History of how Haitian immigration transformed and revolutionized Louisiana's AA population

[Jatigi]

I am from Louisiana. I have honestly never heard much about this.

 

[Black Haven]

I am from Louisiana. I have honestly never heard much about this.

Are you AA fam?

 

[Bawon Samedi]

I thought this was already addressed? People seem to have an habit of over-exaggerating the Haitian cultural influence in Louisiana due to both locations being colonized by the French. Yes, there were some people who fled from Saint Domingue to Louisiana. But large Haitian cultural influence on Louisiana blacks is an exaggeration. Again Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo have very distant differences.

Are you AA fam?

That should be an obvious question.

 

[Black Haven]

I thought this was already addressed? People seem to have an habit of over-exaggerating the Haitian cultural influence in Louisiana due to both locations being colonized by the French. Yes, there were some people who fled from Saint Domingue to Louisiana. But large Haitian cultural influence on Louisiana blacks is an exaggeration. Again Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo have very distant differences.


That should be an obvious question.

I was only curious to see if it was true about Haitians having a huge impact on the New Orleans culture. It's historical so a person who's into the African Diaspora history like me would want to know how true it was.

 

[Bawon Samedi]

I was only curious to see if it was true about Haitians having a huge impact on the New Orleans culture. It's historical so a person who's into the African Diaspora history like me would want to know how true it was.

There was an actual creole I invited to this site who knew all shyt about Afro-diasporan history especially AA history that I NEVER EVER knew about. I'm talking about creoles using their ships to stop slave ships. Or the Gullah Wars and stuff of that nature. Stuff we've never heard of before. He's the one who really got me to focus on and not neglect early AA history instead of just focusing on African history. Anyways, he's one of the reasons why I say the Haitian cultural influence on Louisiana blacks is an over-exaggeration because he once refuted it using sources. Even though we don't have @Supper we do have @IllmaticDelta who I am certain is educated on early Louisiana history.

 

[Jatigi]

Are you AA fam?

yes.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

The Haitian newcomers made their presence felt but overall, the impact is way overstated.


see:

NS: France basically abandoned the colony after 1731, right?

GMH: Well, “abandoned” in the sense that most of the French colonists left, and very few came, so that there was a majority of Africans in all of the French settlements in colonial Louisiana, so that French Louisiana was heavily African. And it remained heavily African during the Spanish period, although there were more European-type colonizers who were brought in during the Spanish period, but there was still a slight majority of Africans and their descendants – a slight majority of slaves, in fact. There were also some Native American slaves.

NS: One of the major points I get from reading Africans in Colonial Louisiana was that there was an Afro-Louisianan identity firmly established early on.

GMH: Yes, it was established through language and culture. And the language, of course, was Louisiana Creole, which arose in the first generation. And that’s normal; Creole languages do that, they are established very early, and then newcomers have to pretty much learn that language, although of course, all languages evolve. But Louisiana Creole had been established for a long time before there was any substantial immigration from Haiti. So that Haitian Kreyol and Louisiana Creole are fairly distinct languages. And you cannot attribute Louisiana Creole to Haitian Kreyol, which is often done.

NS: If an Afro-Louisianan culture was well-established from an early date, that also would necessarily have included music.

GMH: Yes. Now, unfortunately, at least from what I’ve seen, I’ve seen much less about music than what we would want. Just a few descriptions of dances and instruments and stuff like that in the documents, but not a lot.

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NS: There’s a certain amount of lore that suggests that from that point we start to see – though there was already, as you pointed out, a Dahomeyan population in Louisiana. At that point we start to see voodoo appear in New Orleans culture. And I notice that in Louisiana they have “voodoo queens,” something unknown in Haiti…

GMH: Exactly. It’s distinctive. And Marie Laveau – you know, there’s this tendency to have everybody be Haitian. And they weren’t! Including Marie Laveau. She had no Haitian ancestors. She was Louisiana Creole. Charles Lalond, who was the leader of the 1811 slave revolt on the German Coast – Charles Gayarré passed the misinformation that he was a free man of color from Haiti. He was no such thing. He was a mulatto Creole slave of Louisiana. And I have not found any Haitians involved in any revolt or conspiracy against slavery in Louisiana. And I’ve looked through lots and lots of documents. And you can look yourself in my database. None of them were Haitians.

Gwendolyn Midlo Hall

Most Black people from Louisiana were taken there during the Slave trade from other Southern States. They were sold down the Mississippi River from places like North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee to plantations in Louisiana and Mississippi. Which is where we get the "phrase sold down the river" from.

The conditions in Mississippi and Louisiana were much harsher and the slave owners were much poorer and much more ignorant than in the other States; that the slaves were taken from which is why the slaves dreaded being sold down river and going into those States.

Btw, not all the Black people in New Orleans were from Haiti. France lay claim to New Orleans since it's founding in 1718. Most of the slaves belonged to the French that had plantations in and around New Orleans; rather than Haitians that were bought there by other French slave owners during the Haitian Revolution.

read...

GMH: For the U.S., but it was earlier in Louisiana. Because they were afraid, you know. I think there was a lot of fear of new Africans. The greatest fear of all was for Caribbeans. But new Africans were also feared.

NS: Then there was also a commercial motive, given the power of Virginia, to sell Americanized slaves from Virginia and Maryland down South.

GMH: Oh, that became tremendous business in the 19 th century.

NS: The slave-breeding industry…

GMH: Yes. That’s something else that needs to be databased, because there are shipping records giving great detail about slaves who were shipped from the east coast ports, all the way through 1860. Especially into New Orleans, but you can track them, you know, where they went from there, a few other ports, these were customs-house records of the United States, and they’re on microfilm. And so somebody needs to database that too.

Gwendolyn Midlo Hall

 

[Bawon Samedi]

lol... See this is why I say again that I am GLAD we have those who focus on early AA history. What do you know... Not only is Louisiana Voodoo distant from the one in Haiti but Louisiana creole is ALSO distant from Haitian creole. Whatyaknow! Certain people have some explaining to do...

 

[im_sleep]

I thought this was already addressed? People seem to have an habit of over-exaggerating the Haitian cultural influence in Louisiana due to both locations being colonized by the French. Yes, there were some people who fled from Saint Domingue to Louisiana. But large Haitian cultural influence on Louisiana blacks is an exaggeration. Again Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo have very distant differences.


That should be an obvious question.

Cuz nikkas wanna be so special...so different lol, that really what alot of that stuff is about.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

speak for yourself Chicken George.the blood ties between many Louisianan .and many South Floridian AAs run deep and are undeniable

 

[Bed$tuy]

Tariq Nasheed Fba Disciples are a bunch of lying cocksuckas.