African American Studies Commons^™

“Voodoo” In The Black Atlantic: Haiti And New Orleans Compared, 1791-1915, Susan L. Kwosek

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation is a comparative study of religious development, resilience, and sustainability in Haiti and New Orleans between 1804 and 1915. In each location, a new religion developed from the spiritual practices of enslaved Africans: Haitian Vodou and New Orleanian Voodoo. This study asks key questions about religious development, resilience, and overall sustainability in the Black Atlantic. How did Haitian Vodou mature into a national religion and resist challenges to its legitimacy from Haitian elites and Euro-Americans throughout the Atlantic World? How were whites in the U.S. able to usurp the identity of New Orleanian ceremonial Voodoo and transform it …