bolic of the cultural transformation that had taken place. Colonial Louisiana also provided opportunities for viable African maroon communities. The geographic environment of Louisiana with its bayous, thick swamps and intricate river system, contributed to the ability of Africans to evade capture and move about with relative freedom. Gwendolyn Hall depicts how Africans created a network of "secret" communities in the cypress swamps surrounding plantations. These Maroons would hide out "for weeks, months and even years on or behind their master's estates without being detected or apprehended" (Hall 203). Hall describes the creolization of Africans and Europeans in Colonial Louisiana: "Conditions prevailing...molded a Creole or Afro-American slave culture through the process of blendingand adaptation of slave materials brought by the slaves..." (159). Lower mortality rates among slaves, levels of freedom gained through escape and survival in the swamps and a relatively small white population led Hall to characterize Louisiana as creating "the most Africanized slave culture in the Untied States" (161). Creole culture came out of a consolidation of African, European and Native American cultures. The dominance of African linguistic and cultural patterns made this culture predominately an Afro-Creole culture. Providing compelling evidence for the argument of transformations of African culture is the study of slave life in Colonial South Carolina. Africans contributed tremendously to the successful settlement of the Colony and adapted and retained elements of their roots into unique African American communities. These communities included unique family and religious structures. Before the Stono Rebellion of 1739, slaves were allowed a considerable amount of freedom to associate among themselves. They were also encouraged to have families and allowed to exercise a large degree of autonomy in raising their children. As noted by P...
