A Study On African American Christianity In American South From 1850 To 1870

The United States is a multi-ethnic country, African American as one of many races is in an important and special position, and African American religious issue is one significant aspect to understand their history and culture. In the period of slavery, whites tried to use Christianity as a tool to enslave blacks, while blacks combined it with their African traditional religion, created their own spiritual world and found solace in the miserable life. Black Christianity became “visible” after the Civil War and worked as the center of black’s life. It is this distinctive black religion that has played an irreplaceable role in black’s political, economic and cultural fields.This paper attempts to do a profound and comprehensive analysis of African American Christianity in American South from 1850 to 1870 from its forming process, features and spirit. It comes to a conclusion that black Christianity is the outcome of black and white cultural integration, which has dual nature of racial slavery and revolt, and it is also a portrayal of black strong, inclusive character. Firstly, black Christianity is not the duplicate of white religion, it combined white with African traditional culture together creating a unique religious culture. In addition, it has dual nature of racial slavery and revolt, the opposability was widely employed in the Civil War. At last, just like black people it has tenacious survival ability, persistent pursuit of freedom and strong cultural inclusiveness. The author hopes to provide a thorough analysis of black Christianity and arouse more attention to American minorities.