Religion, Race, and Rebellion

[MaxPain]

I wasn't raised in a Christian household but my family is very spiritual and more so practiced a mixed of things - both sides - but they did use the Bible and "spirit" as well. They used/use a version of ATR and the Bible together.

I know I preach this a lot on here - but you have to do your tree to find out what your ancestors were practicing and their spiritual beliefs - it's a great way to come full circle. It also pushes you through your own spiritual journey - so you will get clearly on your beliefs and such.

For instance, I knew my maternal Great Grannies were midwives - but I also knew they did some other stuff - like many Blacks from Alabama and the South in general do. When I went to Alabama last year for genealogy research I found out that one of them was interviewed for: Hoodoo Conjuration WItchcraft & Rootwork : Harry Middleton Hyatt : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive -- that was

Many Blacks from the South incorporated spiritual beliefs or remnants of ATR with the Bible/Christianity - and they still do.

For instance, Pastor C.H. Mason:

Mason was born the son of former slaves Jerry and Eliza Mason in Shelby County, Tennessee. He used "Hoodoo" and used magical sticks and items to heal and pray.​

Im from the Dominican Republic and its either Catholic, some christians in my family, or Santeria (African based/rooted spirituality). I honestly dont fukk with neither of the 3 for different reasons, especially the last one. I think the best thing for my peace of mind is to stick with just not a label, but beleiving in God and spirits. I dont like complicating things and Ive seen way too much propoganda from Catholics and Christians in DR and the US to ever have 100% faith in it. Im just way too skeptical of it.

Santeria is probably something thats closer to my ancestors cuz my aunt isnt the first “witch” in my family and isnt the last but I aint fukking with that either lol and Idk how to practice it correctly if theres even an way.

 

[Karb]

Dope thread. I keep trying to tell people that religions are systems of beliefs about the nature of reality and the purpose of our existence. Universal religions (religions that claim universality) transcend human constructs like race, nationality etc.. It doesn't mean that they cannot be politicized and manipulated to promote the interests of certain groups though. We've obviously seen this happen. The Saudis, for instance, promote a certain brand of Islam that favors their political positions (loyalty to the Saudi kingdom, even insinuating that they are "the leaders of the Muslims", branding groups and movements that are hostile to the kingdom and its policies as "deviant sects" etc).

Those who are in power have always promoted certain groups and censored others.

The Catholic Church used Christianity to enrich itself. When Kings and nobles were finally fed up of having to share their wealth and authority with the Catholic Church, they began to promote Protestantism. Religious rhetoric was used to promote and justify conquering foreign lands, enslaving people, confiscating their wealth etc..

All belief system, whether religious or secular, can be abused. The same people who used Christianity to enslave and colonize people in Africa, went on to use pseudoscientific "findings" to rationalize the exact same actions when Christianity fell out of favor as the West became more secularized. Today they use "democracy, freedom and development"- all secular ideals. The objective stays the same though. How about we focus on that?

The idea that certain religions breed c00ns is ridiculous and even childish. Nat Turner used the Bible to incite other blacks to riot. The same Bible that the whites used to enslave, torture and kill Africans. His Christianity was not the same as that of the Europeans even though they agreed on the core theology.

Hopefully this thread can help to promote a more nuanced understanding.

 

[Karb]

@Trajan

 

[BlackStarLine]

Subbing.
Great thread @Poitier

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Many Blacks from the South incorporated spiritual beliefs or remnants of ATR with the Bible/Christianity - and they still do.

For instance, Pastor C.H. Mason:

Mason was born the son of former slaves Jerry and Eliza Mason in Shelby County, Tennessee. He used "Hoodoo" and used magical sticks and items to heal and pray.​

Christine A. Scheller: What is the connection between Pentecostalism and African spirituality?

Estrelda Y. Alexander: Because the early leaders of Pentecostalism were African American, they had been grounded in a spirituality. A lot of times, because you don’t understand your past, you don’t even know what it is that influences you. Seymour grew up in Lousiana and Lousiana was a place where there was a lot of African spirituality around him that he imbibed as a young person. So some of the ways that African people are open to God get incorporated into Pentecostal worship, and you can see this in the difference between white and black Pentecostals even today. There’s this real sense of openness to the Spirit, but not naming it as African religion.

