Talk:Oaths

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• Denying the brutality of slavery, colonial authorities attributed the cause of insurrections to African rituals, which supposedly coerced rebels into participating. Although similar sacred oaths were documented in many parts of Africa, British authorities did not prohibit them until the mid-twentieth century after nationalist movements, particularly the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya in the 1950s, increasingly threatened the stability of the colonial regimes.
  • Danielle N. Boaz, “Witchcraft, Witchdoctors and Empire: The Proscription and Prosecution of African Spiritual Practices in British Atlantic Colonies, 1760-1960s”, Miami.edu, (2014-07-31), pp. 12-13

• Based on the records that historians have examined to date, one of the earliest instances of such oath-taking was in [[w:Antigua|Antigua in 1736. Supposed conspirators testified that the enslaved insurgents planned a rebellion to begin on October 11th, the night that a ball was scheduled to take place to celebrate the anniversary of the coronation of Britain’s King George II. However, the ball was postponed until the end of the month and the plot was uncovered before the insurrection actually began. According to the testimony of tortured conspirators and participants who betrayed their fellow rebels, the insurgents had taken several oaths in preparation for the revolt. They promised to be faithful to one another, to stand by each other, to kill all whites, and to suffer death rather than reveal the plans they had discussed. They sealed these oaths by drinking a mixture composed of rum (or some other kind of liquor), grave dirt and, sometimes, chicken’s blood. Similar oath-taking was described in St. Croix in 1759, as a part of another slave insurrection. When captured, participants in this rebellion reported that two members of their group had cut their fingers, and they mixed their blood with water]][[ and grave dirt. The participants drank the mixture, swearing not to reveal the planned rebellion.
  • Danielle N. Boaz, “Witchcraft, Witchdoctors and Empire: The Proscription and Prosecution of African Spiritual Practices in British Atlantic Colonies, 1760-1960s”, Miami.edu, (2014-07-31), pp. 38-39

• Although British authorities did not initially proscribe sacred oaths in African colonies, this changed in the mid-twentieth century. By 1930, Nyasaland (Malawi) implemented a law that prohibited administering or taking “unlawful oaths” to bind someone to commit a crime, engage in “seditious enterprise,” disturb public peace, or obey the orders of any body of men that was not lawfully constituted. If an individual participated in such an oath, he or she could avoid conviction by reporting the oath to the authorities within fourteen days.
  • Danielle N. Boaz, “Witchcraft, Witchdoctors and Empire: The Proscription and Prosecution of African Spiritual Practices in British Atlantic Colonies, 1760-1960s”, Miami.edu, (2014-07-31), p. 77