Hush harbor

During antebellum America, a hush harbor was a place where enslaved African Americans would gather in secret to practice religious traditions.[1]

History
African American churches in slavery and freedom provided places to worship and for African Americans to practice their own version of Christianity.[2][3]

Religion grew to become a highly respected part of slave life. It offered the enslaved hope and reassurance. Slaves were forced to organize and conduct these meetings in secret because the idea of slaves assembling without supervision left the owners in fear. The meetings were held after dark, once field and house chores were completed, and carried on late into the night.[4][5][6]

Christianity was the prominent religion of the African Slaves after being transported to the Americas. After being exposed to Christian ideas, the slaves began to understand them more. Slaves discovered promising stories and passages in the Bible that offered hope. The story of Jesus Christ suffering on the cross drew attention because of the similar, harsh treatment they both received.[7][8][9]

The hush harbors served as the location where slaves could combine their African religious traditions with Christianity. It was safe to freely blend the components of each religion in these meetings.[10] The slaves could let go of all their hardships and express their emotions. Here is where Negro spirituals originated. The songs created by slaves were known to contain a double meaning, revealing the ideas of religious salvation and freedom from slavery. The meetings would also include practices such as dance. African shouts and rhythms were also included.

Slaves would suffer punishments had they been caught in a hush harbor meeting. Slave owners were confident that they would compare treatment, working conditions, and punishments, leaving them worried about revolts and riots. African American churches taught that all people were equal in God's eyes. Instead the African American church focused on the message of equality and hopes for a better future.[11]

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (W. E. B. Du Bois) studied African-American churches in the early twentieth century. Du Bois asserts that the early years of the Black church during slavery on plantations was influenced by Voodooism.[12] For example, an oral account from an African American in the nineteenth century revealed that African Americans identified as Christian but continued to make and carry mojo bags to church and practiced Hoodoo and Voodoo. As time progressed, many African Americans became more Christian and less influenced by African religions.[13][14]

References
  1. Cornelius, Janet Duitsman (1999-01-01). Slave Missions and the Black Church in the Antebellum South. Univ of South Carolina Press. ISBN 9781570032479.
  2. Raboteau (7 October 2004). Slave Religion The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-802031-8.
  3. Wortham, Robert (2017). W. E. B. Du Bois and the Sociology of the Black Church and Religion, 1897–1914. Lexington Books. p. 153. ISBN 9781498530361.
  4. Louisiana State Museum Staff (27 January 2014). "Religion, Race, and Slavery". Louisiana State Museum. Louisiana Department of Culture Recreation and Tourism. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  5. Maffly-Kipp, Laurie F. "An Introduction to the Church in the Southern Black Community". Documenting the American South. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  6. Smithsonian Staff. "The Historical Legacy of Watch Night". National Museum of African American History and Culture. Smithsonian. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  7. Maffly-Kipp, Laurie F. "An Introduction to the Church in the Southern Black Community". Documenting the American South. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  8. Raboteau (7 October 2004). Slave Religion The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South. Oxford University Press, USA. pp. 215–220. ISBN 978-0-19-517413-7.
  9. Bromley, David G. "Historical Context of African American Religion". Virginia Commonwealth University. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  10. Gooden, Mario (2016-02-23). Dark Space: Architecture, Representation, Black Identity. Columbia Books on Architecture and the City. ISBN 9781941332139.
  11. "African American Christianity, Pt. I: To the Civil War, the Nineteenth Century, Divining America: Religion in American History, TeacherServe, National Humanities Center".
  12. Wortham, Robert (2017). W. E. B. Du Bois and the Sociology of the Black Church and Religion, 1897–1914. Lexington Books. p. 153. ISBN 9781498530361.
  13. Pinn, Anthony (2017). Varieties of African American Religious Experience Toward a Comparative Black Theology - 20th Anniversary Edition. Fortress Press. p. xxviii. ISBN 9781506403366.
  14. Louisiana State Museum Staff (27 January 2014). "Religion, Race, and Slavery". Louisiana State Museum. Louisiana Department of Culture Recreation and Tourism. Retrieved 30 October 2021.


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