outh Carolina leading up to theStono Rebellion led to its inclusion in the Negro Act of 1740. The Act made poisoning a felony punishable by death. In conclusion, both significant African retentions and transformations took place in the early European settlement of theAmericas. More recently, there has been a tendency to overemphasize or even romanticize the "Africanisms." While acknowledging "Africanisms" did make their way into the Americas, I find the evidence from accounts of early slave cultures and the Anthropological background provided by Thornton on cultural transformation and change persuasive in suggesting the formation of Afro- American rather than "Afro-centric" communities. This approach to the slavery and the slave era is relatively young and will have to be developed. A conclusion that is clear after studying works of Peter Wood, Gwendolyn Hall andRichard Price, is that the early arguments suggesting no connection of African heritage to the Americas are entirely invalid....