Read the excerpt below from an observer's account of religious practices among enslaved people in the Sea Islands of South Carolina, published in 1863:
"The true 'shout' takes place on Sundays, or on 'praise-nights' through the week, either in the 'praise-house' or in some cabin... [The participants] shuffle, hand in hand, in a circle... But they must not cross their feet; for that is dancing, and dancing is a sin. This distinction is very rigidly held. It is not dancing, they say, unless the feet are crossed."
Which of the following historical conclusions is best supported by the account of the ring shout in the passage?
- Enslaved Africans blended ancestral circular dance traditions with Christian worship practices to preserve their cultural heritage under surveillance.Answer
- BEnslaved communities used the practice of the ring shout to plan armed grand maroonage rebellions against plantation authorities.
- CEnslaved people abandoned their African religious traditions in order to fully assimilate into Euro-Christian society.
- DEnslaved individuals rejected Christian concepts entirely, demonstrating that pre-colonial African cosmologies were incompatible with monotheism.
Answer
Enslaved Africans blended ancestral circular dance traditions with Christian worship practices to preserve their cultural heritage under surveillance.
The correct answer is correct because the ring shout represents a classic form of cultural syncretism. Enslaved Africans preserved the West African practice of circular, rhythmic worship by adapting it to fit within Protestant Christian prohibitions against secular dancing (by not crossing their feet), thus maintaining ancestral cultural links under the constraints of slavery.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Everyday Resistance and Cultural Retention