their captors after they were in the New World and developed communities called palenques (McKnight & Garofolo, 1).  These communities largely sought a peaceful coexistence with their Spanish neighbors, however did not want to be controlled by them. 

            Overall, the difference between African Americans and African Latinos is quite significant because the goals they sought in regards to their relationship with the Europeans they shared land with.  I think it would important to consider both separately rather compared to one another.  African Americans were very much Americanized within the context of the nationalized identity and then Creole as a second hand nature.  African Latinos on the other hand are considerably different because they sought a self-sustaining lifestyle from their Spanish counterparts. 

References

Bolster, W. J. (1997). Black jacks: African American seamen in the age of sail. Cambridge, MA:   Harvard University Press.
McKnight, K.J., & Garofalo, L.J. (2009). Afro-Latino voices: Narratives from the early modern
Ibero- Atlantic world, 1550-1812.Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Thornton, J. (1998). Africa andAfricans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800. (2 ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Assignment #2

           History is consistently re-written to accommodate new information that is discovered and new evidence that is revealed, as such with each new discovery historians must work to interpret and incorporate it with previous knowledge.  This can be frustrating to many historians and it can cause the emergence of different theories regarding any topic of history.   John Thornton’s book Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800 displays a prime example of the basis of considering a historical occurrence when new evidence is introduced, especially when one takes into account the narratives found in Afro-Latino Voices by Kathryn McKnight and Leo Garofalo.  The study of the African Slave Trade, specifically evidence of African culture in the New World displays the blending of culture between old and new.  Thornton’s book provides basic evidentiary knowledge that is supplemented and strengthened by actual written narratives in Garofalo & McKnight’s book.

            The institution of slavery across the Atlantic developed a new culture that is unique to the New World as a combination of the old and new.   Thornton indicates that this new unique culture was the embodiment of religion, social settings, and language.  This is supported through multiple sources within Garofalo and McKnight.  For example, Thornton indicates in the New World “each organization was composed of slaves from one nation [which] meant that its ideology and iconography were linked to the specific ideology of that state” (Thornton, 220).  This theory is also established in the source “Rey de los Congos” where it is stated, “societies took names of different African nations from which they were embarked or where their ancestors originated” (McKnight & Garofalo, 156).  These societies were organized into three African communal groups which, according to McKnight and Garofalo, are reasonably well documented throughout history.

            Thornton also explores the area of religion carried from Africa.  There was a huge push for a conversion to Christianity for slaves that were brought to America.  Thornton indicates this was done partly to strip traditional African culture, however it resulted in a blending of the old and the new.  “The result was the emergence of a new Afro-Atlantic religion that was identified as Christian, especially in the New World, but was a type of Christianity that could satisfy both African and European understanding of religion” (Thornton, 235).  The Witchcraft Trials of Paula de Equiluz, a Black Woman, in Cartagena de Indias, 1620 – 1636, illustrates what occurred to the slaves who dared to challenge this seemingly forced conversion to Christianity.  Paula’s “alleged crimes fell into the categories of sorcery and witchcraft, which the Church condemned” (McKnight & Garofalo, 176).  The accusation of sorcery and witchcraft by Africans in the Atlantic world essentially forced Africans to choose Christianity or face punishment. 

            Thornton was also highly observant of African’s need for a sense of identity that remained closely tied to the homeland which would develop into its very own identity.  Thornton seemingly argues the traditional anthropological emphasis stating “obviously kinship played a role on those estates where families formed a creole generation developed, though its structure might be different from the structure in Africa” (Thornton, 218).  This idea is strengthened by the Last Will and Testament’s that were included in McKnight and Garofalo, specifically the Will of a black woman named Juana Barba who detailed specific amounts of her money to be distributed to a specific list of people.  This allotment seems normal, however her designations are to a specific set of peoples with whom she felt a sense of community with in the Atlantic World.

References

McKnight, K.J., & Garofalo, L.J. (2009). Afro-Latino voices: Narratives from the early modern Ibero- Atlantic world, 1550-1812. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

Thornton, J. (1998). Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800. (2 ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.