Slave Religion: The Invisible Institution in the Antebellum South

Rating:
Summary: Recovering lost voices...
Review: Albert J. Raboteau originally wrote 'Slave Religion: The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South' as an expansion and derivation of his doctoral dissertation, little expecting it to become a classic. This updated version, twenty-five years after its original publication in 1978, includes Raboteau's response to some of the reactions he received over time from various audiences. Citing his friend and mentor Sydney Ahlstrom's prediction, the recovery of African-American history as a subject in its own right also served to revitalise the subject of American religious history, as African-American history cannot be told without a great part of the religious traditions, and the religious history of America cannot be told adequately without incorporation of the African-American experience.

Raboteau writes in terms of recovering voices, particularly for this study, the voices of slaves preserved in narratives from the past. This idea of recovering voices is a strong theme in liberation theologies, and applies in important ways both to secular and religious history (as well as present-day practice). Not only the voices, but also the actual events need to be recovered - as Raboteau points out, before the 1820s, far more Africans made the trans-Atlantic journey to the Americas unwillingly than Europeans of all nationalities and religions. The idea of European development of the New World obscures this important fact.

But just what was slave culture? Was this something distinct and unique? Were there multiple slave cultures? Raboteau, speaking in context of the religious, could not ignore the political, and argued that there were vital and creative means of continuation of African cultural influences, often overlaid with Christian and European influences, that provided what he calls a pre-political solidarity that, while not always directly challenging the institution of slavery, provided the kind of foundation needed for questioning of authority needed to break the mindset of the institution of slavery.

Raboteau claims that his primary intention in writing this text was the passing-on of unwritten traditions, oral traditions no longer heard; this goes hand-in-hand with the desire through historical methodology to increase wisdom along with the spiritual task of reflecting upon a tradition that stands a continuing challenge to the complacency exhibited by most of Christianity (not to mention individual Christians).

With regard to the task of preserving oral traditions, Raboteau's text is very good. He incorporates hymns and songs, poems and stories, historical accounts and academic analyses of various sources for the preservation of this important history. Raboteau includes pieces from original African languages as well as adaptations by those Africans already in the Americas. He describes in good detail various practices, such as the ring shout, as well as belief structures. For example, the preservation of elements of African gods and goddesses (and attendant practices) was often stronger in Latin America/Roman Catholic countries than in the Protestant-oriented United States; Raboteau discusses the various possible reasons for this, which include the greater possibility of syncretism and cross-identification of practices, but also the fact that, after a time, the majority of the North American slave population was native-born, whereas in Caribbean and South American locations, there was a constant influx of new arrivals from Africa directly.

Raboteau also discusses the paradoxical situation of Christianity using conversion as a justification for slavery. In the modern world we find it nearly incredible to think in these terms, but one of the rationales for permitting the enslavement of whole peoples was to convert them to the Christian faith - there was also the occasional idea (Azurara, for one) that there were not only spiritual benefits to the slaves, but also the contact of the slaves with Western civilisation was by itself a better state than that in which the people had lived as free persons. There was for a time a difficulty in permitting slaves to become Christian, for as Christian they would have claim on greater expectation of fair and equal treatment; colonials had more economically-oriented goals in mind, and often objected to any religious ideas that might jeopardise their profit margins.

Raboteau's description of the public institutions and the 'invisible institution' practices is intriguing. The public churches formed often with controversy within and outside the communities. The 'invisible institution' existed often as a forbidden aspect; slaves might be members of both the independent black church groups or congregations that were racially mixed (Raboteau mentions that some such congregations might have far more slaves than masters in attendance), but also participate in worship gatherings at night in secret locations, risking severe punishment to do so.

By the time of the Civil War, the slave culture was thoroughly Christianised throughout the South, according to Raboteau. Not all slaves were Christians, and Raboteau points out that the secular/sacred clash often present in the modern-day culture was present even the slave cabins, where secular music that provided antecedents to rhythm and blues would sometimes compete with the more religious-oriented calls to worship.

Raboteau points out that one of the criticisms of his text over the years has been that it is a bit 'too Christian', that its context and overall method looks too much in that direction. Raboteau accepts this criticism, as well as the critique that the voices of women were not as prominent as they might have been, given their importance in the preservation of slave culture and religion. For a work early in the field, these are gentle criticisms that in fact point to areas where, even to this day, further research and writing needs to be done to preserve the historical record.

Raboteau's book is an important milestone in the recovery of lost tales and voices. For any who want a full understanding of American religious history, this book is a must.



Rating:
Summary: Experiencing The Experiences Of Enslavement
Review: Slave Religion is a valuable text. The author does an excellent presentation of the experiences of our ancestors prior to their departure from Africa and their arrival on the plantations. I use this text in a course I teach, The History of the Black Church. The author is to be commended for his research.

Rating:
Summary: Experiencing The Experiences Of Enslavement
Review: Slave Religion is a valuable text. The author does an excellent presentation of the experiences of our ancestors prior to their departure from Africa and their arrival on the plantations. I use this text in a course I teach, The History of the Black Church. The author is to be commended for his research.