Final answer:
Enslaved people created a sense of family and camaraderie through kinship networks, communal traditions, and marriage forming the backbone of their cultural identity. They sustained African traditions and religious beliefs while also employing forms of resistance using the ideologies of white southerners against them.
Step-by-step explanation:
Enslaved people in the Americas established a sense of family and camaraderie as a means to maintain their dignity and identity within the oppressive slave system. These kinship networks and communal traditions served as a sanctuary from the brutalities of slavery. Marriage and the formation of nuclear households were central to this cultural and identity formation. Despite not being legally recognized, families of mother, father, children, and often other extended relatives formed, showing the high value placed on familial structures. Enslaved individuals also found camaraderie by assigning kinship terms to fellow laborers, fostering a sense of family among those forcibly separated from their biological relatives.
These familial bonds played a crucial role in sustaining African ancestral traditions and religious beliefs, which often merged with elements of Christianity taught by slaveholders. These customs were passed down through generations and shared across plantations, enabling enslaved people to resist assimilation into the dehumanizing slave system. Communal efforts also extended to resistance, using paternalism and Christianity to their advantage in resisting and revolting against slaveholders.