Encyclopedia of African American History

Sambo  251

Africa, their common homeland, which those born in the

Americas had never seen.

Regardless, most scholars agree that African-born

slaves rejuvenated African American cultures in the New

World and prevented Africa from fading from the minds of

enslaved Africans. Moreover, they note that African-born

slaves usually played a signifi cant role in revolts and con-

spiracies, a fact that most white slave owners recognized as

well. For example, aft er the eruption of the Stono rebellion

in 1739, colonial offi cials deemed it prudent to reduce the

numbers of Africans in the colony.

Th e infl ux of “salt-water” slaves did not stop until aft er

the ban on the slave trade was put in place in 1808. Mean-

while, their infl ux contributed greatly to the demographic

pattern of slaves in the New World. Th is continuous infl ux

gave the African Diaspora its distinctive feel and infl uenced

the formation of African American identity.

See also: Atlantic Slave Trade

Karen W. Ngonya

Bibliography

Mullin, Michael. African in America: Slave Acculturation and Re-

sistance in the American South and the British Caribbean

1 736– 1831. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994.

Pearson A. Edward, ed. Designs against Charleston, the Trial Re-

cord of the Denmark Vesey Slave Conspiracy of 1 822. Chapel

Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999.

Smallwood, Stephanie E. Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from

Africa to American Diaspora. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Uni-

versity Press, 2007.

Th ornton, John. Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic

World, 1 400– 1 800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

1992.

Young, Jason. Rituals of Resistance: African Atlantic Religion in

Kongo and the Lowcountry South in the Era of Slavery. Baton

Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2007.

Sambo

“Sambo” is a derogatory racial stereotype that ridicules

and belittles African Americans; it was created by the

slave-owning plantocracy of the antebellum South to char-

acterize the typical slave and, thereby, justify the institu-

tion of slavery. Sambo was a caricature rather than an apt

characterization; it portrayed the slave as happy-go-lucky,

docile, childish, and dependent on and loyal to his master,

yet lazy and irresponsible. Th e happy-go-lucky, docile, and

loyal aspects of this highly distorted image suggested that

rootwork could act as a form of psychological therapy as
well, especially for those who believed that they were vic-
tims of evil magic. Some psychiatrists and psychologists
have suggested that today’s health care professionals should
seek out root doctors to help treat African Americans who
believe they are suff ering from hoodoo curses.
On the other hand, rootworkers could also be a source
of maladies. As the reputed existence of magical illnesses
implies, some also practiced malevolent sorcery. Many
examples of slaves employing magical “poisons” to harm
their masters have survived. More recently, some African
Americans have considered rootwork an eff ective method
of eliminating enemies. Th us, although root doctors could
cure such ailments as reptiles in one’s body and locked bow-
els, they might have caused them in the fi rst place.
See also: Conjure; Hoodoo; Slave Religion

Jeff rey Elton Anderson

Bibliography
Anderson, Jeff rey Elton. Conjure in African American Society.
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2007.
Fett, Sharla M. Working Cures: Healing, Health, and Power on
Southern Slave Plantations. Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 2002.
Hurston, Zora Neale. “Hoodoo in America.” Journal of American
Folklore 44 (1931):318–417.
Mitchell, Faith. Hoodoo Medicine: Gullah Herbal Remedies. Co-
lumbia, SC: Summerhouse Press, 1999.

Salt-Water Negroes

“Salt-water Negroes” is a derogatory term assigned to slaves
who were brought from Africa, across the Atlantic Ocean,
during the Atlantic slave trade. Th ey were given this term
to diff erentiate them from the American-born slaves. Th e
“salt-water” part of the phrase is derived from the salty na-
ture of the Atlantic Ocean waters, and the term was prob-
ably used by both white slave owners and American-born
slaves. Some sources claim that American-born slaves used
this term because they saw themselves as better than the
newcomers, given that they were familiar with the func-
tioning of the American system. However, other scholars
have argued that such terminology was mainly a creation
of the white slave owners, and if it was ever adopted by the
slaves, it likely did not carry the same connotation. Further,
they argue that American-born slaves held newcomers in
high esteem because they represented the connection with