Indigenous African Religion

Improved Essays
Africa has vast religious record. The ancient and immense land mass has an extensive history of ever shifting empires, which has led to a diverse religious landscape. Modern day Africa is divided into five regions, each of which has had a unique religious evolution. The western region from where most Atlantic slaves came from is no exception. The indigenous African religion is the oldest on the continent and is still practiced today, a major component of this religion is its oral tradition. Over centuries followers have shared the beliefs of supreme creators and spirits, as well as complex practices of medicine and prayer. These beliefs varied greatly by ethnic group, language and geography but were still shared among substantial numbers of …show more content…
“The evidence for the existence of Muslims in early America comes from both sides of the Atlantic. On the African side, the historical research provides a reasonably clear picture of the political and cultural conditions out of which American-bound captives emerged. On the American side, several types of sources give some insight into the presence and activities of Muslims in the New World: the ethnic and cultural makeup of the African regions of origin, the appearance of Muslims names in the ledgers of slaveholders and in the runaway slave advertisements of newspapers, references to Muslim ancestry in interviews with former slave and the descendants of Muslims preferences of certain prototypes of Africans by the slaveholding community, recorded observations of instances of Islamic activity, and profiles of notable Muslim figures. Within the last genre are documents written in Arabic by Muslims themselves, a rare phenomenon.” (Gomez, 1998) Once in bondage in the Americas a clear class distinction arose between Muslim and non-Muslim Africans. To say that one experience was better than the other would be …show more content…
Muslims slaves worked very hard to maintain their religion in the New World. Often forced to convert to Christianity Muslim slaves learned to hide their true religion under the similarities in the two Abrahamic

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    The book, “American Slavery: 1619-1877” written by Peter Kolchin and published first in 1993 and then published with revisions in 2003, takes an in depth look at American slavery throughout the country’s early history, from the pre-Revolutionary War period to the post-Civil War period. The first chapter deals with the origins of slavery within the United States. It discusses the introduction of slavery to the nation even before it was officially a nation. The colonies in the United States were agricultural and the cultivation of crops required labor.…

    • 1794 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Arelys Loriga Professor Theology 9 October 2015 Not religiously different after all In a world with many different countries, ethnicities, and cultures comes a variety of religious groups, such as Hinduism, Santeria, and Scientology. Religion is a sort of belief that people acquire from either a family tradition or personal beliefs. Religion tries to generate an explanation for many things, for example, why the earth was created and what purpose does human life have.…

    • 1560 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout world history, countless groups of people from different ethnicities and cultures have befallen to the trap of institutionalized slavery. From the beginnings of colonial America, European settlers have enslaved both the indigenous people and also Africans. When the general subject of slavery is discussed, people assume this refers to the 13 million Africans that were transported to the America, as part of the “Triangular Slave Trade” (Ojibwa). The massive, historical representation of African slaves disregards many other racial groups that were subjected to this dehumanizing treatment. Although, Africans did endure the harsh enslavement by their European owners for approximately 300 years, slavery in America began long before this.…

    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Sub-Saharan long distance commodity and slave trade as well as the syncretic interweaving of Islamic culture and traditional African culture accounts for Africa’s major influence as a superpower from the first until fifteenth centuries. Traders from all over the world were drawn to Africa’s riches in gold, ivory, and human beings. The fact that Africa was rich in resources posed influence in itself. Considering that a great number of the visiting traders were Muslims and they begin to intermarry and form relationships with the West African people – economic and political alliances were formed and the adaptation of Islam was widespread.…

    • 1597 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Afro-Eurasian Religion

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Religion was a major connection across the Afro-Eurasian continent. It had an enormous impact on many political decisions, economical agreements and cultural values. The BBC documentary, “When the Moors Ruled in Europe” was a great example of religion's impact on society. Islam was the fastest spreading religion. Islam’s rapid expansion was the result of Muslim trade routes.…

