Africans in Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth-Century

by Gwendolyn Midlo Hall

Book Overview

Although a number of important studies of American slavery have explored the formation of slave cultures in the English colonies, no book until now has undertaken a comprehensive assessment of the development of the distinctive Afro-Creole culture of colonial Louisiana. This culture, based upon a separate language community with its own folkloric, musical, religious, and historical traditions, was created by slaves brought directly from Africa...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807119997
• ISBN13: 9780807119990
• Release Date: July 1995
• Publisher: LSU Press
• Length: 456 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Creoles Are Who?!

This book has been on my book list for a while. I finally purchased it. I thought my money would not be wasted. I wasn't disappointed. The folks who call themselves creoles who are they really? Ms. Hall answers this question quite nicely. The foundation of LA culture and society owe its heritage to the Africans, i.e. Bambara, Woloof, Yoruba, Mina, Chamba, etc. However, the Senegambians are the true foundation of LA culture. These Africans came directly from the continent, not the West Indies. I give this book a 4.5 star rating. The reasons I could not give it a 5 star rating is for the following reason: First, the author uses terms that I am sure the average reader isn't familiar, though her writing style is not laborious. I feel that she could have solved this minor, yet irritating issue, by simple including a glossary. Secondly, I feel that that the last chapter was an add on for the Point Coupee and Louisiana folks. I did not feel that it tied in directly with the overall them of the book, and I found myself annoyed and barely able to complete the last chapter. Otherwise, the book is very informative about Africans in colonial Louisiana and the development of Afro Creole culture. I know that this book will set a lot of myths on its head. I would highly encourage all LA folks, West Africans (Senegambimas), African Americans, the French and all others who have an interest in African Creole development and how the Spanish and French involvement played out. The term Creole has a very interesting history and the author educates us. The original Creoles of LA were the children and grand children of the native Africans where 2/3 came out of the Senegambia region i.e. Bambara, Wolof, etc. The following excerpt interested me greatly: "By the nineteenth century, the mixed-blood creoles of Louisiana who acknowledged their African descent emphasized and took greatest pride in their French ancestry. They defined creole to mean racially mixed, enforced endogamous marriage among their own group, and distinguished themselves from and look down upon blacks and Anglo-Afro Americans, though their disdain stemmed from cultural as well as racial distinctions. A recent study indicates that in New Orleans during the 1970s, the designation "black" and "creole" were irreconcilable. These young Afro-New Orleaneans embraced a definition of creole that is racially rather than culturally defined, as well as being a-historical. Edward Braithwaite, writing about Jamaica, defined creolization as a social cultural continuum radiating outward from the slave community and affecting the entire culture in varying degrees. This definition is relevant for the United States as well as for the Caribbean. It is especially significant for Louisiana, where the slave culture was early and thoroughly Africanized and the first generation of creole slaves grew up in stable, nuclear families composed of African mothers and fathers and Creole siblings." Who were thes

A must for LA African and FPOC genealogy

ok. Maybe I'm biased since I am a direct descendant of many of the African/FPOC families listed in the book. However, what Dr. Hall has done for Louisiana genealogy research is nothing short of miraculous. I purchased this book several years ago in Natchitoches, LA while in college and have consulted it and Dr. Hall's online database faithfully since then. It has been instrumental in my being able to trace my direct and indirect family lines back into 17th century France and Western Africa. I think this book is an absolute must for those who have a real interest in gaining insight into the Louisiana "peculiar institution" or who desire a good, solid, and well-researched social commentary and genealogical database.

Setting The Record Straight

This book corrects the many lies that racist white Louisianians and their Creole of color sympathizers have been telling about the origins of all things Louisiana for decades. It reclaims Louisiana for the Africans, who were brought there as chattle property to build the buildings, cultivate the land, blacksmith the iron and ultimately create the culture. As a descendant of Colonial Louisiana Africans, this book was the first to tell me that I am a descendant of the Bamana of Mali. It is one of the only books I have come across to describe in detail, the battles of Louisiana maroon leader Saint Juan Malo. It is one of the first to tell it like it is concerning the true relationship of the French and Africans of this bastard french colony & address the underlying factors of why it became an Afro-creole colony more so than anything else. Basically this book tells the unadulterated truth backed by facts. It doesn't, like so many other books about Louisiana, get caught up in the romance of the Creoles of color and there obsession with their white fathers. Instead it tells the story of their Senegambian mothers. And shows how the culture of these Africans is the foundation of what is now considered Louisiana Creole culture.This book is a breath of fresh air to some one like myself who loathes the hundreds of books written about Louisiana that describes it as " a mixture of French, Spanish, and Indian cultures". Always omitting the fact of African influence due to the legacy of white supremacy inherent in the telling of US history. In most other books on the subject, Africans are merely slaves. In this book we are shown for what we are, the foundation of the culture. It will most definitely be a textbook in any course I teach on the subject.

Pathbreaking Research

Check out the front page article in the July 30 Sunday New York Times, headlined "Anonymous Louisiana Slaves Regain Identity," to fully appreciate the significance of the historical research embodied in this book.

HISTORY OF CONTRIBUTION OF WEST AFRICANS TO CULTURE IN LA

I had to read this book for a seminar class and was fascinated by it. It documents in much detail the history of colonial Louisiana putting West Africans squarely in the middle of that development. Midlo Hall uses sources from three countries, France, Spain and colonial Britain to document the African presence in Louisiana. She spends some time on the fact that most of the Africans brought to Louisiana were from the Senegambia region of West Africa. Consequently, the Africans brought with them their way of life and were able to exercise much of it in Louisiana. She notes the difference in French/Spanish colonization and the contribution of African language, food and cultural practices in Louisiana. It is well worth reading for it is a history book quite well written that would appeal to the general public. It is entertaining as well as informative.