Slaves in the southern hemisphere retained a greater degree of their African religious heritage than their counterparts in the northern hemisphere. This theme is echoed throughout the book and appears in different forms.Įarly in the book, for example, Raboteau observes that the religious experience of slaves differed between the southern hemisphere and the northern hemisphere. And it still deserves attention today for its insights.Ĭhief among those insights is his tracing of the transformation of African religious practices as Africans were transported to the New World. That book became important in opening doors to a much-neglected area of American religious history. ed., 2004), which was based on his dissertation. I recommend it as an accessible, evenhanded historical overview of the African American religious experience in the American colonies and the United States.Ī couple of decades before publishing Canaan Land, Raboteau wrote Slave Religion: The “Invisible Institution” in the Antebellum South* (Oxford University Press, 1978 rev. When I’ve had the opportunity to teach the history of religion in America, I’ve regularly used Albert Raboteau’s Canaan Land: A Religious History of African Americans* (Oxford University Press, 2001).
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