Christine A. Scheller: So, it’s a cultural influence?

Estrelda Y. Alexander: Right. They would never say that, but one of the people who specifically talked about embracing African roots as part of Pentecostalism was Charles Harrison Mason, the founder of the Church of God in Christ, which is the largest African American Pentecostal body in the world. He was unashamedly African in his approach to religion and incorporated things such as healing rituals that he not only found support for in the Bible, but also found support for in his African roots. He was not ashamed and he didn’t want Black people to be ashamed of their Africanness, and so he did things like using herbs and healing roots. Even though he saw this as healing that was being offered by the Holy Spirit, he also saw a place for the African herbs and the things that he had known in his childhood in the ritual of healing in the Black church.



There are elements of Africanism that no they are not named as that, but they get incorporated, such as the music. In the Black Pentecostal church, music is a mainstay, and it’s music at a different level. I’ve heard a critique by a middle class Black person who was appalled by the earthiness of the music in Black Pentecostal worship, and almost saw it as soulish, and didn’t think it was appropriate, because not just music, but rhythm and drums are important to African American Pentecostal worship. When Pentecostalism first began, people who were around Pentecostals thought their worship was appalling. For example, when Rev. Charles Parham came to Azusa Street, he called what he saw at the revival “crude Africanisms.” He was appalled at the openness to the Spirit. It wasn’t just speaking in tongues, but it was the shaking, the quaking, which many people would see as related to Spirit possession in African worship. Pentecostals would say, yes, there’s a Spirit possession, but they would redefine it as possession by the Holy Spirit. If you go back to slave religion, you had things like the “ring shout.” The people who were early Pentecostals weren’t that far removed from slavery, so some of that was in their memory and gets translated into some of the worship that happens in the early movement.

Pentecostalism's Neglected Black History | HuffPost

 

[xoxodede]

Pentecostalism's Neglected Black History | HuffPost

Thanks so much!! Added to my reading list!

 

[xoxodede]

1860
WHITE MAN PLANS A SLAVE INSURRECTION
A slave insurrection was planned in Winston County, Mississippi, led by a white man. The plan was to poison all the whites in the county on Election Day, take possession of the arms and fight a war of extermination of the whites. A slave girl, the property of C. D. Kelley, betrayed the plan. Forty slaves were arrested, one white man and one slave were hanged [Carroll: 1938, 198].

HUNDREDS OF SLAVES HANGED FOR INSURRECTION
Mrs. Laura S. Haviland witnessed hundred of slaves hanged in Natchez, Mississippi at the beginning of the Civil War for planning insurrection. According to her diary, a large number of slaves were hanged, owned by the following persons: Frank Susetts, 26, James Susetts, 7; Dr. Stanton, 8; Dr. Moseby, 26; widow Albert Dunbar, 48; Mrs. Brady, 12; Widow E. Baker, 28; Mrs. Alexander, 16; Dr. George Baldwin, 8; Stephen Odell, 5; G. Grafton, 5; James Brown, 3; Mr. Marshall, 1; Mr. Robinson, 2; Melon Davis, 1; widow Absalom Sharp, 3; Miss Mary Dunbar, 3; Joseph Reynolds, 3; Baker Robinson,m 3; Lee Marshall, whipped to death 1; Mrs. Chase, whipped to death 1; and total of 209 [Woman’s Life-Work: Labors and Experiences of Laura S. Haviland. Chicago: C. V.” Waite & Company, 1887. pp. 295-298].

