Episode 224: Kevin Dawson, Aquatic Culture in Early America

by Emily SneffFebruary 5, 2019

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The Atlantic World has brought many disparate peoples together, which has caused a lot of ideas and cultures to mix.

How did the Atlantic World bring so many different peoples and cultures together? How did this large intermixing of people and cultures impact the development of colonial America?

Kevin Dawson, an Associate Professor of History at the University of California-Merced and author of Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora, joins us to explore answers to these questions with an investigation of the African Diaspora and African and African American aquatic culture.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

Episode Summary

Kevin Dawson, an Associate Professor of History at the University of California-Merced and author of Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora, joins us to explore African and African American aquatic culture and how different aspects of that culture impacted the growth and development of colonial America.

During our investigation, Kevin reveals information about the African Diaspora and how it brought African peoples to the Americas and the Caribbean; Why it’s important to view people as working, living, and operating on both land AND water; And, the ways in which water featured into the lives of Africans and African Americans and how their water cultures impacted the development of colonial America.

What You’ll Discover

The African Diaspora
The African Diaspora by the numbers
Impacts of the African Diaspora
African aquatic culture
Importance of viewing people as working, living, and operating on both land and water
How water featured into African and African American lives and culture
The roles of gender and age in African aquatic culture
The relationship of Europeans and Euro-American colonists with water
Ways African and African Americans used aquatic skills and knowledge to advantage
Shipwreck diving and divers
African and African American canoe cultures and traditions
The myth Native Americans introduced Africans to canoes
African canoe culture in early North America
How African and African American aquatic culture impacted the American institution of slavery

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Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if Africans had not brought their deep aquatic culture and powerful aquatic skills to North America? How would the history of early America be different?