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Conversion to Christianity When African people were taken captive and brought to America, their old religious beliefs often did not survive in their new world. Slaves were taken from many different parts of Africa, and therefore many different cultures were represented on any given plantation. In many instances, owners tried to separate those who spoke the same language in order to hinder communication. West African religions, which often emphasized the family and the community, did not make as much sense without a familiar social context. As African beliefs were lost, it became easier for Christianity to come into the African slave's life. Most West African religions were polytheistic, meaning that they believed in many different gods. Some gods were more powerful than others were. When Africans were captured and brought to America by the Europeans, they often attributed the Europeans' power to the power of the Europeans' god. Therefore, it was often easy for African slaves to begin to worship the victorious Christian god in place of their own gods. But the old gods and the old ways of worship did not disappear. Often, African practices were brought into Christianity in new and interesting ways. Enslaved Africans in Roman Catholic nations often converted easily because of Catholicism's ability to accommodate and absorb other beliefs. This was less common in Protestant nations, where opposition to other beliefs was much stronger. In Protestant nations, such as the United States, Christianity was much more opposed to accepting African beliefs. There was less synthesis of the two, which meant two things: fewer of the old African practices survived and those that did survive stood out in direct opposition to Christianity and remained distinct.
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The Transatlantic Slave Trade Quiz | Resources
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