SLAVE REVOLT DISCOVERED IN TENNESSEE
Congressman John H. Reagan wrote his brother regarding a plot by the slaves: "A plot has been discovered in Tennessee colony, and extending out from there, between some white men and negroes, similar to that in Dallas, Ellis and Tarrant counties. Indeed, it is regarded as a part of the same plot—to poison as many people as they could on Sunday Night before the election, and on the day of the election to burn the houses and kill as many of the women and children as they could while the men were gone to the election, and then kill the men as they returned home. On last Sunday two white men, who lived up near Catfish Bayou, were hung as the ringleaders of the plot in this county. Our vigilance committees and patrol have been active here in guarding against other dangers and in investigating this matter. One negro has been hung in Henderson and one in Cherokee County, and we are informed that the town of Henderson has been burned—supposed by incendiaries—but no particulars yet. …" [John H. Reagan to Morris Reagan, August 18, 1860, in John Townsend, The Doom of Slavery in the Union: Its Safety Out of It,Charleston, S.C., 1860. p. 34f].

TWO WHITES HANGED FOR TAMPERING WITH SLAVES
A store and post office at Lavernia were burned. Two whites, both named Boardwright, were hanged in Robertson County for “tampering with slaves." [Northern Standard,September 22, 1860].

3 SLAVES HANGED AND WHITE MAN IMPLICATED IN PLOT
In Fannin County, three slaves named Jess, Ruben, and Emma were hanged for killing their masters. “They confessed that a general uprising of the negroes of the neighborhood had been planned, and that a white man was at the head of it. [MatagordaGazette, January 4, 1860.]

FIVE WHITES AND FIFTY SLAVES HANGED FOR INSURRECTION
Two hundred slaves were involved in an insurrection plot. They were to meet at LaGrange with other slaves and then fight their way to freedom and escape to Mexico. Over five whites and 50 slaves were hanged in Fayette County since July [New OrleansPicayune, September 13, 1860]

THREE SLAVES HANGED FOR INSURRECTION
Over two hundred slaves arrested and questioned and punished by the “Committee of Vigilance.” Three leaders of the insurrection Sam Smith, Cato, and Patrick were hanged. All three met their death with composure “worthy of a better cause.” [Austin StateGazette, July 12, 1860.]

WHITE MAN BURNT TO DEATH FOR GIVING SLAVES PISTOLS
A white man was hanged for allegedly distributing pistols to slaves. The white man was burned to death on July 29 for his actions. [Matagorda Gazette, August 22, 1860.]

A WHITE MAN AND HIS SLAVE HANGED FOR BURING TOWN
The town of Henderson was set on fire by an incendiary and the damage was reported at over $200, 00. A local white man, Green Herndon, and a slave of his were hanged. [Matagorda Gazette, August, 22, 1860].

SEVERAL WHITES AND BLACKS CHARGED WITH INSURRECTION
The Washington County Vigilance Committee arrested several slaves who were charged with planning, along with several whites, a “general insurrection to take place on August 6, 1860. What happened to them is not recorded. [Brenham Enquirer, August 11, 1860.]

1861
SLAVES REVOLT WITH THE ASSISTANCES OF 5 WHITES
In Greensboro, Alabama, there was an insurrection of the slaves assisted by five white men. Four whites were killed and 16 African Americans hanged on the charge of making insurrection [Moore, The Rebellion Records, I, 12, (Poetry and Incidents].

TWO SLAVES AND A GIRL HANGED FOR INSURRECTION
Early in June of 1861, a plan of insurrection was reported among the slaves in Monroe County, Arkansas. The plans called for the murder of all whites and in the case of resistance, the women and children were also to be killed. Several slaves were arrested. Two men and one girl was hanged [Georgia Lee Tatum, Disloyalty in the Confederacy. Chapel Hill, 1934, p. 38].

1862
SECOND CREEK PLOT AT NATCHEZ TO KILL THE WHITES

The Second Creek plot at Natchez to kill white males and take the women as wives. When authorities learned what slaves were plotting they acted quickly and decisively by hanging every individual implicated. At least 27 slaves were hanged. The Confederate provost marshal at Natchez reported early in 1862 that 40 slaves had been hanged within that year for insurrectionary activities. Scholars will never know the exact number of insurrections just before and during the Civil War, because state governments did not reimburse owners of slaves executed at the orders of the extralegal courts. There was no official accounting because the “vigilance committees” kept quiet, and no one involved shared information on the counting of the bodies.

