Black Religion or Forced Religion

Abstract

Slaves were forced into captivity and sold in several countries to include the United States, Brazil and the West Indies. Christianity and baptism was forced upon the slaves while their own native religious practices and culture was stripped.

Black Religion or Forced Religion

African-Americans were forced into captivity, ripped from their homeland, friends, family, religion and culture. Dehumanized, frightened and confused, the slaves looked for social acceptance, redemption, and acceptance in religion. Why did the captive Africans rely on western religion versus their native African practices? What was their native African practice? Was the forced religion the salvation for the slaves?

Young, vigorous, male Africans from the West African territory were enslaved and sold too many parts of the world. Slaves were transported and packed in slave ships without regard for sex, age, family ties or tribal affiliations. They were sold as cargo to slavers in the West Indies and the United states, stripped of their social heritage and dehumanized. According to Frazier (1974) it wasn’t until 1840 that the number of female slaves equaled the number of male slaves in the United States.

In the Southern States, Brazil, and West Indies, there was little contact between slaves and their masters on large sugar and cotton plantations. This provided plenty of opportunity for slaves to reconnect and form a community. However, the majority of slaves in the United States resided on small farms or plantations where there were twenty or less. The slave owners took measures to assimilate new slaves with old slaves in small numbers to keep the opportunity of an upheaval from happening.

New slaves had to undergo a breaking in process to the plantation regime. The breaking in process included smaller tasks, constant baths, long walks, and dancing. Frazier discovered, “These new slaves with their African ways were subjected to the...