Folklore, religion, and African practices promoted a sense of identity among the slaves. The slaves were involved in religious practices which every slave was entitled to conform to. Every slave that participated in the religious practices was deemed to belong to the established slavery culture. The slaves believed that religion brought them close to God that their White masters and they were confident that the time for their freedom would surely come one day 1 . The religious faith of the slaves strengthened their will to survive, and they were confident to triumph over their masters. Whenever they gathered for worship, the slaves shared their plights. This enabled them to identify with other slaves with similar problems. Since they had no superior weapons to fight their White masters, they had to form a unique culture that would unite them. They believed that when united, their voice for freedom would be heard.
Folklore, religion, and African practices gave the slaves autonomy and communality. Autonomy entitled the slaves to have control of their lives, while communality ensured that they acted based on mutuality and collective interests 2 . This promoted love for another among the slaves as they the interest of one another at heart before doing anything. This made them forge ties that promoted the good of oneself and others. As the slaves practised autonomy and communality in their quarters, they developed their own traditions and customs that depicted the shared values.
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The slaves believed that unity is power, and their culture supported this fact. Culture would have played a major role during the resistance of the oppression of slavery. The culture had promoted identity among the slaves, and their voices to end oppression would have been heard 3 . Culture would have positively impacted the slaves’ efforts in ending oppression. Just as the slaves believed in the story of a rabbit, culture made them morally superior over the Whites, and victory towards oppression resistance was certain.
Bibliography
Britain, DC Great. "Archival Sources, Manuscript Collections, and Public Documents Barnett, Claude. Papers. Boxes 187, 188. Chicago Historical Society. Chicago, Ill. British Anti-slavery and Aborigines Protection Society Archives. London, UK." Brothers and Strangers: Black Zion, Black Slavery, 1914–1940 (2004): 407.
Dwyer, Caleigh. "The Construction of the African Slave Identity: Defying Hegemony through Syncretic Religious Practices." Denison Journal of Religion 16, no. 1 (2017): 7.
Faulkner, William J. The Days When the Animals Talked . Follett, 1977.
1 Faulkner, William J. The Days When the Animals Talked . Follett, 1977.
2 Britain, DC Great. "Archival Sources, Manuscript Collections, and Public Documents Barnett, Claude. Papers. Boxes 187, 188. Chicago Historical Society. Chicago, Ill. British Anti-slavery and Aborigines Protection Society Archives. London, UK." Brothers and Strangers: Black Zion, Black Slavery, 1914–1940 (2004): 407.
3 Dwyer, Caleigh. "The Construction of the African Slave Identity: Defying Hegemony through Syncretic Religious Practices." Denison Journal of Religion 16, no. 1 (2017): 7.
