This paper looks at the history and
influence of African-Americans on Spanish Colonial Florida as presented by Jane Landers
in her article, "Traditions of African-American Freedom and Community in Spanish Colonial Florida," and Robert Hall's "African Religious Retentions in Florida". Both writers present the African-Americans as people in their own right who flourished against the odds. In contrast, the paper shows that Samory Rashid's thesis in his article, "Islamic Origins of Spanish Florida's Fort Musa," suggests that the African-Americans'
influence began in their past when they lived in the West African and Islamic North regions, and to actually understand the heritage and influence the African-Americans have had, we must study the culture evident in these areas. The fact remains that he viewed the African-Americans through a repressive
slave past, decreasing the effectiveness of his thesis. This paper argues that the influence of Africans on the New World should not be viewed through their slave past; rather, the influence should be studied from the origins of the African peoples and how they flourished despite the restrictions placed within their social circles. Only then can the African influence on the New World be viewed as having more than 'survived' in face of slavery and be seen as a glorious fight to exist.