| This study examines the development of Christianity among African Americans, in antebellum Missouri. It argues that the proslavery church, northern Evangelicals, and the traditional beliefs of enslaved blacks contributed to the growth of Christianity among them. It also maintains that the proslavery church sought to inculcate the acceptance of bondage by African Americans, but moderately antislavery evangelicals and the solidarity of the black community, mitigated against acquiescence to the proslavery view. Black determination to resist slavery ensured that their version of Christianity would differ from that of whites, especially slaveholders. Moreover, the enslaved people's incorporation of their folk beliefs into Christianity distinguished it from that of the northern Evangelicals.;Although the proslavery church sought to incorporate slaves into the hierarchal Christian community defined by whites, blacks developed a Christian community that espoused black solidarity. The black independent church determined the form of institutionalized Christianity among blacks.;Once the Civil War began, African American Christians considered it as a sign of God's deliverance, and the enslaved men and women seized the opportunity to liberate themselves. Similarly, black Christians abandoned the biracial churches while missionaries from the independent black churches organized them into new churches controlled by African Americans. |
