Christian Slavery : Conversion and Race in the Protestant Atlantic World / Katharine Gerbner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gerbner, Katharine, author.

Series:

Early American studies.

Early American Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Slavery and the church--Atlantic Ocean Region--History.

Enslaved persons--Religious life--Atlantic Ocean Region--History.

Christian converts--Atlantic Ocean Region--History.

Atlantic Ocean Region--Race relations--History.

Genre:

History

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (293 pages).

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Could slaves become Christian? If so, did their conversion lead to freedom? If not, then how could perpetual enslavement be justified? In this book, the author contends that religion was fundamental to the development of both slavery and race in the Protestant Atlantic world. Slave owners in the Caribbean and elsewhere established governments and legal codes based on an ideology of "Protestant Supremacy," which excluded the majority of enslaved men and women from Christian communities. For slaveholders, Christianity was a sign of freedom, and most believed that slaves should not be eligible for conversion. When Protestant missionaries arrived in the plantation colonies intending to convert enslaved Africans to Christianity in the 1670s, they were appalled that most slave owners rejected the prospect of slave conversion. Slaveholders regularly attacked missionaries, both verbally and physically, and blamed the evangelizing newcomers for slave rebellions. In response, Quaker, Anglican, and Moravian missionaries articulated a vision of "Christian Slavery," arguing that Christianity would make slaves hardworking and loyal. Over time, missionaries increasingly used the language of race to support their arguments for slave conversion. Enslaved Christians, meanwhile, developed an alternate vision of Protestantism that linked religious conversion to literacy and freedom. This book shows how the contentions between slave owners, enslaved people, and missionaries transformed the practice of Protestantism and the language of race in the early modern Atlantic world. -- Provided by publisher

Contents:

Christian slaves in the Atlantic world

Protestant supremacy

Quaker slavery and slave rebellion

From Christian to white

The imperial politics of slave conversion

The SPG and slavery

Inner slavery and spiritual freedom

Defining true conversion

Epilogue : Proslavery theology and Black Christianity.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Sep 2018)

ISBN:

9780812294903

0812294904

OCLC:

1027476992