Nineteenth-Century New Orleans Voudou An American Religion

This article interrogates nineteenth-century New Orleans Voudou as American, as religion, and finally as American religion. To achieve this end, there is a focus throughout on outsider perceptions and descriptions of Voudou, as well as an attempt to understand the tradition itself. Outsiders in the nineteenth century denied Voudou’s legitimacy as a religion and as American, despite evidence to the contrary. Toggling between white outsider perceptions of Voudou and a historicized examination of the tradition itself, this essay offers a multi-layered analysis of New Orleans Voudou. Perhaps one of the clearest things this study reflects is the contested nature of American religion, who draws the boundary lines around “legitimate” American religion, and how they draw those lines.