Robins Johns Influence On African Americans

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The Robins Johns Could you imagine what it would be like if someone came into your home and plucked you out of it in the middle of the night, in which they then stripped you naked and chained you to someone else aboard a dark and tightly packed ship filled with other people, just like you? In the fifteenth through the nineteenth centuries in Africa this may have well been a regular occurrence, since this time period gave rise to over eleven million slaves being forced across the Atlantic, which was referred to as the Atlantic slave trade. There is very little that is actually known about the personal experiences, trials, and tribulations that these African Americans endured aboard these slave ships. This was due to the fact that most of the…show more content…
Christianity played a key role in shaping the type of people the Robin Johns came to be. Before the Robin Johns were kidnapped they would have followed the traditional religious principles, which the Efik people followed. They also participated in a secret society reffered to as Ekpe, meaning leppoard to the Efik people and Egbo to the Europeans. The Efiks religious outline was, somewhat similar to that of Christianity. Sparks says “The Efik worshiped one god, Abasi the creator of all things, often referred to as Etenyin Abasi, our father who lived in the sky(pg.62)”. It is also stated that the Efik religion was very tolerable to new religious practices, especially to those of the European culture, if they thought it might benefit their relationships with each other. Once they arrived in Bristol they had begin to form a relationship with John and Charles Wesley, Methodist preachers and Elizabeth Johnson, who was part of Wesley’s circle. Not long after their arrival the Robins Johns religion was converted to Methodist. This is a clear example of the culture they were being surrounded by beginning to take effect, because of the Robin John’s background and education, I think they felt compelled to convert to Methodism because Bristol was the center of the movement of English Methodism that was occurring. It could have been for a sense of belonging, or because they thought it might help them achieve the freedom they…show more content…
Yes, Anacona and little Ephraim had grown up as slave traders and depended on the slave trade to keep their royal stature intact, but they were able to experience a rare firsthand account of what the slaves endured after they were captured and sold to the Europeans because they became slaves themselves. It is evident that the Robin Johns was left with no choice other than to embrace the slavery at first in order to survive. This would not be a problem for the Anacona and Ephraim, considering the environment they had been surrounded by their entire life. Once they were kidnapped they understood the only way for them to have a chance at freedom was going to be if they used the knowledge, which they acquired through the slave trade to their advantage. Sparks writes “Whether the Robins Johns’ better understanding of their situation made them more or less desperate is impossible to say, but it is certain they had a more realistic view of their situation than did typical captives. The fact that they were from a slave-trading people gave them a familiarity with the trade, its participants, and its goals consequently, we can assume they had a fundamental different view of their plight (pg.72)”. One example of this would of most certainly been as simple as eating the food that was brought to them. Several slaves would not eat the food that was brought to them because they thought it may be
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