The religion of the American Negro slave

In this 1912 article for the Journal of Negro History, Wilson discusses the religious behavior of American slaves between 1619 and the close of the Civil War. He begins with a short discussion of the religious practices the slaves brought from Africa, and contends that in America they adapted to the "Christian atmosphere" and acquired a primitive Christianity that had its emphasis on heaven. He defines their religious lifestyle in terms of acceptance of struggle and belief in the next life, both of which, in his view, mark the slaves' redemptive exposure to American Christianity.