Slavery, Civil War, and Salvation: African American Slaves and Christianity, 1830-1870 (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War)

176 Pages·2010·0.92 MB·English

by  Daniel L. Fountain

Praise for
Slavery,CivilWar,
andSalvation
“Slavery, Civil War, and Salvation is an important challenge to the claim
that Christianity was the central faith and culture of African American
slaves. Taking the words of African Americans from both before and
after the Civil War seriously, Daniel L. Fountain suggests that most
slaves did not convert to Christianity. Instead, religious diversity and
variety characterized their lives in the antebellum South. The move to
Christianity occurred after the war. If Fountain is right, then schol-
ars of American religion and African American history have much new
terrain to survey. The complexities of life in slavery and freedom con-
tinue to reveal so much to those with curious eyes and sensitive souls.”
—edward j. blum, author of Reforging the White Republic:
Race, Religion, and American Nationalism, 1865–1898
“Daniel L. Fountain challenges the conventional wisdom that Christi-
anity played a central role in the slave community, although a ‘Chris-
tian core’ among the enslaved prophesied that God would deliver them
out of slavery. Only after the Civil War brought that promised eman-
cipation, he concludes, did African Americans become Christians in
large numbers. With its provocative new interpretation, Slavery, Civil
War, and Salvation is a ‘must read’ for everyone interested in the his-
tory of African American Christianity or American slavery.”
—gaines m. foster, author of Moral Reconstruction:
Christian Lobbyists and the Federal Legislation of Morality, 1865–1920
D
uring the Civil War, traditional history tells us, Afro-Christianity
proved a strong force for slaves’ perseverance and hope of de-
liverance. In Slavery, Civil War, and Salvation, however, Daniel
Fountain raises the possibility that Afro-Christianity played a less sig-
nificant role within the antebellum slave community than most schol-
ars currently assert. Bolstering his argument with a quantitative sur-
vey of religious behavior and WPA slave narratives, Fountain presents
a new timeline for the African American conversion experience.
Both the survey and the narratives reveal that fewer than 40 per-
cent of individuals who gave a datable conversion experience had be-
come Christians prior to acquiring freedom. Fountain pairs the sur-
vey results with an in-depth examination of the obstacles within the
slaves’ religious landscape that made conversion more difficult if not
altogether unlikely, including infrequent access to religious instruc-
tion, the inconsistent Christian message offered to slaves, and the
slaves’ evolving religious identity. Furthermore, he provides other
possible explanations for beliefs that on the surface resembled Chris-
tianity but in fact adhered to traditional African religions.
Fountain maintains that only after emancipation and the fulfill-
ment of the predicted Christian deliverance did African Americans
more consistently turn to Christianity. Freedom, Fountain contends,
brought most former slaves into the Christian faith. Provocative and
enlightening, Slavery, Civil War, and Salvation redefines the role of
Christianity within the slave community.
Daniel L. Fountain
is an associate professor of history
and director of the public history
Niles program at Meredith College in
n
Kevi Raleigh, North Carolina.
Slavery, Civil War, and Salvation
conflicting worlds
New Dimensions of the American Civil War
T. Michael Parrish, Series Editor
SLAVERY
CIVIL WAR
AND
(cid:4)(cid:4) (cid:4)(cid:4)
SALVATION
(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:4)
african american slaves and
christianity, 1830–1870
DANIEL L. FOUNTAIN
louisiana state university press
baton rouge
Published by Louisiana State University Press
Copyright © 2010 by Louisiana State University Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing
designer: Michelle A. Neustrom
typefaces: Rosewood, display; Chaparral Pro, text
printer: McNaughton & Gunn, Inc.
binder: John H. Dekker & Sons
Earlier versions of chapters 2 and 4 were published as “Christ in Chains: Slavery’s Nega-
tive Impact on the Conversion of African American Slaves,” in Affect & Power: Essays on Sex,
Slavery, Race, and Religion in Appreciation of Winthrop Jordan, ed. David J. Libby, Paul Spick-
ard, and Susan Ditto (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2005), 84–104, and “Christ
Unchained: African American Conversions during the Civil War Era,” Ohio Valley History 3
(Summer 2003): 31–46, respectively, and are reprinted by permission of the editors. Some
material in chapter 3 appeared earlier in the Journal of Interdisciplinary History 26 (1995):
66–77. It is included herein with the permission of the editors of The Journal of Interdis-
ciplinary History and The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Copyright © 1995 by the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Inc.
library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
Fountain, Daniel L., 1967–
Slavery, Civil War, and salvation : African American slaves and
Christianity, 1830–1870 / Daniel L. Fountain.
p. cm. — (Conflicting worlds)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8071-3699-7 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Slaves—Religious
life—Southern States—History—19th century. 2. African Amer-
icans—Southern States—Religion—History—19th century. 3.
Slavery and the church—Southern States—History—19th century.
4. Christian converts—Southern States—History. 5. Southern
States—Religious life and customs. 6. Slave narratives—Southern
States—History and criticism. I. Title.
E443.F68 2010
261.8—dc22
2010006967
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council on Library Resources. (cid:1)(cid:1)
To Winthrop D. Jordan:
you are missed.
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Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1 Afro-Christianity by the Numbers . . . . . . . . . 6
2 Christ in Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3 Alternatives to Christianity within the
Antebellum Slave Community. . . . . . . . . . . . 68
4 Christ Unchained . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Selected Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155