Why didn American slaves develop a distinct culture?
I do not really agree with the premise of this question. Most history books emphasize that slaves did, indeed, develop a culture of their own. They emphasize how slave music, especially, expressed this culture of their own and how that even ended up influencing the culture of the slaves’ masters. To the extent that they did not develop a distinct culture, it would be because they were constantly being influenced by and interacting with the white people who lived around them. Because their culture and those of the whites interacted, the slave culture would not become totally distinct. Instead, you can argue, the slave and white cultures developed together and were too closely intertwined to be able to be separate.
