African influence & voices in Caribbean & the Americas c.1700s

• Literature:

  • “slave narratives” in form of diaries or letters -- Example: Olaudah Equiano’s Interesting Life (1788) [online reading]

• Architecture: African building styles influence plantation house designs through the Caribbean & Americas -- example Pohl p.98

• Music

  • Spirituals: songs of Christian devotion sung to tunes remembered from Africa -- Example: “Go Down Moses,” compares African slavery to that of Old Testament Jews [CD recording]
  • First truly “new” American music -- gave birth to gospel, blues, and jazz (by combining African rhythms with various other influences -- esp. in Cuba, South America, & Louisiana)

Previous slide

Next slide

Back to first slide

View graphic version