Masters and Slaves in the House of the Lord: Race and Religion in the American South, 1740-1870

Much that is commonly accepted about slavery and religion in the Old South is challenged in this significant book. The eight essays included here show that throughout the antebellum period, southern whites and blacks worshipped together, heard the same sermons, took communion and were baptized together, were subject to the same church discipline, and were buried in the same cemeteries. What was the black perception of white-controlled religious ceremonies? How did whites reconcile their faith with their racism? Why did freedmen, as soon as possible after the Civil War, withdraw from the biracial churches and establish black denominations? This book is essential reading for historians of religion, the South, and the Afro-American experience. John B. Boles is William P. Hobby Professor of History at Rice University. He is the author of numerous books including A Companion to the American South, The South through Time: A History of an American Region, The Great Revival, and Black Southerners, 1619-1869. Uniformly well-written, these chapters add depth and insight to an aspect of southern history that is finally receiving the attention it deserves. -- Journal of the Early Republichttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_african_american_studies/1003/thumbnail.jp