slavery and religion in the antebellum south

Reprinted by Dover, New York, 1969): 1-2. In the beginning the two Slavery and Religion in the Antebellum South. Finally, by 2004, when Dorothea S. Ruiz’s book, Amazing Grace: African American Grandmothers as caregivers and Conveyors of Traditional Values, appears, the approach to slave religion is not only free of bias but also gendered. A Descriptive Character Analysis of Olivia Pope, Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, The Double Victory Campaign and the Black Press: A Conservative Approach to 'Victory' at Home and Abroad. Request Permissions. (2011). Slaves' religious songs. $34.95 cloth. Thus, slaves accepted Christianity not because their masters imposed it on them, but because it was a trend in Africa, from where they had come, and some refused to adopt it because in Africa they had adopted Islam.xv Also, Christianity was adapted and in some cases converged with African beliefs.xvi One example would be the religious dancing and shouting, which originated in the African spirit possessions but now represented Christian ecstatic experiences.xvii In addition, religion compensated for the hard life of slavery and helped in the resistance of slaves to it.xviii The latter example stands for resistance as well, since it empowered slaves to ask for the back-rails on seats to be removed so that they could pray.xix Their prayers were also symbols of resistance (e.g., they prayed for freedom, they prayed even when they were forbidden to, and they refused to pray for the Confederacy, when their masters ordered them to),xx and spirituals were shouted, dramatized, giving slaves strength, meaning and hope.xxi Despite the white ministers’ trying to label these traditions as sins, African-Americans kept them alive.xxii Moreover, slaves accused their masters through other whites, formed Christian fellowships, organized their own churches (African Baptist Churches),xxiii and had their own black preachers, who obtained the license to preach and were very eloquent, thus proving the abilities of blacks.xxiv These considerations of Raboteau are not Euro-centric anymore and focus on the slaves’ agency-something that was denied to them in most of Puckett’s pages. other scholarly journals. In a collection of essays, Masters and Slaves in the House of the Lord: Race and Religion in the American South, the focus is on the slave communities’ adaptation of Christianity. Thus, as we follow this time trajectory one can see that from the 1920s to the 1960s, the views about slaves’ religion were very biased and Eurocentric, but even then, the forms of resistance to slave-owners’ control through religion were quite obvious. Puckett, Newbell N. The Magic and Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro. 7 Mitchell Snay, Gospel of Disunion: Religion and Separatism in the Antebellum South (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 54. Cite Icon Cite. students of American history to stay up to date in their discipline. “Religion and Slavery – The Case of the American South.” Slavery, Religion and Reform – Essays in Memory of Roger Anstey. Randall M. Miller et al. Stephanie Buzzard Ms. Renae Newhouse WRD 110-020 November 4, 2011 Slavery in the Antebellum South Slavery was a popular practice in the South during the Civil War Era. This they did through their challenges to such images as the Jezebel and Mammy, through teaching their children religious and moral values, and through maintaining a good psychological standing and an empowerment through prayer of the community, thus demonstrating the humanity and dignity of slaves. Reviews in American History provides an effective means for scholars and Go to Table John B. Boles, ed., Masters and Slaves in the House of the Lord: Race and Religion in the. However, as one goes into the 1970s and 1980s, the focus fell more on the way slaves used religion to cope with slavery by adapting Christianity to their own needs, and thus on slaves’ agency. Later on, in the 1970s and 1980s these traditions are considered as actually having been weak among the Southern slaves, replaced by Christianity, which, however, was adapted by the slaves according to their needs. There are many misconceptions about the types of races and ethnicities that were sold into slavery.… Resistance to oppression is often found in the most unlikely of places. Facebook; Twitter; Email; Tools Icon Tools. Find books xxxiii.) Updated Edition. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1926. However, by 1820, political and economic pressure on the South placed a wedge between the North and South. Inquiries Journal/Student Pulse 3.01 (2011). For many decades, scholars have debated the importance of religion in helping slaves cope with the horrible experience of slavery in the antebellum South. The Archaeology of African-American Slave Religion in the Antebellum South. By Janet Duitsman Cornelius. The Gentlemen Theologians: American Theology in Southern Culture, 1795-1860. HFS provides print and digital distribution for a distinguished list of university presses and nonprofit institutions. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1988. Different forms of slavery existed for over 18 centuries within Christianity. Notes and indexes. 2011. The Journals Division publishes 85 journals in the arts and humanities, technology and medicine, higher education, history, political science, and library science. African American slaves photographed after the Civil War, From the 1920s to the 1960s, Newbell N. Puckett was the major name in researching religion and slavery. Books Albert J. Raboteau. Although the bodies of the slaves were suffering, their souls were saved through conversion to Christianity. For almost eight decades, enslaved African-Americans living in the Antebellum South, achieved their freedom in various ways—one being religion—before the demise of the institution of slavery. