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ne of the most dramatic consequences of the
revivals was the conversion of hundreds of thousands of enslaved African
Americans to Christianity. During the 17th century, many slaveholders feared
that baptized slaves would have to be set free. But by the second quarter of the 18th century, a growing number
of slave owners concluded that Christianity would make slaves more
conscientious. It would place them:
under strong Obligations to
perform [their] duties with the greatest Diligence and Fidelity...from a sense
of Duty to God.
The first concerted campaigns to convert slaves
to Christianity were led by Quaker, Moravian, and Anglican ministers and
missionaries during the early 18th century. But it would not be until the late
18th century when Methodists and Baptists licensed African Americans to exhort
and preach that truly significant numbers of slaves converted to Christianity.
Most slaves attended churches alongside whites, although a small number of
separate black churches (mainly Baptist) began to emerge as early as the 1760s.
Within the Baptist and Methodist churches, slaves
created a hybrid form of Christianity, blending Christian rituals and beliefs
with elements of West and Central African cultures. The result was a religion with its distinctive forms of preaching
and worship, including rhythmic sermons, ecstatic behavior induced by spiritual
possession, and singing and dancing influenced by African traditions. This
African heritage gave many slaves a hopeful, optimistic view of life, which
contrasted sharply with the evangelical stress on human sinfulness.
In evangelical religion, many slaves found a
stress on love and spiritual equality that strengthened their faith in eventual
deliverance from bondage. Spirituals such as Go Down, Moses, with its refrain,
"Let my people go," indicate that slaves identified with the Hebrew
people who had overcome oppression and enslavement.