Africans In Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth-Century

452 Pages·1995·23.479 MB·English

by  Gwendolyn Midlo Hall

Africans in Colonial Louisiana
G W E N D O L YN M I D LO H A LL
Africans in Colonial
Louisiana Development of Afro-Creole
Culture in the Eighteenth Century
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS Baton Rouge
Published by Louisiana State University Press
Copyright © 1992 by Louisiana State University Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Designer: Amanda McDonald Key
Typeface: Palatino
Typesetter: G & S Typesetters, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo.
Africans in colonial Louisiana : the development of Afro-Creole
culture in the eighteenth century / Gwendolyn Midlo Hall,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8071-1686-6 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-8071-1999-0 (paper: alk. paper)
1. Afro-Americans—Louisiana—History—18th century. 2. Creoles—
Louisiana—History—18th century. 3. Slavery—Louisiana—
History—18th century. 4. Louisiana—History—To 1803. I. Title.
II. Title: Afro-Creole culture in the eighteenth century.
E185.93.L6H16 1992 91-46648
976.3'00496073—dc20 CIP
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources. ®
Louisiana Paperback Edition, 1995
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08
11 10 9 8
To the memory of my late husband, Harry Haywood (Haywood Hall),
1898-1985, son of slaves, a self-educated and brilliant theoretician
and a fighter for the freedom of African-Americans and for all the ex-
ploited and oppressed throughout the world, and to our two children,
Dr. Haywood Hall, Jr., and Rebecca L. Hall, Esq.
Contents
Preface xiii
Abbreviations and Short Titles xix
CHAPTER 1
Settlers, Soldiers, Indians, and Officials: The Chaos of French Rule 1
CHAPTER 2
Senegambia During the French Slave Trade to Louisiana 28
CHAPTER 3
Death and Revolt: The French Slave Trade to Louisiana 56
CHAPTER 4
The Bambara in Louisiana: From the Natchez Uprising to the
Samba Bambara Conspiracy 96
CHAPTER 5
French New Orleans: Technology, Skills, Labor, Escape,
Treatment 119
CHAPTER 6
The Creole Slaves: Origin, Family, Language, Folklore 156
CHAPTER 7
Bas du Fleuve: The Creole Slaves Adapt to the Cypress Swamp 201
CHAPTER 8
The Pointe Coupee Post: Race Mixture and Freedom at a Frontier
Settlement 237
CHAPTER 9
Re-Africanization Under Spanish Rule 275
CHAPTER 10
Unrest During the Early 1790s 316
CHAPTER 11
The 1795 Conspiracy in Pointe Coupee 343
Conclusion 375
Appendix A Basic Facts About All Slave-Trade Voyages from
Africa to Louisiana During the French Regime 381
viii
Contents
Appendix B African Nations of Slaves Accused of Crimes in
Records of the Superior Council of Louisiana 398
Appendix C Slaves Found in Pointe Coupee Inventories
Between 1771 and 1802: Breakdown by Origin, Nation, Sex,
and Percentage in Population 402
Appendix D Evidence of Widespread Survival of African
Names in Colonial Louisiana 407
Note on Sources 413
Index 423
Illustrations
PHOTOGRAPHS
John Law's concession at Biloxi, 1720 4
Circumcision ceremony in Senegambia, 1720s 48
Fiche de désarmement of the first two slave-trade ships to Louisiana 61
Pilot's log of le Due de Noaille, December, 1727 81
Indians with a black slave among them, 1735 98
Indigo making in the French West Indies 125
Fragment of slave list 167
Inventory of the d'Hauterive estate 170
MAPS
Louisiana During the French Period 17
The Senegal Concession 30
Entrance to the Mississippi River at Balize, 1764 121
New Orleans, 1723 138
Location of St. Malό Maroon Communities, 1780s 214
Figures and Tables
FIGURES
1. Slave and Free Population of French Louisiana, 1721-1763 10
2. Slaves Landed in Louisiana by the French Slave Trade 35
3. Slaves on the Lafrenière Estate, 1769 184
4. Slaves on the Prévost Estate, 1769 185
5. Burials at Pointe Coupee, 1786-1802 261
6. Racial Designations of Creole Slaves at Pointe Coupee 263
7. Slaves Emancipated at Pointe Coupee, 1771-1802 268
8. Slave and Free Populations of Lower Louisiana, 1763-1800 279
9. Slave and Free Populations at Pointe Coupee, 1763-1803 282
10. Slaves at Pointe Coupee from Major Regions of Africa 285
11. African and Creole Slaves over Age 14 at Pointe Coupee,
1771-1802 287
12. Slaves from Senegambia at Pointe Coupee, 1782-1802 290
13. Slaves from Bight of Benin, 1782-1802 292
14. Slaves at Pointe Coupee from Minor Regions of Africa 293
15. African and Creole Slaves at Pointe Coupee, 1771-1802 295
16. African Women and Children at Pointe Coupee, 1771-1802 299
17. Percentage Male to Female Among African Nations at Pointe
Coupee, 1771-1802 300
18. Creole Slaves at Pointe Coupee, 1771-1802 301
19. Distribution of Slaves on Estates at Pointe Coupee,
1763-1790 309
TABLES
1. French Colonists Sent to Louisiana, 1717-1721 7
2. French Slave-Trade Ships from Africa to Louisiana 60
3. Slaves Embarked in Africa and Landed in Louisiana,
1718-1723 73
4. Mortality Aboard Slave Ships 77
xii
Figures and Tables
5. African Nations of Slaves Accused of Crimes 113
6. Compensation Paid to Executioner 132
7. Male-Female Ratio on Slave-Trade Voyages 172
8. Population of French Settlements in Louisiana in 1746 177
9. Slave Distribution, Proportion of Slave to Free at Posts
in 1763 206
10. Changes in Slave Populations at Two Posts 206
11. Sex Ratio Among Slaves at Bas du Fleuve and Chapitoulas 207
12. Slave Populations and Emancipations at Pointe Coupee 267
13. Nations of Fathers Found in Pointe Coupee Inventories 296
14. Afro-Indian Network at Pointe Coupee 339