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although not focused exclusively on female enslavement, Philip D. Morgan’s Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake & Lowcountry echoes the contrasting identities between white and black Americans and its impact on the moral development of society. According to Morgan, “Slavery was not curious abnormality, no aberration, no marginal features or early America. Most eighteenth-century Americans did not find it an embarrassment or an evil. Rather, slavery was a fundamental, acceptable, thoroughly American institution.” Chattel slavery developed a societal structure that defined race and class throughout the Americas.…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The excerpt from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, by Olaudah Equiano, touches upon the treatment and lives of slaves in the West Indies. Through this short excerpt the reader learns about what he saw while he was a slave in the West Indies islands. Not only are there very few primary sources that have survived from the eighteenth century to modern day, but also there are hardly any sources that come from the viewpoint of a well-educated, free slave. When reading this excerpt one needs to keep in mind biases when it comes to reading an excerpt of a freed slave. Historians can use this excerpt to better understand what it meant to be a slave during this viewpoint.…

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Olaudah Equiano Thesis

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Olaudah Equiano, a victim to the malicious slave trade, gives vivid detail and insight into the world of slavery from a slave’s point of view. The article studied was written by Equiano himself, an Ibo prince who was seized from his homeland of Africa and thrust into a cruel life of bondage at the age of only eleven. Equiano writes of the hardship of his voyage overseas in the late years of the seventeenth century. Part of his story is shared in this article, the story of an African male going from slavery to freedom. He records and shares his story in 1789 as he worked to further the Church of England after purchasing his freedom from a Quaker merchant.…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to the website, www.merriam-webster.com, medicine is seen today as “a substance that is used in treating disease or relieving pain and that is usually in the form of a pill or a liquid.” However, the Native Americans understood medicine to be greater than a medicinal tablet. Through the virtual exhibit, Native Voices: Native Concepts of Health and Illness Exhibit, and the text, Shamanism and the World of Spirits: The Oldest Religion, one can understand the Native American’s perspective of medicine through balance, ceremonies, different types of healers, what the healers used to heal, and healing plants. Balance is a crucial aspect to understanding traditional medicine. The text states that “reflected in many tribal healing systems…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Chasteen wrote that n 1493 Pope Alexander VI, while granting Spain the right to colonize the New World, mandated that the indigenous people be converted to Catholicism and didn’t want anyone to be converted into slaves. However, he added a catch that anyone who didn’t want to be converted into Catholicism they would be converted into slaves. More positively, in 1500, Queen Isabella of Spain then said that all Indian would be converted into slave because they were to different from white people and too savage. When she died in 1504, her instruction were still follow by the next reign.) Those who did arrive remained largely in the Vera Cruz area and worked mostly in the sugar cane fields and factories.…

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although slavery was a widely practiced act by many civilizations in the past, it continues to remain a disheartening time in American history. A history that millions of Americans either lived through, read about, or will eventually be taught to understand the importance it played in the development of the nation. Fortunately, the personal accounts of many slaves have been recorded to forever be used to teach that period in history. Slaves such as Olaudah Equiano, whose memoirs help recount this important era in the nation’s history. It has been suggested that Olaudah Equiano was not born in Africa as he claims and therefore some believe renders his work with a tinge of dishonesty and deception.…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    THE PAST AND PRESENT LIVES OF EGYPT AND MALI You actually do not need to dive deeply into the African history to learn about its rich civilization. We associate themes like cultural and religious beliefs, architectural patterns and government as characteristics of a developed society. Though, most westerners hardly recognize the value of the African history some of the greatest features of civilization were found in Africa. Namely, pyramids in Egypt, Islam practice in both Mali and Egypt, and hieroglyphics found in Egyptian tombs.…

    • 1320 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The main religion of the southeast native american tribe is shamanism. Shamanism uses many ways to worship gods, mainly around a fire in the center of the town or village. The town’s fire was made by The God of Breath (The first/highest god) for the village and must be one of the most worshiped things they have in the town. The town’s fire will burn higher with better deeds the people do, if they give food to a poor person it will grow, if they take food from them it will start to extinguish itself. The town fire has many ceremonies around it, one being called green corn, in this ceremony, they give corn to the gods in hope for good rain and soil for better farming.…

    • 150 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Yes, it is true that depending on gender, skills, region, and time period slaves would be treated better or worst. However, the one thing all slaves had in common was the 5 pre-conceived stereotypes created by the whites. They believed Africans were evil because of their color. They also believed they were savages, nymphomaniacs, and animals. However, back in Africa, certain areas were urban, or agricultural.…

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Slavery has always been an awful thing. But It can be denied it play a major role in our history. For the purpose of this historiographical paper I will focus in slavery in the United States in colonial times. Focusing on African women something that many historian agree hasn’t been talk enough.…

    • 1405 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics