Evangelism and resistance in the Black Atlantic, 1760-1835
By: Cedrick May.
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Athens
Language: eng
Number of pages: 157
ISBN-13: 9780820327983; 9780820327976
Subjects: American literature -- African American authors -- History and criticism; Christianity and literature -- United States -- History -- 18th century; Christianity and literature -- United States -- History -- 19th century; Religion and politics -- United States -- History -- 18th century; Religion and politics -- United States -- History -- 19th century; African Americans -- Religion -- History; Civil rights -- Religious aspects -- Christianity; African American evangelists
Description: Cedrick May looks at the work of a group of pivotal African American writers who helped set the stage for the popularization of African American evangelical texts and the introduction of black intellectualism into American political culture: Jupiter Hammon, Phillis Wheatley, John Marrant, Prince Hall, Richard Allen, and Maria Stewart. Religion gave these writers agency and credibility, says May, and they appropriated the language of Christianity to establish a common ground on which to speak about social and political rights. In the process, these writers spread the principles that enabled slaves and free blacks to form communities, a fundamental step in resisting oppression. Moreover, says May, this institution building was overtly political, leading to a liberal shift in mainstream Christianity and secular politics as black churches and the organizations they launched became central to local communities and increasingly influenced public welfare and policy. This important new study restores a sense of the complex challenges faced by early black intellectuals as they sought a path to freedom through Christianity. - Publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-151) and index.
Table of contents: title: Jupiter Hammon and the written beginnings of Black theology; title: Phillis Wheatley and the charge toward progressive Black theologies; title: John Marrant and the narrative construction of an early Black Methodist evangelical; title: Prince Hall and the influence of revolutionary enlightenment philosophy on the institutionalization of Black religion; title: Richard Allen and the further institutionalization of Black theologies; title: Maria Stewart and the mission of Black women in evangelicalism.