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Life in Africa was not easy, but it was free. Everything changed after the slave trade began and slaves were sold to the Canaries, Maderia, the Azores, along with North America and Brazil (Greenfield 45). Working conditions on the plantations were severe; many Africans could not bear the unlimited working hours. Their sufferings could not be stopped, but there were some ways to enhance their chances for survival. There were only two realms Africans could improve physical and mental. It is the reason why they turned to local medicinal and magical practices, along with religion.
Magical traditions were not only the tool of healing, but also a source of hope and memory. Those customs reminded people of their real nature and who they were. African herbalists, magicians, priests, and barbers adopted their vocation to the new rural and urban conditions in the Americas (Voeks 66). Most of the specialists were self-taught and enlarged their knowledge in medicine in America. African beliefs and traditions were strong enough to not only survive, but even replace the native customs in some cases (Voeks 66). Those customs helped Africans stick to their roots and keep fighting for their lives as a sign of a better life in the future.
Magic was mostly used for protection and defeat from enemies. There is an example of African-based magic when the high priest Boukman, during the times of the Haitian revolution, carried out voodoo rituals to find immunity for his followers against the white peoples magic (Voeks 68). According to Foster, African slaves were war captivates, or people who had violated the laws or traditions of the group (429). The slaves sometimes used their traditions and religions to strike against violence to survive, but not all the customs were severe.
Colors were an important part of African culture which used a lot of artifacts of different colors, like red, yellow, and white. But the blue color was the most significant one meant for protection. Moses states that the color was associated with the sky and believed to provide protection (146). The best way to save yourself was wearing blue beads as a necklace under a shirt (Moses 147). Blue was also associated with water or water spirits that were believed to exist. As slaves, Africans could only stick to their traditions to feel their lost home and themselves, that is why spiritual and religious traditions played a great role in slaves life.
A lot of hard work on sugarcane plantations led to physical emaciation, various diseases, infections, and emotional break-down. No medical treatment provided led to the spread of local medicinal practices. Some of the most important people and elements of local medicine were conjure bags and conjure doctors. A conjure bag was in charge of storing objects needed for various rituals, usually fingernails, roots, dirt (Newman 39). Basic responsibilities of a conjure doctor included, according to Newman, healing the sick, harm enemies, reveal the unknown, protect themselves from the brutalities of slavery, and achieve countless other aims (39).
The root doctors were also representatives of the so-called black magic which could lead to a majority of problems, including serious illnesses and death. It was outlawed at the end of the 18th century as black magic was considered a threat to the crown authorities (Voeks 68). Those types of voodoo magic were not used often but still scared the masters. Root doctors were good at healing people; Africans had this medicinal treatment to enhance their survival chances.
In order to cure physical diseases, it was better to use real treatment, not spiritual. Africans also knew that not all illnesses could be cured through voodoo, black magic, or magical practices. Work on the plantations was demanding and hard and the slaves sometimes were weak. Not only physically strong men worked on the sugarcane plantations, but there were also women, children, and elder people who were usually given more treatment or attention.
That is why some natural healing methods were used by the slaves. African healers called cultivars used various plants and objects such as leaves, roots, bark. According to Voeks, learning the medical qualities of the local flora from native herbalists was one method of continuing to practice medicine (72). African ethnomedicine was not used to the American flora, therefore cultivars were exploring American nature to find some plant species that could be utilized in their practice.
America was rich in various kinds of plants and animals, and not all the slaves worked on the sugarcane plantations. Some of them collected cotton for their masters; in this way, while looking for new healing plants they recognized the cotton-like seeds of the cottonwood. It was fast recognized and adopted by the cultivars and made such great importance to the nation that the tree became an object of religious rituals. Voeks states, that animal sacrifices and offerings were made to the tree, and it could never be cut or burned (74). Other plants used for medical issues include lemon, pigeon pea, watermelon, oil palm, sorghum, okra (Voeks, 74).
The fruit itself, grains, and tubers brought the body in shape while its leaves, bark, and roots served for healing it. American flora helped the slaves survive in their reality and served their physical realm. Africans were thankful for saving their life and started fulfilling religious rituals for the praise of God and nature.
Religion was one of the key factors of the survival of Africans because religion and belief gave hope. Hope was one of the most important things that people needed when everything seemed unfair. Therefore, the slaves dove into religion by praying, fulfilling rituals, and speaking to nature. Africans were religious and, according to Garret, the Negro slaves knew Christianity (241). The most important virtues of Christianity are patience, forbearance, love, faith, and hope, and Africans expressed those traits to the outer world. As Christianity was not the most common religion of that time it faced some difficulties in building the relationship with other religions, and so did the slaves.
Voeks claims that the simpler ritual of Protestant sects conflicted with the complexities of African religion (67). As distinct from Protestantism Catholicism had some similarities with Christianity like ancestor worship, polytheism, rituals, and offerings (Voeks, 67). Fulfilled rituals were mostly brought from Africa which also helped the slaves feel their home, remember their families, nature, and reminded them about who they are. Christianity and religion were important to the Africans because they helped them explain the unknown world and unexpected situations that happened with them and their families.
African slaves paid attention to the stance of their spiritual and physical realm. Cultivators healed people with the help of various crops and plants but sometimes they also used black magic and voodoo to protect themselves. Religion and magical traditions were important to preserve hope for the future and pray for change, it was of great importance for them to believe in something when in their life there was nothing to believe in. Based on this it is possible to state that Africans tried their hardest to survive but due to their working conditions it was not easy for them to be in good health.
Works Cited
Foster, Herbert J. Partners or Captivates in Commerce: The Role of Africans in the Slave Trade. Journal of Black Studies, vol. 6, no. 4, 1976, pp. 421-434.
Garret, Romeo B. African Survivals in American Culture. The Journal of Negro History, vol. 51, no. 4, 1966, pp. 239-245.
Greenfield, Sidney M. Slavery and the Plantation in the New World: The Development and Diffusion of a Social Form. Journal of Inter-American Studies, vol. 11, no. 1, 1969, pp. 44-57.
Moses, Sharon K. Enslaved African Conjure and Ritual Deposits on the Hume Plantation, South California. North American Archaeologist, vol. 32, no. 2, 2018, pp. 131-164.
Newman, Chris. African Spirituality. The Journal of Undergraduate Research at Ohio State, vol. 8, no. 4, 2018, pp. 30-41.
Voeks, Robert. African Medicine and Magic in the Americas. Geographical Review, vol. 83, no. 1, 1993, pp. 66-78.
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