During the Civil War, traditional history tells us,
Afro-Christianity proved a strong force for slaves' perseverance
and hope of deliverance. In Slavery, Civil War, and Salvation,
however, Daniel Fountain raises the possibility that
Afro-Christianity played a less significant role within the
antebellum slave community than most scholars currently assert.
Bolstering his argument with a quantitative survey 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
percent of individuals who gave a datable conversion experience had
become Christians prior to acquiring freedom. Fountain pairs the
survey 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 instruction, 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 Christianity but in fact adhered to
traditional African religions.
Fountain maintains that only after emancipation and the
fulfillment 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.
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