African Spirituality in Colonial New York, part 1

Read pages 160-165 of Sterling Stuckey's essay, "African Spirituality in Colonial New York, 1700-1770" and answer the following:

1.      Why did Africans tend to sing while working, according to Stuckey? (pg 160)

2.      People like Ben Franklin and John Adams dismissed artistic endeavors.  What was ironic about that with respect to African music and dance? (pg 161)

3.      Why does Stuckey cite the cultural historian Neil Harris? (pg 161)

4.      Stuckey states:  “The failure of white Americans to understand the African aesthetic and how it relates to African religion has persisted in the historiographic perception of African art and religion.”  How does Stuckey use the example of Jon Butler to support this? (pg 161-162)

5.      Identify four characteristics of (African) dance. (pg 163)

6.      Stuckey claims that African dance was pervasive.  Why do you think he cites white writers, like Walt Whitman and Herman Melville, to support his claim? (pg 164)

7.      Why does Stuckey not seem to be addressing, in the first five pages, the stated topic of the essay—or is he?

Due:  Monday, December 9