1. Witchcraft, Poison, Law, and Atlantic Slavery.
- Author
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Paton, Diana
- Subjects
- *
OBEAH (Religion) , *HISTORY of witchcraft , *SLAVERY , *WEST Africans , *POISONING , *EIGHTEENTH century , *MANNERS & customs , *HISTORY ,SLAVE rebellions ,JAMAICAN history - Abstract
The article discusses the use of witchcraft as spiritual protection among African slaves in Saint Domingue and Jamaica during mid 18th-century events known as Makandal's conspiracy in Saint Domingue, and Tacky's Rebellion in Jamaica. It examines the concept and development of obeah as a form of resistance, the tactic of using poisoning as a form of rebellion undertaken by slaves, and state attention in the British Caribbean and French Caribben to obeah. The article also discusses the Jamaican decision to criminalize obeah, concern over the relation between poisoning and witchcraft in Europe, and the spiritual traditions of West Africans who became slaves in the Caribbean region.
- Published
- 2012
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