Slave Religion and Slavery: Raboteau vs. Elkins Compared

Overview and Purpose

This paper introduces, discusses, and analyzes two important works on slavery in American history: Slave Religion: The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South by Albert J. Raboteau and Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life by Stanley M. Elkins. It includes an analysis of each book as well as an examination of the agreements and disagreements between the two authors concerning the institution of slavery. Both books examine slavery in American history, but from very different perspectives. Each author uses research and historical knowledge to support his thesis, and each presents convincing arguments. Both are valuable historical documents and are useful to any student of American history.

The authors cover the same time period, but their writings address two distinctly different themes within American slavery. Elkins examines the roots of American slavery and why it developed as it did. Raboteau examines religion among enslaved Black Americans, from its African origins through the process of conversion and what faith meant in slaves' lives. Thus, the two books look at the same institution with different intent and different goals. There is broad agreement between the authors on the basic premise that slavery was a "tragedy" of magnificent proportions (Raboteau, 1978, p. 4). It would be difficult for anyone to argue otherwise. However, the central theses of the two books are quite different, and that is precisely what makes each valuable. Because they do not cover the same material, together they offer a more complete picture of slavery and the era in which it occurred.

It is difficult to compare these two works side by side because they address very different themes. Elkins is concerned with why slavery evolved as it did, while Raboteau is concerned not so much with its development as with how religion played a vital part in the lives of enslaved people. Elkins devotes only a few pages to the religion of American slaves, whereas Raboteau's entire book is an examination of slave spirituality. The two authors therefore hold markedly different views on the importance of religion in slaves' lives — and this is perhaps the most significant difference between the books. Elkins suggests that institutions such as religion were in decline, while Raboteau argues for the central importance of religious faith in the daily lives of enslaved people.

Comparing Themes and Approaches

Another difference is writing style. Elkins' book is an earlier work, written in a more formally scholarly tone. Raboteau's is more recent and, while still academic, is somewhat easier to read due to its less formal prose. Elkins' book is highly informative, but the contrast in styles makes Raboteau's book more accessible and, for many readers, easier to engage with and agree with.

Raboteau's thesis centers on Black American religion, specifically during the period of slavery. He refers to slave Christianity as the "invisible institution" — contrasting it with the "peculiar institution," the term Southerners used for slavery itself. Like Elkins, he uses several key points to develop his argument as the book progresses.

One of Raboteau's first arguments is that African Americans had a rich culture and belief system in Africa before being forcibly taken as slaves, and that this foundation allowed them to sustain a spiritual life in America. He writes, "Nevertheless, African beliefs and customs persisted and were transmitted by slaves to their descendants. Shaped and modified by a new environment, elements of African folklore, music, language, and religion were transplanted in the New World by the African diaspora" (Raboteau, 1978, p. 4). It follows, then, that many enslaved African Americans would turn to Christianity — the religion of their new homeland — to make an unbearable existence more bearable. Religion had been central to their lives in Africa, and it would remain so in a new form. Raboteau sustains this argument about the retention of African culture and religion in the New World throughout the book.

Raboteau's Argument: Religion as the Invisible Institution

Raboteau goes on to describe elements of Black religious practice that echo African cultural traditions, from "ring dances" to shouting and singing during services (Raboteau, 1978, pp. 69–71). He also discusses folk beliefs and voodoo and their importance in Black religious life, always connecting them to their African roots. He writes, "While a fully developed cult of the ancestors did not persist in the United States, certain African funerary customs did remain" (Raboteau, 1978, p. 83). He demonstrates that African religion did not, for the most part, survive intact within slave culture, but that portions of it continued to influence worship, belief, and church practice to this day.

Another argument Raboteau develops is the conversion of slaves to Christianity and how they embraced the new religion. Part of this chapter aligns directly with Elkins' discussion of slave conversion on ships bound for Latin America. Raboteau writes, "The duty of Christianizing slaves as well as Indians was urged upon the Council for Foreign Plantations by Charles II in 1660" (Raboteau, 1978, p. 97). He also demonstrates that mass Christianization did not initially take place in America — a point Elkins makes as well — and that this helped produce a different slave population in America than in other slave societies. He writes, "Slaveholders feared that Christianity would make their slaves not only proud but ungovernable, and even rebellious" (Raboteau, 1978, p. 103). Nevertheless, Raboteau shows that conversion did occur and that it became a defining feature of slave culture during and after the era of slavery. He continues, "The closing years of the eighteenth and the early decades of the nineteenth centuries witnessed an unprecedented spread of Christianity among Afro-Americans, slave and free" (Raboteau, 1978, p. 152). In fact, many Black Americans joined Baptist and Methodist churches, affiliations that persist in significant numbers today.

As conversions continued, more enslaved people became deeply invested in their faith and involved in church life. Black preachers and independent Black congregations began to emerge, a phenomenon that grew even more pronounced after the Civil War. Raboteau writes, "It is significant that black preachers, some slave and some free, continued to be licensed and that separate black churches continued to be organized despite periodic harassment by civil and ecclesiastical authorities" (Raboteau, 1978, p. 196). His arguments consistently prove his thesis that religion was a central force in the Black community during and after slavery.

Perhaps his most compelling argument appears in the chapter on religious life in slave communities, where he writes, "During the closing decades of the antebellum period the so-called invisible institution of slave Christianity came to maturity" (Raboteau, 1978, p. 212). He supports this claim with memoirs, interviews, and documents drawn from slaves' own recollections of their religious practices.

The final chapter demonstrates how significant religion had become in Black society by showing that some enslaved people rejected it entirely because it was seen as "white folks' religion" — and that even this rejection fueled rebellion and resistance. He writes, "Some slaves' inner rejection of 'white folks' religion' was expressed outwardly by their rejection of their masters' denomination" (Raboteau, 1978, p. 295). Even in its negative form, religion shaped Black thought, action, and community life. Overall, the book successfully proves its thesis and offers rich insight into the formation and growth of Christianity within the Black community.

In his arguments, Elkins is equally successful in proving his points. Elkins contends that the powerful sentiment against slavery in America was "all moral" rather than scientific or dispassionate. He notes early in the book, "It was a problem of conscience which by mid-century would fasten itself in one form or another, and in varying degrees, upon men's feelings everywhere" (Elkins, 1959, p. 28). He thus frames slavery as a moral problem for the nation — and argues that the nation experienced it as precisely that.

Another key argument supporting Elkins' thesis is the atmosphere of change and growth sweeping America in the 1830s and beyond. Old institutions such as Congregationalism and Federalism were declining, giving way to newer, more modern ones, while others disappeared altogether. The author observes, "Thus for the American of that day it was the very success of his society — of capitalism, of religious liberalism and political democracy — that made it unnecessary for him to be concerned with institutions" (Elkins, 1959, p. 33). Slavery was itself an institution, and as such had become outmoded in the modern society of its time. Elkins argues that slavery might have been viewed less emotionally and more practically as a failing institution rather than purely as an ethical dilemma — a position that sets the stage for the rest of his analysis.

Conclusion

Elkins, S. M. (1959). Slavery: A problem in American institutional and intellectual life. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Raboteau, A. B. (1978). Slave religion: The "invisible institution" in the Antebellum South. New York: Oxford University Press.