A Culinary Fusion
Enslaved Africans continued their culinary traditions through growing plants in gardens around their living quarters that came from West Africa as well as new plants available to them in the Americas. Click on the plants below to explore their connection to enslaved Africans and their descendants.
Vigna unguiculata
Oryza glaberrima
Hibiscus sabdariffa
Colocasia esculentis
Sorghum bicolor
Pennisetum glaucum
Sesamum indicum
Solanum aethiopicum
Capsicum frutescens ‘African Bird’s Eye’
Capsicum annuum ‘Fish Pepper’
Arachis hypogaea
Allium cepa
Cucurbita moschata
Solanum lycopersicum
Amaranth spp.
Food as Medicine
Enslaved Africans continued their traditional medicinal practices of holistic healing through the use of medicinal plants, including food plants.
Abelmoschus esculentus
Brassica oleracea
Citrullus lanatus
Zea mays 'Orchard baby sweet corn'
Capsicum annuum
Solanum tuberosum
Rheum rhabarbarum
Sorghum bicolor
Holistic Healing Herbs
Enslaved Africans continued their traditional medicinal practices of holistic healing using plants from Africa and plants available to them in the Americas.
Ricinus communis
Ocimum basilicum
Ocimum gratissimum
Sambucus canadensis
Chelone glabra
Asclepias tuberosa
Monarda punctata
Nepeta cataria
Papaver somniferum
Salvia lyrata
Verbascum thapsus
Dysphania ambrosioides
Plants for Material Uses
Some plants were grown for material uses including bottle gourds for containers and flax for making fabrics and fibers.
Cash Crops
Enslaved Africans and their descendants were forced to cultivate and harvest these five main cash crops in the Americas.
Saccharum officinarum
Gossypium hirsutum
Nicotiana tabacum
Oryza sativa 'Carolina Gold'
Indigofera tinctoria