Freedom, religion, slavery, and morality; four
strong and driving forces that lead people to leave what is familiar and
establish a new way of life, whether voluntary or not. The Atlantic World
introduced a myriad of new possibilities; possibilities to reinvent one’s self
and to find a more lucrative or better place with which to exist. The slave
trade was very much a driving force in the formation of Atlantic Communities
within the Atlantic World. Whether it be
to establish or to free one’s self from the slave trade culture, whatever the
reason for the establishment of communities of the Atlantic, the central theme was
slavery.
The
growth of communities within the Atlantic World grew exponentially once the
slave trade blossomed. Communities grew and faltered under the weight and
pressures of slavery. Even if the initial intention of an established community
was not based upon the issue of slavery, slavery always pushed its way into the
fabric of it. The colony of Georgia and
Minas Gerais, Brazil’s Our Lady of the Rosary, are two examples of such
intrusion.
Georgia was established
as a reformative community based on moral scruples and European self reliance. In
other words, slavery was prohibited. James O’Neil Spady described the establishment
of Georgia as a result of “unrestrained speculation in trade monopolies and
land, the mass enslavement of rebellious Africans, and the emigration of
Europeans throughout the Atlantic”[1], and
it was to be “a place of (white) devotion to religion and labour [sic]”[2] in
essence, the world was turning on its head and Georgia was a push for the old
ways of morality and self reliance. Over time the colonists of Georgia realized
the lucrative benefits of slavery and eventually won the debate to own slaves,
and thus slavery helped establish Georgia and eventually became a part of it; diluting
the moral integrity by which Georgia defined itself. My Lady of the Rosary in Minas
Gerais, Brazil had a similar experience in regard to change due to the slave
trade. This change is seen in the evolution of the religious beliefs that My
Lady represented, and according to Elizabeth W. Kiddy African nationals, both
free and slave, “rearticulated the African community by creatively molding
cultural icons into symbols familiar to them…according to their own understanding
of the world”[3].
In other words, they adopted and transformed the religion to their own, already
established, understanding. Slavery had
an indirect influence on both Georgia and My Lady of the Rosary, but its impact
was still felt.
On the other end of the
Atlantic spectrum were the Atlantic communities that were directly influenced
by the slave trade, such as the city of Bristol and the African Slave Coast. In
Bristol’s case the city was built on the foundation of the slave trade, and consequently
shriveled as slavery was outlawed[4]. David
Richardson described Bristol’s success as being “unequivocally rested on
enslaved African and the products they were forced to produce”[5].
In essence, the city of Bristol was built and defined by the slaves that were
brought in through the slave trade. The same can be said for the African Slave
Coast as well. The Slave Coast, as Robin Law and Elizabeth Mann describe,
“existed first and foremost to move many thousands of slaves”[6]
and “shaped not only the history of the community itself but also that of the
regions of the world connected by it”[7]. The
Slave Coast was directly influenced by the slave trade, as were the communities
that it touched, whether they were willing or unwilling. Bristol and the Slave
Coast were Atlantic communities that were blatantly influenced by the Atlantic
slave trade and ultimately created new cultures and ways of life.
Overall, slavery had
some part in establishing and shaping Atlantic communities. It was a common
theme that can be found everywhere in the Atlantic World. Some communities like
those of Georgia and Our Lady of the Rosary were influenced by slavery mainly
as a byproduct of the times; in contrast to the city of Bristol and the Slave
Coast which were created as a result of the slave trade. History eventually formed
a barrier where this common thread began to break down as seen through the United
States’ Mason-Dixon Line; that line separating the free North from the Slave south.
Up until that division, the commonality of the slave trade, and all of its varying
influences, can be identified as a prevailing influence of the times.
[1]
Spady, James O. "Chapter Eight: Bubbles and Beggars and the Bodies of
Laborers: The Georgia Trusteeship’s Colonialism Reconsidered." Constructing
Early Modern Empires: Propriety Ventures in the Atlantic World, 1500-1750.
