African Identity and Slavery in the Americas

• Published in: Radical history review Vol. 1999; no. 75; pp. 111 - 120
• Main Author: Gomez, Michael A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Duke University Press 1999
• Subjects: Activism; Africa - ethnology; African Continental Ancestry Group - education; African Continental Ancestry Group - ethnology; African Continental Ancestry Group - history; African Continental Ancestry Group - legislation & jurisprudence; African Continental Ancestry Group - psychology; African Cultural Groups; Diaspora; Economics - history; Economics - legislation & jurisprudence; Ethnic Groups - education; Ethnic Groups - ethnology; Ethnic Groups - history; Ethnic Groups - legislation & jurisprudence; Ethnic Groups - psychology; Historiography; History; History of medicine; History, 17th Century; History, 18th Century; History, 19th Century; History, 20th Century; Humans; Narratives; North America; North America - ethnology; Politics; Race Relations - history; Race Relations - legislation & jurisprudence; Race Relations - psychology; Slavery; Social Change - history; Social Conditions - economics; Social Conditions - history; Social Conditions - legislation & jurisprudence; Social Conditions - statistics & numerical data; Social Identification; Social Problems - economics; Social Problems - ethnology; Social Problems - history; Social Problems - legislation & jurisprudence; Social Problems - psychology; South America - ethnology; South America; North America; Africa
• ISSN: 0163-6545; 1534-1453
• DOI: 10.1215/01636545-1999-75-111

A contribution to the dialogue about incorporating histories/cultures of the enslaved African population into North American historical narratives maintains that, although Latin American & Caribbean scholars were the first to address the importance of the background of African slaves, North American academics are increasingly basing their analyses of slaves on a better understanding of their original societies. Although these studies are still a minority, growth of the African Diaspora as an organized academic field offers scholars an opportunity to transcend territorially defined boundaries. Examples of African Diaspora scholarship are reviewed to demonstrate limitations/misrepresentations in the literature on North American slavery. It is shown that responses to enslavement were influenced by one's social/cultural provenance, but not to a degree that made behavior predictable. There is also evidence that slaveholders made decisions about things like labor assignments on the basis of perceptions of the slave's place of origin, & that Africans were often identified by their ethnicity, especially in the Caribbean & South America. J. Lindroth