SERIOUS SLAVE REVOLT NEAR THIBODEAUX, LOUISIANA
About fifteen miles from Thibodeaux, Louisiana a serious slave insurrection occurred in November, which had initiated fears of a general uprising [Brigadier-General G. Weitzel to Asst. Adjutant-General G. C. Strong, November 6, 1862 in Official Reports of the Rebellion, Series I, vol. XV, p. 172].

GENERAL BUTLER REPORTS SLAVE INSURRECTION
General Butler, while stationed in New Orleans reported a slave insurrection on August 2, 1862: “An insurrection broke out among the negroes, a few miles up the river, which caused the women of that neighborhood to apply to an armed boat, belonging to us, passing down, for aid; and the incipient revolt was stopped by informing the negroes that we should repel an attack by them upon the women and children.” [New York Daily Tribune, August 14, 1862].

1863
FIVE SLAVES HANGED FOR KILLING THEIR MASTER

In Lynchburg, Virginia, five slaves were hanged for murdering their master General Dillard [The Richmond Sentinel, June 25, 1863}.

SLAVES REBEL IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
In May of 1863, a revolt occurred among slaves working at iron works in Richmond, Virginia. Only the leaders were punished [Aptheker: 1943, 366; also in Kathleen Bruce,Virginia Iron Manufacture in the Slave Era, p.399].

18 IMPRISONED FOR ATTEMPTED INSURRECTION
In October in Hancock County, Georgia 18 slaves were imprisoned for attempting insurrection. Few details are known about this plot

1864
SLAVE BURNT YAZOO CITY, MISSISSIPPI
In June, 1864, slaves burnt a section of Yazoo City, including 14 houses and the courthouse. It was with great difficulty that the slaves were prevented for burning the entire city [The Richmond Sentinel, June 2, 1864].

SLAVES GIVE MASTER FIVE HUNDRED LASHES
On a plantation in Choctaw County, Mississippi the slaves rebelled and turn the table of their master Nat Best, giving him 500 lashes [The Richmond Sentinel, June 2, 1864].

SLAVE REBELS AND RUN TOWARD UNION LINES
Early in 1864 in South Carolina an uprising of slaves occurred with the aim of getting to the Union forces. The revolt was suppressed by detachments of the Confederate Army [Letter of Major T. W. Brevard, dated Camp Finnegan, East Florida, April 2, 1863; Major W. P. Emanuel, dated between Ashepoo and Combahee, June 6, 1863 in Official Records of the Rebellion, Series I, vol. XIV, pp. 303, 401].
*

Slave Insurrections in the United States: An Overview - SlaveRebellion.org

 

[Bawon Samedi]

Dope thread. I keep trying to tell people that religions are systems of beliefs about the nature of reality and the purpose of our existence. Universal religions (religions that claim universality) transcend human constructs like race, nationality etc.. It doesn't mean that they cannot be politicized and manipulated to promote the interests of certain groups though. We've obviously seen this happen. The Saudis, for instance, promote a certain brand of Islam that favors their political positions (loyalty to the Saudi kingdom, even insinuating that they are "the leaders of the Muslims", branding groups and movements that are hostile to the kingdom and its policies as "deviant sects" etc).

Those who are in power have always promoted certain groups and censored others.

The Catholic Church used Christianity to enrich itself. When Kings and nobles were finally fed up of having to share their wealth and authority with the Catholic Church, they began to promote Protestantism. Religious rhetoric was used to promote and justify conquering foreign lands, enslaving people, confiscating their wealth etc..

All belief system, whether religious or secular, can be abused. The same people who used Christianity to enslave and colonize people in Africa, went on to use pseudoscientific "findings" to rationalize the exact same actions when Christianity fell out of favor as the West became more secularized. Today they use "democracy, freedom and development"- all secular ideals. The objective stays the same though. How about we focus on that?

