African American’s most important cultural characteristic is its love of food, resulting from the years of slavery and oppression they went through. Because food is such a strong and powerful key in black tradition, it is proven that African Americans that have struggled through the years and developing their own identity in fact resulted in what we know as “soul food”.
“Soul food”, as we call it, was created in slavery times and is the foundation for the African American food we have today. As the basis of black culture soul food is what has brought African American families together for many years, good and bad times. Slavery in America began when the first African slaves were taken and brought to America. The first colony to ever begin to use slaves was Jamestown, Virginia in the early 1600s.
African American slaves helped build the foundation of the newly inhabited land called America. When the cotton gin of 1793 was invented the demand for slaves became a vital importance for the need of slavery in southern America’s economy, such as The Carolinas and Georgia. In the mid- 1800s America’s growing empire of slavery and the importance of freedom incited a great debate over slavery that divided the nation apart North vs. South resulting in the bloody American war, called the Civil War. In 1865 the Civil War released the nation’s millions of slaves. The legacy of slavery continued to influence American history, resulting in the African American culture known today.
The growth of soul food began in the times of slavery when hope was slowly being lost from the slaves at the time, but was developed and changed into the black Southern cuisine known today. Though the Civil War gave them back their freedom, it did not give them the same rights of a normal American. Inequality, prejudice, and hate still hung heavily in the air even after African Americans were given their freedom, a prejudice and hate that still remains today. It was black’s determination...