How did the early African Americans acquire the Christian faith?

Question

Was it via the abolitionist and Quakers? Or their slave masters?

Answer 1

Of course there are many different ways that people learn Christianity. You specifically asked about African Americans, but I will expand a little bit. Missionaries commonly travelled with Spanish and French Explorers in the new world. The French settled in what is now the Great Lakes region of the US, which is why Detroit has a French name and Marquette University is in Milwaukee. St. Peter Claver was a Spanish Jesuit who travelled to the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean, Central and South America. There is a fraternal and social services group by the name of the Knights of St. Peter Claver. It is the African American counterpart to the Knights of Columbus.

Answer 2

African Americans were denied their faiths of their homelands. Muslims from Africa were especially rooted out of their faith with torture and other forms of ill treatment. Africans were considered less than human and there were very specific pogroms to ensure that they believed such. To the behest of the slaves and innate desire of the human to connect to the Creator many succumbed to the only authorized expression of faith which was Christianity. While authorized it was not generally monitored so there are many elements of African American Christianity that are not actually on the lines of "traditional Christianity". A constant desire to be like the master and somehow crawl from beneath the foot of oppression put drive into the enslaved that remnants remain to this day.

After Nat Turners rebellion there were significant efforts to canonize black spiritual practices. Whites then saw to it to get involved in blacks spirituality as a matter of management. Authorized black preachers were then flooded onto the pulpits of the south and north re-indoctrinating the masses white supremacist dogma. Christianity rules in modern day African America from the fruits of this indoctrination. Proof of this is in the complete impotence of the African American Church and a lot of work is constantly being put in to keep it that way. I hope this helps.

Answer 3

To tell you the truth I do not know. However if I were to venture a guess it could only have been their owners who taught, insisted or even coerced them into a certain adoption of Christianity. The common belief was patronizingly that all Africans were heathens or idol-worshipers and conversion by any means was justifiable. The irony of it all is that nowadays it is the Afro-Americans who seem to frequent their Churches most !

Answer 4

A vast majority became Christian thru their masters' insistence. These "masters" wanted to make sure that there was no pagan worship that might cuase the devil to cuase evil and mischief around their property. So they pretty muched forced the first few generations of slaves to convert to Christianity.

Answer 5

Well since they were considered as livestock I doubt if the slave owners cared what they believed in unless it was seen as a cause to get them away from their worship brought from the mother country of Africa. You know--change them heathens--only OUR religion is the right religion--type interference. Kinda makem one step closer to being human type beings you know. They did the same thing with other countries that they felt were pagans and they infiltrated the Natives of this country too. It's all about POWER and CONTROL of everything from the ground up.

Answer 6

loss of any desire on a similar time as being enslaved recommended them in the direction of the religion held via there masters. whilst slaves have been captured they have been dropped at critical cities in Africa and there they have been baptized into the Christian faith. as quickly as interior the U. S. some masters enable them to worship so that they had some desire of salvation interior the eternal existence. (unusual isn't it) As too the songs. communique became no longer allowed in any form, yet making a music became considered as a chilled launch. maximum if no longer all songs had hidden meanings in them and have been used to relay messages and documents threw out the community and previous. desire this helps

Answer 7

Dehydration and hunger were motivators. If one does't have food and water you will listen to anything to recieve your basic needs.

Answer 8

you can make a slave do anything

Answer 9

At gun point the same way we are converting Muslims.