Characterizing the Religious Encounter between Moravians and Saramakas

The slave owners would “fetch the niggers in and have prayers” (51), forcing them to become Christians whilst ignoring their own Christian maxim, ‘God created all men equal’ by treating their slaves as lesser beings. Twain also shows us the futility of society’s fanatic attempt to convert everyone to Christianity. This is brought to our attention comically with Jim’s view of King Solomon. Jim has been taught “…bout dat chile dat

“Roll, Jordan, Roll”, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Had”, “Go Down, Moses”, and “Wade in the Water” are the titles of only a handful of what were called “Negro Spirituals”, which originated during the reign of slavery in the United States (Frey). Such spirituals used call-and-response, a method of communication that was popular with slaves who brought African traditions to America, and gave way to the gospel music and unique form of preaching characteristic to the Black Church. The history of the Black Church, which began during the slave era, demonstrates the way that African Americans found refuge in Christianity, where the church became the center for African American communities (Baer). Born out of struggle and oppression, the Black Church not only became the focus for the religious practices of African American communities, but also worked to “re-member” the community through rituals such as that of call-and-response, a core element of the Black Church which served as a powerful tool for the African American community in the fight for the exercise of true freedom in America.

Black religion was no longer regarded as exemplary or special. During a time of growing segregation and violence, some black leaders attempted to counter this perspective seen by whites by embracing the romantic racialist notions that “blacks possessed peculiar gifts.” These gifts being directly connected to the importance of black churches in a time of direct exclusion of blacks from other pieces of society.

The painting that Smith portrays through her mother’s experiences are relatable for those who have or know peers that have religious black grandmothers. She connects us to her mother’s origins and views through flashbacks and what we presume to be her mother's thoughts at the time, “And within walking distance of wherever she lived, there had to be a Baptist Church where she could pull on the pure white gloves of service and wail to the rafters when she felt the hot icy hand of the Holy Ghost pressing insistently at the small of her back. Yes, Jesus had to be there after all. He had blessed her journey so far…. She was his child, building herself anew here in the North” (p 276). Smith’s says her mother has simple but big dreams which consisted of taking her religion she grew up with in the South and bringing them up to the North but better. Her dresses are better to show that she is better than the South. Her mother wants to fit into the North and appearances matter to her, society’s rules are what is ‘right’ according to Smith’s mother. The author shows us a snippet of her mother’s journey to before giving us a view of her thoughts on why she shouldn’t learn to ‘talk

Many people believe that Christians played a great role in abolishing slavery. However, Douglass’ ideas about religion and its connection to slavery shine a light on the dark side of Christianity. Douglass’ account of his own life is a very eloquent first hand retelling of the suffering and cruelty that many slaves were going through. His account gives a detail of the ills that were committed against the slaves. The atrocities committed by the various different masters varied in intensity depending on the masters’ individual personality (Glancy 42). This first hand narrative gives us a glimpse in to the connection between religion (Christianity) and slavery.

In early nineteenth-century Charleston, homeowners owned slaves, businesses owned slaves, and as did some of the free African Americans. This was the same for many cities in early America however time progressed and soon American cities abolished slavery albeit Charleston did not. Charleston, South Carolina, a very Southern city, was well known for its aristocratic classes of wealthy people and its large population of slaves. The civilians were known for their Southern pro-slavery views and hatred to those who oppress their beliefs of slavery, specifically the Quakers; abolitionists of slavery and for women’s rights. My life setting here in Canada is contradicting to those of the early nineteenth century lifestyles. In Canada, we believe in equality for colour and gender alike while in Charleston this was the flip. Sarah Grimke, a woman of Quaker faith belonging to a family of pro-slavery, is not only berated for her long time views of slavery but also for her goals and dreams for women. Upon Sarah’s arrival from her new home in the North to her old home back in Charleston a woman stated but was soon cut off, “You’re the Grimke daughter, aren’t you…the one who-…She’d meant to say the one who betrayed us.” (Kidd

This statement further reveals the factions that had surfaced as a result of racial tensions as both races feared one another to an extent. The blacks feared the whites because of their power, and the whites feared the blacks gaining any power. These racial tensions through the verbal propaganda of whites versus blacks intensified to a point where it eventually got in the way with some people’s faith and belief, “‘Is Jesus white?’ said [the student in Sunday School]. Rev. Owens said no. ‘Then how come they make him white here in this picture?’... ‘If they put Jesus in this picture here, and He ain’t white, and He ain’t black, they should make Him gray. Jesus should be gray.’ Richie stopped going to Sunday school after that.” (McBride 53). Had tensions not been so high during the time period, Richie may not have cared that Jesus was depicted as white. However as anti-color propaganda was being tossed at the opposing race, it struck towards individuals such as Richie to be a large deal and as a result he let the tension destroy his sense of faith, indicating the power of propaganda during this period. Social ladders become intensified through the creation of racially separated schools, stores, churches, water fountains, buses and more.People’s treatment of the opposing race began to worsen when these factions were created. Propaganda shows the spreading of information controls society’s thoughts and emotions as the art behind the language and the author’s expression of the

