Essay On Voodoo In Louisiana

There, they were worked and beaten until it boiled down to the strongest ones that survived were considered tame enough to be sold to plantation owners. In 1782 the governor of Louisiana prohibited the importation of blacks from the West Indies because he saw them to be steeped in Voodooism and threatening to his citizens' safety. He set out to outlaw the practice of Voodoo fearing that it's evil would serve as a rallying point for slave uprising, especially as white colonists were greatly outnumbered by those they held in bondage. It was not until the successors of James Monroe had concluded the purchase of Louisiana from France in 1803 that some of these restrictions were lifted. In addition, by now, a new generation of Africans had grown …show more content…
Discipline and punishment were less severe and it seemed that slave owners had finally realized that slaves were a valuable property. It was at last recognized that the slaves required recreation, and they now were allowed to gather on the plantations for dances, weddings and religious celebrations of various sorts on Sundays. In 1803 the prohibition against blacks from West Indies was lifted. Approximately at the same time, slaves in Haiti ultimately used their African-born rituals to fuel their own rebellion. Between 1791 and 1804 a series of slave revolts, which were inspired by spirit worship, finally culminated in the expulsion of the French from the island. This was the beginning of organized Voodoo in Louisiana. Until then Voodoo had hardly been a living force in Louisiana. It had appeared again and again, but only to be brutally suppressed. For some unknown reason, Voodoo had remained much stronger in the West Indies than in Louisiana. It is said that the first meeting place of the Voodoos in New Orleans was an abandoned brickyard in Dumaine Street, but the police drove them from this place, and it was then that they began to gather along Bayou St. John and along the shore of lake