Slave Religion 261early decades of the 19th century. Oft en having fi rsthand
knowledge of slavery, these black leaders were fundamental
in bringing Christianity to the quarters.
Indeed, black preaching in Methodist and Baptist
churches and institutional church membership repre-
sented only one manifestation of slaves’ growing interest in
Christianity. On plantations where masters circumscribed
slaves’ ability to create independent religious institutions,
slaves looked outside of the formal church for spiritual
guidance free of proslavery propaganda. Th ese “invisible
institutions,” as one scholar has called them, lacked denom-
inational structure and formal membership, but nonethe-
less provided slaves with spiritual support and guidance.
As slaves “stole away,” gathering in cabins and brush har-
bors or “hush harbors” that were free from the prying eyes
of masters, slave preachers extolled messages of physical
and spiritual liberation. Th e result was a variation of Protes-
tant Christianity that resembled the emotionalism of earlier
revivals and integrated slave culture and African religions
into slave worship.
Part of slaves’ appropriation of Christianity also grew
out of the themes extolled in slave sermon and song. Old
Testament fi gures such as Moses achieved particular prom-
inence in slave preaching. Slaves saw themselves as the
wandering children of Israel, prisoners of Egypt who suf-
fered bondage under the Pharaoh and sought exodus. Th is
spiritual journey from slavery to freedom, as well as New
Testament messages, struck a chord among slaves. Indeed,
spirituals were perhaps the clearest expression of slave faith
and a desire to be relieved of the suff ering of their world.
Immediately following the Civil War, one close ob-
server of slave religious practices heard one of the many
songs of freedom that epitomized the core message of slave
religion. As slaves sung of being set free and rising from the
valley, they personifi ed the diffi cult journey from slavery to
freedom.
Aft er emancipation, the religion slaves created would
remain a cornerstone of black life and faith amid continued
struggles for social equality in the U.S. North and South.
See also: Black Folk Culture; Hush Harbors; Ring Shout;
Slave CultureErica Ann BruchkoBibliography
Genovese, Eugene D. Roll, Jordan, Roll. New York: Pantheon
Books, 1974.with Christian principles to create a unique form of Chris-
tianity that emphasized physical and spiritual liberation.
Th e messages of freedom and Christian deliverance
at the core of slave religion emerged in mid-18th-century
North America when a series of religious revivals swept
both the Northern and Southern colonies. Emotionally
charged and egalitarian in nature, the revivals attracted
large numbers of slaves, who saw elements of African re-
ligious practices in the expressive nature of evangelical
worship. Hundreds of blacks, remarked itinerant Method-
ist minister Devereux Jarratt, were moved to tears during a
revival that swept Virginia and North Carolina in the late
1770s (Raboteau, 1999). Th rough emphasis on personal
experience instead of rigorous and ascetic moral instruc-
tion, social divisions rooted in race, education, and status
that had previously separated black and white congregants
diminished.
As black and white attitudes toward religion shift ed, in-
creasing numbers of slaves joined evangelical churches. By
the 1790s, thousands of black congregants across the South
had become members of the two fastest-growing evangeli-
cal denominations among blacks and whites—Methodist
and Baptist. In 1797, the Methodist Church recorded over
12,000 black congregants—one-fourth of total church
membership. Similar numbers of slaves joined Baptist
churches, especially in rural areas. Spurred by revival and
the decentralized nature of the Baptist Church, the number
of black Baptists in early America increased from 18,000 in
1793 to 40,000 in 1813.
As slave membership increased and religious reviv-
als subsided, the presence of African elements in religious
worship gradually distinguished slave religion from main-
stream Christianity. “Ring shouts” of the South Carolina
and Georgia Lowcountry incorporated vocal responses,
clapping, and shuffl ing into worship, reminiscent of Afri-
can religious dance. Other African-infl uenced practices,
such as call-and-response” singing, also characterized the
religious worship of slaves. By using African cultural forms
to express Christian themes, slaves reaffi rmed their claims
to the Christian faith.
Black preachers, numbers of whom grew alongside con-
verts, also helped defi ne slave religion in important ways.
Although Southern law required white supervision of black
religious gatherings, licensed black Methodist and Baptist
ministers created congregations within white churches and
fostered the creation of independent black churches in the