Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles, and the Foundation of the Americas, 1585–1660

This book establishes Central Africa as the origin of most Africans brought to English and Dutch American colonies before 1660.

Linda M. Heywood (Author), John K. Thornton (Author)

9780521770651, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 September 2007

386 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.74 kg

"...important contribution...to the history of Atlantic slavery." -Gayle K. Brunelle, H-Atlantic

This book establishes Central Africa as the origin of most Africans brought to English and Dutch American colonies in North America, the Caribbean, and South America in their formative period before 1660. It reveals that Central Africans were frequently possessors of an Atlantic Creole culture that included adaptation of Christianity and elements of European language, especially names and material culture. It places the movement of slaves and creation of the colonies within an Atlantic historical framework, including showing interactions among Africa, Europe, and all of the Americas. It explores the development of attitudes toward race, slavery, and freedom as they developed in the colonies of England and the Netherlands, and it revises earlier discussions on these issues. The book suggests ways in which this generation of Africans helped lay the foundations for subsequent development of African-American culture in all the colonies of these countries.

1. Privateering, colonial expansion and the African presence in Early Anglo-Dutch Settlements
2. The Portuguese, Kongo and Ndongo and the origins of Atlantic Creole culture to 1607
3. Wars, civil unrest and the dynamics of enslavement in West Central Africa, 1607–60
4. Atlantic Creole culture: patterns of transformation and adaptations, 1607–60
5. Shifting status and the foundation of African-American communities: Atlantic Creoles in the early Anglo-Dutch colonies
6. Becoming slaves: Atlantic Creoles and the defining of status.

Subject Areas: History of the Americas [HBJK], African history [HBJH], History [HB]