QUESTION

 explain enslavement, acculturation, and african survival using ″the salve community″ by john blassingame

ANSWER

Enslavement, Acculturation, And African Survival

John Blassingame had an interesting way of defining African survival enslavement and
acculturation in his book the slave community. According to Blassingame, enslavement can be
defined as the process of capital transportation and trading of African slaves in the Americas 1 .
Essentially, Africans were captured from different parts of the continent to go work as slaves,
especially in Central America. According to the author, the process entailed unfortunate vices
such as coercion, violence, and deception in various ways. Quite a good number of Africans
were unwillingly captured and kidnapped by fellow Africans who acted in the capacity of
leadership and representation to the white colonialists. The Africans involved in the trade
facilitated their fellow Africans' capture, transportation, and trading to various parts of the world,
especially the Americas. The Africans who actively participated in the trade did so in exchange
for clothes, guns, and other superficial goodies. While Africans were sold to their masters
through their leaders, others were falsely lured using empty promises. Those who their leaders
sold out were given out as criminals or prisoners of war, depending on the prevailing
circumstances at the time. On the other hand, those who were lured or tricked into becoming
slaves had been promised various goods such as education or work, even though all of such
promises were based on lies.
Acculturation can be defined as the concept of adapting an environment or culture that is
different from what one is primarily used to. According to Blassingame, the slaves in their
respective areas and capacities of operation did not actively or passively accept the cultural and
social values enforced on them by their masters 2 . According to the author, the slaves crafted their
own distinctive culture that would blend well with the African and American cultures in diverse

1 Blassingame, J. W. (1979). The slave community: Plantation life in the antebellum South.
2 Blassingame, J. W. (1979). The slave community: Plantation life in the antebellum South.

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ways and contexts. Part of their choice to blend both the African and American cultures was
informed by the need to balance out both cultures as a form of survival. The author analyzes the
language, folklore, family life, religion, and music of problems in a way that expresses what
acculturation is like, especially in the context of the subject. Considering that the slaves at the
time had to give up on their dignity, freedom, and identity, they had to find a way of adapting to
the same. The slaves had to find a way of adapting, considering that they were slaves not by
choice but by coercion. The slaves who were initially tricked into becoming slaves were
eventually coerced into the same at the point of realization. In this regard, they had to find a way
of survival that reconciled with their situation.
African survival can be defined as the persistence of African practices and cultural traits
in slavery. The author questions and challenges the claim that slavery could have erased the
African identity and heritage of the slaves. The author proves that even though the African slaves
were in a strange environment and under unfamiliar leadership, they still maintained their ties
with their motherland, especially through rituals, beliefs, oral histories, and customs.
Blassingame also argues that the African culture acted as a source of resilience and strength for
the slaves in their state of slavery 3 . Blassingame supports his argument using various sources and
examples that prove his ideologies to be true.