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African music and religious beliefs survived among slaves during the 16th and
17th centuries in the crowded living quarters and the sugarcane
fields, despite the official requirement that slaves convert to
Roman Catholicism and adopt to Spanish cultural patterns. Their
masters were more concerned with making a profit than with saving
souls, therefore they often looked the other way and allowed slaves
to worship in their own manner. Consequently, African music and
religious beliefs emerged in the late 18th century showing distinct
elements of the official church and combining European instruments.
To familiarize yourself with the areas from which African slaves
were brought to Puerto Rico and the Americas and to explore the
beginning of the process through which their music is adapted to
their new lives visit the following web site: http://aaas.myztek.com/
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Answer the questions below.
1. Name the two major areas from which African slaves are brought
to Puerto Rico.
2. Name some of the musical instruments that are identified with
African slaves.
3. What do the Yoruba and Bantu chants that were played in class
reveal about the worldview of West Africans? |