Magic, divination, and obeah appear in some form in almost all of Jamaica’s near-continuous revolts from the time the British took the island in 1655 to the decades following the abolition of slavery in 1834. Although discussions of African diasporic spiritual systems were very much alive in the early modern centuries, the forms that emerged in early colonial Jamaica have received little scholarly treatment. This study is an attempt to inject culture into the story of African resistance to slavery and colonialism in Jamaica by reconceptualizing three major rebellions as cultural rather than military histories and by highlighting the role of magic and divination in the genesis of these freedom struggles. The First Maroon War, Tacky’s Revolt, and the 1823 Boxing Day Conspiracy illuminate a clear system of supernatural understanding that came to include a definite link to political resistance and rebellion. These understandings were recognized by enslaved or formerly enslaved Africans as well as the British in Jamaica and abroad. Some work must be done to delineate what European settlers were responding to as the idea of obeah—and how it was related to European ideas about witchcraft and illicit magic—from the ideas held among African peoples. This is especially significant following Tacky’s Revolt, when the first anti-obeah laws in the Caribbean made obeah an explicitly political action. Europeans were clearly wrapped up in the politics of obeah to a degree that did not concern Africans. However, Africans also used obeah as a crucial form of political resistance. Thus, these three cases allow both British and African ideas about obeah to be traced over a century to reinject a cultural history of African-derived spirituality into an otherwise political narrative.

This study explores the eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century German dramatic genre Sklavenstücke (slave plays). These plays, which until recently have not received any significant attention in scholarship, articulate a nuanced critique of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade and thus bear witness to an early German-language discourse indicative of abolitionist currents.Tracing individual acts of German-language abolitionism, I investigate the correlation between abolitionist movements in the Euro-American space and German involvements in these very efforts. In this sense, I contest the notion of an absence of German abolitionist awareness in Europe during the Age of Enlightenment. My reading of these slave plays contributes to discussions about the transcultural nature of abolitionist discourse and defies the notion that abolitionist activism only emerged within the specific nation-states that have previously been the subject of scholarship. Challenging this layering both theoretically and analytically, then, requires an innovative shift that centers approaches rooted in Black thought and theories, which are the foundation of this study. These concepts are necessary for engaging with issues of slavery and abolition while at the same time exposing white paternalist perspectives and gazes. Plays of this genre often foreground the horrors of slavery at the hands of cruel white slaveholders, and characterize enslaved Black Africans as unblemished, obedient, submissive, hard-working, and grateful “beings” deserving of humanitarian benevolence. Based on these sentiments, an overarching discourse opposing slavery and the transatlantic slave trade emerged by way of German-language theatrical plays, theoretical treatises, newspaper articles, academic writings, travelogues, diary entries, and journal articles that negotiated the nature, origin, and legitimacy of Black African humanity around debates on slavery. Thus, my study demonstrates that these German-language literary contributions indicate inscribed socio-critical commentary and take up transatlantic abolitionist discourses, a dialogue that surfaced under the auspices of the Enlightenment.

This research looks at the epidemic of suicide among Nigerian Americans specifically based in the United States. The Work of Emile Durkheim in his 1897 book, Suicide will inform most of the research works in discussing suicide in general. This research draws mostly on primary sources including published articles, books, and personal accounts on the topic. The goal of this research is to shine a much-needed light on the growing rate of suicide among minorities in America, specifically Nigerian Americans, looking at the history of Nigerian presence in the U.S. till now. The aspect explored include religion, values, home, and immigration as considerable factors when dealing with suicides among Nigerian American populations. As part of this thesis, I conducted a survey on suicide to see what Nigerian Americans think of suicide and to better understand the reasons for suicide among young Nigerian Americans. The majority of the respondents are from Arizona and Colorado. Results of the survey conducted suggest that loneliness, academic failure, family issues, depression increase or contribute to the risk of suicide among young Nigerian Americans. This research will provide adequate information on suicide in general and identifying markers as to which types are likely occurring when concern rises.