The idea that certain religions breed c00ns is ridiculous and even childish. Nat Turner used the Bible to incite other blacks to riot. The same Bible that the whites used to enslave, torture and kill Africans. His Christianity was not the same as that of the Europeans even though they agreed on the core theology.

Hopefully this thread can help to promote a more nuanced understanding.

Good post as always.

 

[Poitier]

1. Haiti, at the time of the Revolution, was overwhelmingly majority black and had a large population​
2. Haiti is mountainous which provides protection and military advantages​
3. Haiti is an island meaning it is a condensed space thus easier to defend i.e. Citadelle Laferrière​
4. ​

The Citadelle Laferrière or, Citadelle Henry Christophe, or simply the Citadelle (English: Citadel), is a large mountaintop fortress in Nord, Haiti, located on top of the mountain Bonnet a L’Eveque,[1] approximately 27 kilometres (17 mi) south of the city of Cap-Haïtien, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) southwest of the Three Bays Protected Area, and 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) uphill from the town of Milot.

The massive stone structure was built by up to 20,000 workers between 1805 and 1820 as part of a system of fortifications designed to keep the newly independent nation of Haiti safe from French incursions. The Citadel was built several kilometres inland, and atop the 900 metres (3,000 ft) Bonnet a L’Eveque mountain, to deter attacks and to provide a lookout into the nearby valleys. Cap-Haïtien and the adjoining Atlantic Ocean are visible from the roof of the fortress. Anecdotally, it is possible to sight the eastern coast of Cuba, some 140 kilometres (87 mi) to the west, on clear days.

The Haitians outfitted the fortress with 365 cannons of varying size. These were obtained from various nations, and still bear the crests of 18th Century monarchs. Enormous stockpiles of cannonballs still sit in pyramidal stacks at the base of the fortress walls.

 

[Elle Driver]

Yeah, I lean spiritual as well but I grew up in an atheist household so I never really had any type of indignation for other belief systems.

All ideological systems can be good or bad just depending on who is wielding it.

We gotta evaluate each Black man on their own merit instead of automatically labeling them as a c00n or righteous due to their religious affiliations.

Catholicism has had a pretty remarkable impact on Black culture worldwide good and bad. I want to make it out to NOLA and Trinidad this year.

Catholicism has, and my dad’s side practiced it but he left it for the Tewahedo Church. I didn’t even realize how much it intertwined with spirituality and belief in spirits and souls. Stuff like that might’ve given them peace of mind. Faith is very powerful!

 

[Poitier]

Fort Mose Historic State Park (originally known as Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mosé) is a U.S. National Historic Landmark (designated as such on October 12, 1994),[2] located two miles north of St. Augustine, Florida, on the edge of a salt marsh on the western side of the waterway separating the mainland from the coastal barrier islands. The original site of the 18th-century fort was uncovered in a 1986 archeological dig. The 24-acre (9.7 ha) site is now protected as a Florida State Park, administered through the Anastasia State Recreation Area. Fort Mose is the "premier site on the Florida Black Heritage Trail."[3]

In 1738, the Spanish governor of Florida, Manuel de Montiano, had Fort Mose (pronounced "Moh-say") built and established as a free black settlement, the first to be legally sanctioned in what would become the territory of the United States.[4] The fort has also been known as Fort Moosa or Fort Mossa, variants of the Spanish pronunciation.

In 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano ordered construction of the Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mosé military fort about 2 miles north of St. Augustine. Slaves escaped from the British colonies were directed there. They were recognized as free, and men who passed inspection were taken into the Spanish militia and placed into service. The military leader at the fort, who also served as mayor of the community, was an African-European Creole, baptized as Francisco Menendez. He became established as a leader when helping the defense of St. Augustine in 1727.[7] Fort Mose was the first free African settlement legally sanctioned in what would become the United States and had a total population of about 100.[4] The village had a wall around it, with dwellings inside, plus a church and an earthen fort.

