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New York and London: New York University Press, 2001. Pp. 332. illustrations, tables, notes, bibliography, index.
Craig Stephen Wilder offered his book, In The Company of Black Men, as an answer to historians who argued that African American institutional life was derived from white cultural standards. Instead of imitating white existing institutions such as churches and fraternal organizations, Wilder countered that early black institutions in New York City reflected a West African legacy. The thesis of the book as expressed by Wilder is "a reinterpretation of the origins of African American religion by locating the voluntary associations as a West African legacy and the source of the peculiar heredity of black institutional and philosophical Christianity."
Wilder emphasized that the degrading nature of slavery did not erode completely an African value system nor did it leave the enslaved docile. He stressed that captured Africans resisted their enslavement by utilizing intergenerational and intertribal secret societies that had their origins in West Africa. For example, he noted that the 1741 slave conspiracy in Manhattan was fueled by African traditions which nearly brought the city to the brink of revolution. Readers would at this point appreciate Wilder offering more analysis and evidence. Where in Africa did the enslave come from? Which tribes united to plan this conspiracy? Were the activists in the conspiracy acting as "Africans" devoid of western influences and psychological understanding of their oppressors, or were they somewhat acculturated to Euro-Americans values which may have assisted them in their planning?
In The Company of Black Men is a study of nationalism as applied to the formation of...