The Great Awakening of the 1730s significantly altered the social structure of early Americal colonial society. The laity’s internal subjectivity and passional experiences were validated in regards to religious sentiments. This novel type of engagement of the laity is significant, as previously voiceless social and racial classes were given the authority to proclaim and propagate their interpretations of biblical scripture. The New Lights’ emphasis on the transformative power of the Holy Spirit severed social norms and exalted and justified the personal experiences of commoners against that of the old order. Moreover, the revivals challenged the prevailing social and religious elite by questioning the sincerity of their religious convictions. The conservative religious rationalism was challenged by a novel and enthusiastic expression of faith characterized by personal experience and individual sensory experience. The New Lights, or the revivalist leaders, deplored the abundance of inequality between rich landowners in relation to poor and indebted frontier farmers. I interpret the revival as an intellectual severance from the old order, or the Old Light’s doctrine’s of salvation. Jonathan Edwards, the revival’s prominent contributor, launched an attack against the rationalism and conservatism of the old religious order and emphasized a New Birth, characterized by passional and experiential conversion. My analysis of the Great Awakening brings forth evidence that the New

Black Christianity in the South came into being "not only because of white missionaries and pastors but also in what historians have called the

Beginning chronologically with Elias Boudinot, a Cherokee convert to Christianity, Boudinot’s speech “Address to the Whites” requests American financial aid to his tribe to purchase printing equipment and begin a school. He remarks that these funds are necessary as the Cherokee can become civilized, with financial and spiritual assistance.

The author starts out by describing the harsh situation slaves were put in and how the black experience in America is a history of servitude and resistance, of survival in the land of death. The spirituals are the historical songs which tell us what the slaves did to hold themselves together and to fight back against their oppressors. In both Africa and America, music was directly related to daily life and was an expression of the community’s view of the world and its existence in it. The central theological concept, which is the prime religious factor, in the black spirituals is the divine liberation of the oppressed from slavery. Further, the theological assumption of black slave religion as expressed in the spirituals was that slavery contradicts God, and therefore, God will liberate black people. This factor came from the fact that many blacks believed in Jesus, and therefore, believed that He could save them from the oppression of slavery because of his death and resurrection. The fact that the theme of divine liberation was present in the slave songs is supported by three main assertions: the biblical literalism of the blacks forced them to accept the white viewpoints that implied God’s approval of slavery, the black songs were derived from white meeting songs and reflected the "white" meaning of divine liberation as freeing one from sin (not slavery), and that the spirituals do not contain "clear references to the desire for freedom". The extent of

The African Methodist Episcopal Church also known as the AME Church, represents a long history of people going from struggles to success, from embarrassment to pride, from slaves to free. It is my intention to prove that the name African Methodist Episcopal represents equality and freedom to worship God, no matter what color skin a person was blessed to be born with. The thesis is this: While both Whites and Africans believed in the worship of God, whites believed in the oppression of the Africans’ freedom to serve God in their own way, blacks defended their own right to worship by the development of their own church. According to Andrew White, a well- known author for the AME denomination, “The word African means that our church was

Through out the entire time period of slavery, religion remained a high priority and a way in which to label different social groups. The lack or complete non-existence of religion among Africans led to them being viewed as somewhat inferior. Later in the second chapter Jordan talks about how during the slave era religion distinguished whites from blacks. Also how classification changed once Africans began to enter the Christian church. He himself viewed this type of labeling somewhat ridiculous, in that many of the Africans were baptized before the came to the New World. Thus they in many circles would be identified as Christians. This important information helps show the reader how the justifications for slavery evolved. Jordan captures the utter and blatant hypocrisy that the colonies exuded with regards to the slave situation. Jordan also sees religious injustice within the treatment of Indians and Africans. The English made attempts to convert the Indians and had little desire or intention to do the same for Africans. This again shows to what lengths early Americans went in creating a subculture for the purpose of slavery.

The memoir of Old Elizabeth presents a rare and important slave narrative in which the stories of African American women intersect with the experiences of African American people in roles of religious leadership. Elizabeth broke many of societies conventions at the time by preaching and holding religious meeting despite being woman. Her religious work was met with backlash from the church and from many other people who did not accept the idea of a woman leading religious services, yet she continued to practice until her health would no longer allow for it. This is unusual as it spends most of the narrative on the time after she was free rather than focusing on the time that she was enslaved the way that many slave narratives do.

One of the strongest factors which helped slaves keep their cultural forms alive, according to Hamilton-Willie (2003) “was their stubbornness, rebelliousness and often disregard for the prohibitions against their culture”. This was often in the form of practicing religious practices which were outlawed by the enslavers, and fetes which took place without the planter’s consent. These forms of rebellion kept up the culture of the slaves and promoted a greater, more relevant sense of self.