Today, we are going to look at some religious aspects of Haiti during the 18th century. Our narrator will be Jean-Jacques (J.J.) Siringi, a Haitian historian with an interesting comparison…
Bonjour. As he said, I am Jean-Jacques Siringi, an Ayitian historian, and I have but one brief story to tell. It concerns a woman named Rebecca. This woman was an early initiator for the Black Christianity and mixed-religion movements across the Caribbean, which resulted in revolt in my country’s case.
Rebecca was a mixed-race (mulatto) Creole woman who was stolen into slavery. She managed to gain her freedom, however, mostly due to her heavily Christian leanings. She went on to partner with missionaries of the Moravian Sect of Protestant religion, preaching and teaching the Gospel of the Christian Jesus to slaves on the island of St. Thomas, where she spent a lot of her time. She also traveled to Europe and Africa as a Christian missionary. She is the reason for much of the religious transformation of many African peoples, and a few Europeans as well.
An interesting item about the religion she helped to spread and its effects in the Caribbean is that there were similar reactions to it in St. Thomas and in Haiti. These I will list presently.
First of all, in both Haiti and in St. Thomas, Christianity blended in with the African religions which the slaves already had. In Rebecca’s case, even though she taught a more European style of religion, the free Blacks and especially the slaves still kept some of their African traditions and simply mixed them in with Christianity. Christianity was not existent in a vacuum. As much as even Rebecca wanted the slaves to reject all of their old practices and convert entirely to one, this did not happen, nor did it happen in Haiti. What happened instead was a mixing of different religions. Slaves were imported from many different countries and tribes in Africa, and by no means did they all follow the same morals or religions. There was a vast diversity of beliefs. When Christianity met the slaves on St. Johns and on Haiti, there was a fusion of many different beliefs. In Haiti’s case, this is where Voodoo, which is commonly practiced, comes from. It is a mix of different African religions and Christian religions.
Second, this caused the lines of religious practice to blur significantly. Christianity has a lot of absolutes in it, so there were practices which went on which were not desired by people like Rebecca. In her case, there was possibly less of a problem of practices which defied Christianity’s principles but were practiced with Christianity by the slaves. This may not be true, however; she couldn’t supervise her students forever. Voodoo is one example of a religion which has some Christian practices in it but is not necessarily Christian in all of its practices.
The third thing about this religious blending is that it has a powerful social context. Actually, Christianity had a unifying effect among slaves back then, however it was mixed with African practices. What Christianity did for my ancestors was to begin to unify them. You have to realize that there was much rivalry between African tribes and many differences. Calling us all “Black” or “African” back then was way too shallow. We had some tribes who hated others. There were different languages. There really was not unity before Christianity made its impact; that is why many slave revolts failed: not enough common resolve, and too many different slave factions, some of which wanted to enslave others.
I can’t say enough about the unity which slaves gained with Christianity. It scared the masters senseless, and with good reason; Black slaves were the majority of most Caribbean island populations at this point in time. Haiti’s revolt would prove this in every way, just as the overwhelming support of Rebecca by the slaves when she and her husband were imprisoned showed some Black unity.
I would say that the unity and the diversity of Christianity are the biggest things which are universal about Christianity’s mass meeting with enslaved Africans in the Caribbean. Christianity gave them hope, and that is why it spread.”
Thank you Mr. Siringi. Next up, we will take a sharp look at the subject of race in Haiti. Stay tuned, sports fans!
Sources
Sensbach, Jon F. Rebecca’s Revival: Creating Black Christianity in the Atlantic World. Camebridge, MA: First University Harvard Press, 2005. Print.
Copeau, Steve. The History of Haiti. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2008. Print.
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