During the 18th century The Atlantic World was the major area for trading, not just of goods but for the trading of peoples, cultures, diseases, and religions. The coasts of Eastern Africa, North and South America, and Europe made up the Atlantic World, and many people of that time period got a chance to be apart of the interactions between those empires. Yet, none of them with so interesting of a story as African-born healer Domingos Alvares. He moved between West Africa, Brazil, and Portugal; taking along with him his open mind, charisma, and deep spirituality. Although uprooted against his will, Domingos played a huge role in the Atlantic World through his use of religious pluralism, healing practices, and strong sense of social kindred
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In addition to Vodun, they also prayed to the deity Sakpata, who was associated to small pox- a prominent disease in that region. After the death of both of his parents, Domingos was able to step up and take their place. With his rich knowledge of the religion and extraordinary talent of healing, Domingos led a tight nit group of followers that he considered like family. Unfortunately due to his position, Domingos was a target, and that led to his eventual capture, enslavement, and displacement. He was sold through the popular Atlantic slave trade and relocated to North East Brazil, set to work on a sugar plantation. Despite being in a new country, with new people, and new agriculture, “a religious leader like Domingos Alvares had a clear sense of where he was from, and where his core beliefs originated, but he was also imminently cognizant of the plurality of social, cultural, and political ideas that made communities like his possible.” (p.26) He arrived with an open mind, and an outlook such as his can get you far. The Portuguese who colonized Brazil, practiced the Catholic faith, and forced their religion on all Brazil’s inhabitants, especially the new slaves. Domingos learned Catholicism not out of fear or resentment but out of curiosity and the possibility to broaden his knowledge. He was baptized soon …show more content…
“Some of the enslaved probably found the isolation and uprooting from family to be unbearably traumatic. In stable societies of Gbe-speaking regions, an individual’s social identity was defined largely by his or her place among family and kin.” (p.33) There was no sense of individuality like what we are accustom to in present day United States. Your worth was based on the size and closeness of your kin. Throughout the book that seems to be the most frustrating part for Domingos, having to start over and try to connect with new people and rebuild his community of followers. One can almost feel his struggle when you learn that where he’s from “…to be alienated from the collective wealth, power, and protection of the natal lineage group was tantamount to social death, a virtual erasure of one’s personhood.” (p.33) By building the many social networks that he did, first in Benin, then North East Brazil, Rio, and lastly Lisbon he organizes an extensive following across the countries that comprise The Atlantic World, making his mark on this vital time in history. He was needed, trusted, sought after, persecuted, but above all a remarkable man. Not only acquiring followers of African decent but a wide variety of people, from the poorest slave to the wealthiest plantation
In addition to Vodun, they also prayed to the deity Sakpata, who was associated to small pox- a prominent disease in that region. After the death of both of his parents, Domingos was able to step up and take their place. With his rich knowledge of the religion and extraordinary talent of healing, Domingos led a tight nit group of followers that he considered like family. Unfortunately due to his position, Domingos was a target, and that led to his eventual capture, enslavement, and displacement. He was sold through the popular Atlantic slave trade and relocated to North East Brazil, set to work on a sugar plantation. Despite being in a new country, with new people, and new agriculture, “a religious leader like Domingos Alvares had a clear sense of where he was from, and where his core beliefs originated, but he was also imminently cognizant of the plurality of social, cultural, and political ideas that made communities like his possible.” (p.26) He arrived with an open mind, and an outlook such as his can get you far. The Portuguese who colonized Brazil, practiced the Catholic faith, and forced their religion on all Brazil’s inhabitants, especially the new slaves. Domingos learned Catholicism not out of fear or resentment but out of curiosity and the possibility to broaden his knowledge. He was baptized soon …show more content…
“Some of the enslaved probably found the isolation and uprooting from family to be unbearably traumatic. In stable societies of Gbe-speaking regions, an individual’s social identity was defined largely by his or her place among family and kin.” (p.33) There was no sense of individuality like what we are accustom to in present day United States. Your worth was based on the size and closeness of your kin. Throughout the book that seems to be the most frustrating part for Domingos, having to start over and try to connect with new people and rebuild his community of followers. One can almost feel his struggle when you learn that where he’s from “…to be alienated from the collective wealth, power, and protection of the natal lineage group was tantamount to social death, a virtual erasure of one’s personhood.” (p.33) By building the many social networks that he did, first in Benin, then North East Brazil, Rio, and lastly Lisbon he organizes an extensive following across the countries that comprise The Atlantic World, making his mark on this vital time in history. He was needed, trusted, sought after, persecuted, but above all a remarkable man. Not only acquiring followers of African decent but a wide variety of people, from the poorest slave to the wealthiest plantation