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996. In the 1970s, the focus changed, as Albert Raboteau’s analysis of slave religion demonstrates. , Basu-Zharku, Iulia O. Using a variety of first and second-hand sources--some objective, some personal, all riveting--Raboteau analyzes the transformation of the African religions into evangelical Christianity. Religion was a stabilizing factor in the otherwise insecure and cruel slavery life, and grandmothers were the teachers and spiritual leaders, who practiced vividly the religion (e.g., older slave women led religious testimony and spirit possession and were more open than men in practicing religion) and taught the children the values and rituals of it.xlii Older slave women were the maintainers and fighters for hope, who emphasized the freedom of the spirit, giving encouragement and support to those around them, through their prayers for freedom, good crops, and good mental health, which they performed, encouraged the rest of the slave community to practice and taught the children.xliii Because of this, they ensured a good psychological health for the slaves and empowered the community, through strengthening communal relationships. Retrospective essays examining landmark works by Slave Religion The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978. In addition, in his view, blacks emulated white culture in general, adopting Christianity but keeping the African tendency of concentrating on the relationship between man and God, with no heavy accent on morality. Every Sunday, Tanner gathered all of his slaves around him and read favorite passages from the Bible. Slave trading was a lucrative business, but it sometimes led to the breakup of slave … 6 ibid., 43. For this reason, they had a very high standing in the slave society and family.xl Through this role older slave women taught slave children the scriptures, Negro spirituals, prayers, and hymns, but they also taught them about the power of God, and social and spiritual values: self-respect, how to live a good life, the importance of giving back to the community, of serving God, of the need of women to take care of themselves.xli This ensured not only a good psychological standing for the slave community but fought against the objectification of slave women as Jezebels and Mammy’s and, in general, proved the humanity of the slaves. In a new chapter in this anniversary edition, author Albert J. Raboteau reflects upon the origins of the book, the reactions to it over the past twenty-five years, and how he would write it differently today. John Boles and Donald Mathews, Religion in the Old South (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977). Literacy meant liberation of mind and soul and sometimes even person. Read your article online and download the PDF from your email or your account. Some practiced African religions, including Islam, others practiced Christianity. Representing the work of students from hundreds of institutions around the globe, Inquiries Journal's large database of academic articles is completely free. Updated Edition. However, the way they treated the subject differs and the conclusions they reached are varied. Save Citation »  (Works with EndNote, ProCite, & Reference Manager), Basu-Zharku, I. O. © 2020 Inquiries Journal/Student Pulse LLC. One of the largest publishers in the United States, the Johns Hopkins University Press combines traditional books and journals publishing units with cutting-edge service divisions that sustain diversity and independence among nonprofit, scholarly publishers, societies, and associations. © 1979 The Johns Hopkins University Press "Slavery and Religion in the Antebellum South." issue presents in-depth reviews of over thirty of the newest books in Learn more | Blog | Submit. Most studies of slavery written since the early 1970s acknowledge the role of religion in the lives of slaves; indeed, it is now recognized as one of the central cultural artifacts of the slave experience. Other forms of resistance included demonstrative, emotional conversion experiences in which slave women would find the personhood and dignity refused them by their owners, fighting for their bodies-temples of the Holy Spirit-and thus not only denying the Jezebel image imposed on them but also complaining about the slave men’s sexual abuses (complaining about their masters sexually abusing them was not possible).xxxvi, Another way of resisting slavery was through baptism: by participating in church services, slave women pricked their owners’ consciousness about their humanity, and showed their maternal love. This study examined if main character Olivia Pope is a reflection of popular AfricanAmerican female stereotypes in television... People love a good story. All Rights Reserved. Illustrative to this were the biracial churches, in which slaves could not only show their humanity but also carve out their own space, in response to the segregation policies. Retail Price to Students: $19.99. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1978. x + 262 pp. Select a purchase option. Morton, Patricia. The demand for slaves was greatest in the Deep South, and the Upper South sold its slaves “down the river” at ever higher prices. Many slaves converted to another denomination than their masters urged them to (e.g., becoming Baptist instead of Methodist, singing Methodist hymns instead of practicing Catholicism)xxix or because of the inadequate conditions of worship, especially in the case of Catholicism (e.g., foreign-born priests, understaffed churches, priests breaking the silence of confession, and having to take communion after whites and free blacks).xxx Moreover, slaves took Catholicism and adapted it through syncretism with African religious traditions (e.g., using candles, feast days, burial customs etc. The major religious groups in the South during the first half of the 19th century were the Methodist and Baptist churches. Some examples include hoodoo doctors giving charms to run away,ix root chewingx or walking backwards and throwing dirt over the left shoulder to avoid whipping,xi and bewitching the master’s wife to feel the whipping.xii He also contended that black churches had their own traits: the music, songs, and the spontaneous dance-rhythm.xiii Moreover, learning the bible by singing (because slaves were not taught to read or write), and singing spirituals to let fellow slaves know of a religious meeting at nightxiv were also noted by Puckett as traits of the slaves’ agency. Slave Religion in the Antebellum South Published: January 2000 Share Icon Share. 416 pages Paperback 5-5/16 x 8 inches In Stock. Albert J. Raboteau, retired Princeton University Professor of Religion, wrote an exceptional book on the religious lives of African American slaves before the Civil War. Patricia Morton focused on slave women, their common images of Jezebels and Mammys, their lack of protection in front of hard labor, and their lack of being respected as women and mothers. Albert J. Raboteau. Being the ones to impart the traditions and values to the young generation, through storytelling, they were the ones who set the standard for suitable behavior-all this, while withstanding the brutality of slavery and empowering their families and fellow slaves. The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South. Du Bois' Double-Consciousness in the, The American Dream: Discourses of Equality and Achievability for Black Americans, Addressing Shortcomings in Afro-Pessimism, Do African-American Female Stereotypes Still Exist in Television? Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. 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