In January 1895, King Koko of Nembe launched one of the most daring attacks against British interests in nineteenth century West Africa. Leading about 1,500 warriors in 22 war canoes, he struck the Royal Niger Company’s headquarters at Akassa,...
When European colonial powers conquered Africa, they did not only seek political control. They also attempted to reshape African societies by imposing European systems of government, education, and religion. Across the continent, many traditional rulers came under intense pressure...
Throughout American history, politicians, plantation owners, lawyers, and religious leaders all offered different arguments in defense of slavery. Some claimed it was necessary for the economy, while others argued that it maintained social order. Few, however, relied as heavily...
Christianity reached enslaved Africans inside a system that carefully managed not only their labor, but also their access to ideas. The result was not a full encounter with scripture, but a controlled version of it, shaped by what plantation...
Thousands of enslaved Africans were imprisoned inside the dark underground dungeons of Cape Coast Castle in colonial Ghana before being forced onto slave ships crossing the Atlantic. Directly above one of those dungeons stood the Church of England Chapel,...
Throughout the Atlantic slave world, slaveholders often promoted Christianity among enslaved Africans believing religion would encourage obedience, humility, and submission. Plantation owners funded chapels, welcomed missionaries, and encouraged Bible teaching partly because they believed Christian instruction would make enslaved...
In 1990, the Catholic Church declared Marie-Marguerite d’Youville a saint. Canonized by Pope John Paul II, she became the first Canadian born person to receive that honor, and today her name appears on churches, schools, charities, and universities across...
In early 1861, as the United States moved toward civil war, a respected rabbi in New York shocked many Americans when he opened the Bible and argued that slavery was allowed by God. In a sermon that quickly spread...
When slavery ended in the United States in 1865, nearly four million formerly enslaved Africans faced the enormous task of building new lives in a society that had long denied them freedom, education, and economic opportunity. Freedom did not...
During the era of slavery in the Americas, many slaveholders encouraged enslaved Africans to adopt Christianity. Missionaries and pastors often preached to enslaved communities because slaveholders believed religion would make them more obedient. However, while enslaved Africans were encouraged...
