Christian Slavery: Conversion and Race in the Protestant Atlantic World

Katharine Gerbner

Jan 2021 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Elizabeth Wiley

About this audiobook

In Christian Slavery, Katharine Gerbner contends that religion was fundamental to the development of both slavery and race in the Protestant Atlantic world. Slave owners in the Caribbean and elsewhere established governments and legal codes based on an ideology of "Protestant Supremacy," which excluded the majority of enslaved men and women from Christian communities. For slaveholders, Christianity was a sign of freedom, and most believed that slaves should not be eligible for conversion. When Protestant missionaries arrived in the plantation colonies in the 1670s, they were appalled that most slave owners rejected the prospect of slave conversion. Slaveholders blamed the evangelizing newcomers for slave rebellions. In response, Quaker, Anglican, and Moravian missionaries articulated a vision of "Christian Slavery," arguing that Christianity would make slaves hardworking and loyal. Over time, missionaries increasingly used the language of race to support their arguments for slave conversion. Enslaved Christians, meanwhile, developed an alternate vision of Protestantism that linked religious conversion to literacy and freedom. Christian Slavery shows how the contentions between slave owners, enslaved people, and missionaries transformed the practice of Protestantism and the language of race in the early modern Atlantic world.

About the author

Katharine Gerbner is an associate professor of history at the University of Minnesota, where she teaches courses on early America and the Atlantic world, the history of religion, Caribbean history, and the African diaspora. She received her BA from Columbia University and her MA and PhD from Harvard University.

AudioFile Earphones Award winner Elizabeth Wiley is a seasoned actor, dialect coach, theater professor, and dedicated narrator. She brings over twenty-five years of award-winning acting and voice experience to the studio to create memorable, compelling storytelling.