Word of the settlement reached the colonies of South Carolina and Georgia to the north, attracting escaping slaves. Charlestown was approximately 200 miles north of the Florida border. The attraction of Fort Mose is believed to have helped inspire the Stono Rebellion in September 1739.[8] This was led by slaves who were "fresh from Africa."[5] During the Stono revolt, several dozen Africans believed to be from the Kingdom of Kongo tried unsuccessfully to reach Spanish Florida. Some did make it, where they rapidly adjusted to life there, as they were already baptized Catholics (Kongo was a Catholic nation) and spoke Portuguese.[8]

After East Florida was ceded to the British in the Peace of Paris of 1763, most of the free black inhabitants migrated to Cuba with the evacuating Spanish settlers.[10] At that time, the black population at St. Augustine and Fort Mose totaled about 3,000, of whom about one-quarter were free.[9]


Fort Gadsden recreation:

 

[Elle Driver]

The church is such an integral part of AA culture that even if you leave it, you can’t let it go. It’s a cultural pasttime to go to church on Sunday. Sometimes the AME Church was my safe haven.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

All belief system, whether religious or secular, can be abused. The same people who used Christianity to enslave and colonize people in Africa, went on to use pseudoscientific "findings" to rationalize the exact same actions when Christianity fell out of favor as the West became more secularized. Today they use "democracy, freedom and development"- all secular ideals. The objective stays the same though. How about we focus on that?

The idea that certain religions breed c00ns is ridiculous and even childish. Nat Turner used the Bible to incite other blacks to riot. The same Bible that the whites used to enslave, torture and kill Africans. His Christianity was not the same as that of the Europeans even though they agreed on the core theology.

Hopefully this thread can help to promote a more nuanced understanding.

exactly what I was getting at here, 2 weeks ago

If African Americans were allowed to keep their original African culture..

I really don’t see how anyone can say Christianity WASNT forced upon slaves and used as a way of control

I think y’all are just christian is who don’t want to admit that

I think what people are saying is religion was probably less of a control factor than the physical ones they used to control them. In the Americas, Africans slaves reshaped Christianity to how they saw fit

images

The story of African-American religion is a tale of variety and creative fusion. Enslaved Africans transported to the New World beginning in the fifteenth century brought with them a wide range of local religious beliefs and practices. This diversity reflected the many cultures and linguistic groups from which they had come. The majority came from the West Coast of Africa, but even within this area religious traditions varied greatly. Islam had also exerted a powerful presence in Africa for several centuries before the start of the slave trade: an estimated twenty percent of enslaved people were practicing Muslims, and some retained elements of their practices and beliefs well into the nineteenth century. Catholicism had even established a presence in areas of Africa by the sixteenth century.

UVA Lib.
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Funeral in Guinea, west Africa, drawn by a French painter, ca. 1789 (detail)

UVA Lib.
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"Heathen practices in funerals," drawn by a Baptist missionary in Jamaica, ca. 1840 (detail)

Preserving African religions in North America proved to be very difficult. The harsh circumstances under which most slaves lived—high death rates, the separation of families and tribal groups, and the concerted effort of white owners to eradicate "heathen" (or non-Christian) customs—rendered the preservation of religious traditions difficult and often unsuccessful. Isolated songs, rhythms, movements, and beliefs in the curative powers of roots and the efficacy of a world of spirits and ancestors did survive well into the nineteenth century. But these increasingly were combined in creative ways with the various forms of Christianity to which Europeans and Americans introduced African slaves. In Latin America, where Catholicism was most prevalent, slaves mixed African beliefs and practices with Catholic rituals and theology, resulting in the formation of entirely new religions such as vaudou in Haiti (later referred to as "voodoo"), Santeria in Cuba, and Candomblé in Brazil. But in North America, slaves came into contact with the growing number of Protestant evangelical preachers, many of whom actively sought the conversion of African Americans.

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Slaves baptized in a Moravian congregation, drawing entitled "Excorcism-Baptism of the Negroes" in a German history of the Moravians (United Brethren) in Pennsylvania, 1757 (detail)

Religion and Slavery

In the decades after the American Revolution, northern states gradually began to abolish slavery, and thus sharper differences emerged in the following years between the experiences of enslaved peoples and those who were now relatively free. By 1810 the slave trade to the United States also came to an end and the slave population began to increase naturally, making way for the preservation and transmission of religious practices that were, by this time, truly "African-American."

