Did Christianity play a big role in the lives of African Americans in the 18th century and how were they affected by family separation? This is a question that has been on the minds of many people when the learn African Americans become Christians and how being separated from their families and living in the care of their masters affected them. In the poems of Phillis Wheatley, the lines of the writing, the format, and the spelling of words look like they’re out of the Bible. And in the narrative of Olaudah Equiano, he was separated from his sister, he went from master to master, there’s a lot of mentions of God and “the Lord” which means he became a Christian at some point. But for some African Americans that grew up in slavery, they bonded with the families of their masters, were taught how to read, and write, which is what caused them to become poets and authors as well as becoming Christians.
In some literature works by African American authors who grew up in and were eventually freed from slavery, they sometimes mention their birth families, what it was like, who their parents were if they were important, and they are treated by the families of their masters. In the time of slavery, a lot of African Americans were kept in the worst conditions and treated in the harshest ways imaginable, but there were some that bonded with the wives and children of their masters and were treated like family by them. African American author Olaudah Equiano writes in his narrative that he got close to some families of the masters he was sold to; one would say that he became like a son and brother to a master’s wife and child/children.
An example of a slave being separated from family is this, “The next day proved a day of greater sorrow than I had yet experienced; for my sister and I were then separated, while we lay clasped in each other’s arms.” Equiano, pg. 48, 1789. This quote from the narrative tells the audience that Equiano himself went through one of the worst things possible in the time of slavery, his younger/older sister was forcefully ripped apart from him. This not only happened to him, but this also happened to hundreds, if not thousands, of African Americans who went into and grew up in slavery.
Although in the time of slavery, a lot of slaves, like Equiano himself, were on the verge of freedom and being able to live their own lives, but by chance or fate, depending on what people believe in, they were up and sold to other masters. And for many African American slaves, this happened several, if not many times over. But in some instances, slaves actually bonded with the wives and children of their masters and felt like they possibly “belonged” as one would say. They possibly played with and looked after the children, were taught to read and write, and various other things while being treated well. In some parts of Equiano’s book, he mentions that he was very well taken care of by a master’s family and in Phillis Wheatley’s biography, she was taught to read and write by the Wheatley family.
An example of a slave getting close to and being well taken care of by a master’s family is this, “My master lodged at the house of a gentleman in Falmouth, who had a fine little daughter about six or seven years of age, and she grew prodigiously fond of me; insomuch that we used to eat together, and had servants to wait on us. I was so much caressed by this family that it often reminded me of the treatment I had received from my little noble African master.” Equiano, pg. 68, 1789. This quote tells the reader and the audience that Equiano was taken care of by this master’s family so much that it reminded him of how he was treated back in Africa before he was sold into slavery and the daughter of the master at that time bonded with him so much that they spent a lot of time together.
Another thing that happened in the time of slavery is that while African Americans were in the care of their masters, they were possibly asked to abandon their cultures and religions that they grew up around and joined the Christianity religion. Some maybe joined and became Christians freely, others reluctantly joined the Christian religion, and there were possibly some who chose not to become Christians at all and suffered the consequences of it. In some the poems by Phillis Wheatley, the lines of the writing look like something out of the Bible or like the writing of the Bible. I think that the way the lines are proof that at some point in her life, she became a Christian and joined the religion.
Phillis Wheatley writes in one of her poems, “But, O my soul, sink not into despair, Virtue is near thee, and with gentle hand Would now embrace thee, hovers o’er thine head.” Wheatley, Phillis. “On Virtue,” 1773. Poetryfoundation.org, October 1, 2021. From what I could tell is that these lines from the poem tell the audience that her soul shall not sink into despair and that when she dies, God would welcome her with open arms and her souls will remain in Heaven for all eternity. This is also proof that Wheatley was Christian, and she lived in Boston at the time. Boston was a big Christianity community in the 18th century, so one would say that Wheatley was “spreading the word” about it.
How Christianity was involved in the lives of African Americans in the 18th century and how they mostly became Christians and joined the religion is that they were told by their masters or the families of their masters that they had to be baptized. According to Christianity, people had to be baptized in order for their spirits to pass on to the Heavens; if they weren’t baptized, their spirits would go to Hell, as the Christians say. So, it looks like if the African Americans wanted to go to Heaven, they had to allow themselves to be baptized and join the Christian religion. Equiano wrote in a part of his narrative that he was baptized himself and became a Christian.
As the author of the narrative writes down, “While I was attending these ladies their servants told me I could not go to Heaven unless I was baptized. This made me very uneasy; for I had now some faint idea of a future state: accordingly I communicated my anxiety to the eldest Miss Guerin, with whom I was become a favorite, and pressed her to have me baptized; when to my great joy she told me I should.” Equiano, pg. 78, 1789. This quote from the book tells the audience that when he was told he had to be baptized, he went to the eldest of the Guerin women and she insisted on it to the master, and he was baptized in 1759.
But Equiano himself was not the only African American that had to get baptized in order for their sprits to go to Heaven, this most likely happened to hundreds, if not thousands, of other African Americans in the time of slavery. Since I’m fairly certain that a lot of slaves at this time wanted to go into Heaven and into the arms of God himself, they had to be baptized. This is possibly one of, if not the main reason that thousands of African Americans in this time in history, reluctantly abandoned their home country’s cultures and religions, and became Christians in the first place. Since slaves were taken away from their birth families and lived with their masters and their families for a certain number of years, they were possibly taught many things about Christianity including why being baptized was so important.
This is how Christianity played a big role in the lives of African Americans in the 18th century and how family separation affected them. Most likely the reason they became Christians was because they got baptized because they wanted their spirits to go to Heaven and into God’s realm for eternity. How family separation affected is that even though there were situations that slaves were treated so harshly, put through the worst punishments as well as living in the worst conditions imaginable, there were situations where the slaves were practically treated like family by their masters and the masters’ wives and children like Olaudah Equiano and Phillis Wheatley. Therefore, not all African Americans were treated practically like animals and punished all the time. They were some that were treated almost like family, taught how to read and write, very well taken care of, went to school, and they had a good reason for reluctantly moved on from their home culture and religions to become Christians.
Works Cited
Equiano, Olaudah. (2003). The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings, London, England: Penguin Classics
Wheatley, Phillis. (1773). On Virtue, Boston Massachusetts: poetryfoundation.org Accessed on 1 Oct. 2021, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45466/on-virtue
Sprockets and Springes 