Atlantic World, Vol. 11. Boston: Brill Academic, 2007. 213-68. Print. Web June
5, 2012. pg 213. <http://vizedhtmlcontent.next.ecollege.com/CurrentCourse/Spady_Bubbles%20and%20Beggars.pdf>
[2]
Spady, pg 234.
[3] Kiddy,
Elizabeth W. “Congados, Calunga, Candombe: Our Lady of the Rosary in Minas
Gerais, Brazil” Luso-Brazilian Review,
XXXVII. Board of Regents University of Wisconsin System. 2000. 49-61.
Print. Web June, 5 2012. Pg 55. <http://vizedhtmlcontent.next.ecollege.com/CurrentCourse/Kiddy_Our%20Lady%20of%20the%20Rosary.pdf>
[4]
Richardson, David: “Slavery and Bristol's ‘golden age’”. Slavery & Abolition:A Journal of Slave
and Post-Slave Studies. 2005. Pg. 35-54 (Web accessed June 5, 2012)
<http://vizedhtmlcontent.next.ecollege.com/CurrentCourse/Richardson_Bristol%27s%20Golden%20Age.pdf>
[5]
Richardson, pg 49.
[6] Law, Robin and Kristen Mann. “West Africa in
the Atlantic Community: The Case of the Slave Coast” The William and Mary Quarterly. Third Series, 56, No. 2 African and Atlantic Worlds, April 1999. Pg. 312-313. (Web accessed
June 5, 2012) Pg. 332. <http://vizedhtmlcontent.next.ecollege.com/CurrentCourse/Law%20and%20Mann_West%20African%20Slave%20Coast.pdf>
[7]
Law and Mann, pg 332.
Your post is very interesting and I like how you identified multiple sources for growth in the Atlantic communities. I completely agree with you that the desire to create something familiar was an important aspect of the Atlantic communities – at least in Georgia, Minas Gerais, and even along the Slave Coast in the areas that Europeans settled (Law and Mann, 325). The slave trade affected all of the Atlantic, but in different ways as you noted. In Minas Gerais, the vast population of Africans in Brazil prompted the need to create a sense of family and identity – which was fulfilled by Our Lady of the Rosary (Kiddy, 55). Even though the slaves and free blacks joined an institution that was European in origin, it allowed them to create a distinct identity with the blending of African and European notions of religion. In Georgia, a distinct moral identity was idealized, but ultimately failed as local competition prompted the need for slavery. Overall, the slave trade was fundamental for the Atlantic communities because of the global economy and the local competition which prompted growth.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Georgia was established as a reformative community but I think the major point was to get the unemployed off the streets of London, (where they posed a risk to the established order), and put them to work elsewhere making money for the one percent. Slavery was prohibited not so much on moral grounds, but on character building grounds; e.g. the entire colony of Georgia was to be a reform school for adults, and if something interfered with the inmates developing a work ethic, whether that was machinery or slavery, well, they couldn't be having that. I see Georgia as less of a reaction to the moral failings of the city of Bristol than as a means of using destitute Europeans, (the destruction of the European peasantry had been a byproduct of the highly profitable Atlantic slave trade), in order to make the wealthy yet more money.
ReplyDeleteWhat is really fascinating however, is the religious form in which the Brazilian resistance to oppression took place. The veneration of Our Lady of the Rosary in Brazil was a form of resistance which allowed the Africans to become a part of the Christian community (which had oppressed them.) Was the image of the Lady alone in a foreign land? So were her people. Was the Lady more powerful than their oppressors? Indubitably! The same sort of enculturation fuelled the lightening conversion of Mexico to Christianity after the miracle of Our Lady of Guadelupe. But Georgia? The colonists essentially went on disability. Their position boils down to, "we are physically unable to work in the hot sun like African slaves. That's why we need slaves to do our work for us."
It is just astounding how much the 18th century resembles the 21st one, but it's also scary, in that the18th century ended in the Age of Revolution. We are definitely living in interesting times.