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UVA Lib.

Slave preaching on a cotton plantation near Port Royal, South Carolina, engraving in The Illustrated London News, 5 Dec. 1863

On Secret Religious Meetings

"A Negro preacher delivered sermons on the plantation. Services being held in the church used by whites after their services on Sunday. The preacher must always act as a peacemaker and mouthpiece for the master, so they were told to be subservient to their masters in order to enter the Kingdom of God. But the slaves held secret meetings and had praying grounds where they met a few at a time to pray for better things."

Harriet Gresham, born a slave in 1838 in South Carolina, as reported by her interviewer, ca. 1935




"[The plantation owner] would not permit them to hold religious meetings or any other kinds of meetings, but they frequently met in secret to conduct religious services. When they were caught, the 'instigators'—known or suspected—were severely flogged. Charlotte recalls how her oldest brother was whipped to death for taking part in one of the religious ceremonies. This cruel act halted the secret religious services."

Charlotte Martin, born a slave in 1854 in Florida, as reported by her interviewer, 1936




"Tom Ashbie's [plantation owner] father went to one of the cabins late at night, the slaves were having a secret prayer meeting. He heard one slave ask God to change the heart of his master and deliver him from slavery so that he may enjoy freedom. Before the next day the man disappeared . . . When old man Ashbie died, just before he died he told the white Baptist minister, that he had killed Zeek for praying and that he was going to hell."

Rev. Silas Jackson, born a slave in 1846 or 1847 in Virginia, as transcribed by his interviewer, 1937
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more excerpts

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Julia Cart

A Gullah "praise house," a surviving example of slaves' secret meeting places, and its pastor, Rev. Henderson; St. Helena Island, South Carolina, 1995

This transition coincided with the period of intense religious revivalism known as "awakenings." In the southern states increasing numbers of slaves converted to evangelical religions such as the Methodist and Baptist faiths. Many clergy within these denominations actively promoted the idea that all Christians were equal in the sight of god, a message that provided hope and sustenance to the slaves. They also encouraged worship in ways that many Africans found to be similar, or at least adaptable, to African worship patterns, with enthusiastic singing, clapping, dancing, and even spirit-possession. Still, many white owners insisted on slave attendance at white-controlled churches, since they were fearful that if slaves were allowed to worship independently they would ultimately plot rebellion against their owners. It is clear that many blacks saw these white churches, in which ministers promoted obedience to one's master as the highest religious ideal, as a mockery of the "true" Christian message of equality and liberation as they knew it.

In the slave quarters, however, African Americans organized their own "invisible institution." Through signals, passwords, and messages not discernible to whites, they called believers to "hush harbors" where they freely mixed African rhythms, singing, and beliefs with evangelical Christianity. It was here that the spirituals, with their double meanings of religious salvation and freedom from slavery, developed and flourished; and here, too, that black preachers, those who believed that God had called them to speak his Word, polished their "chanted sermons," or rhythmic, intoned style of extemporaneous preaching. Part church, part psychological refuge, and part organizing point for occasional acts of outright rebellion (Nat Turner, whose armed insurrection in Virginia in 1831 resulted in the deaths of scores of white men, women, and children, was a self-styled Baptist preacher), these meetings provided one of the few ways for enslaved African Americans to express and enact their hopes for a better future.

African American Christianity, Pt. I: To the Civil War, The Nineteenth Century, Divining America: Religion in American History, TeacherServe, National Humanities Center

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Thanks so much!! Added to my reading list!

some more stuff I posted on here before

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Yeah, I'm not making any sort of religious argument. I'm saying its a red herring.

A group of Black atheist fed up of being in bondage would eventually rebel.

The ship rebellions I don't really count given the entirely different dynamic but the leader of the creole ship rebellion was a free man of color who was most certainly educated.

Actually his story would be a dope love story: Madison Washington: The Free Man Who Led A Successful Slave Revolt - On the Shoulders of Giants