How Did Slave Culture Influence The Development Of African-American Culture

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Family, religion, gender and values combined to create distinct slave cultures in the Old South. Slaves never gave up hope for their chance at freedom or their will to repent against absolute white power. They were successful in shaping a somewhat independent culture that would be centered on church and family. This would enable them to get through the things that their masters would put them through without losing their self-esteem. Slave culture was derived from the heritage in Africa. These African influences were seen in their styles of dance and music, ways of religion and worship, and medicine. When the foreign slave trade was put to an end, a new African-American culture was created by African and American traditions colliding. Family was the center of the slave community. In the U.S. there was an equal ratio female and male slaves because of the natural increase in the population of slaves since its booming. This enabled the creation of families for slaves within plantations. Slave marriages were not recognized by law but on plantations they were very significant and they had to get the consent of their masters in order to be able to. Slaves usually stayed married for life, unless it was ripped apart by a sale. Also the sale of male slaves increased the amount of female run families and deceased the …show more content…
Women and men slaves were equally powerless. The regulation of women to the home did not apply to slave women. Slave men were unable to take care of their families, protect their wives from being sexually or physically abused by overseers and owners. However, the standard gender roles came through when slaves would work on their own time. Slave women took care of the children and cooked while the slave men worked outside. Family stayed central to slave culture and enabled slaves to pass down their traditions, personal values and strategies for survival through the

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