Jon Sensbach’s narrative portrays a story of a young woman whose religious fervor contributed to the rise of a unique blend of African-American church. This new religion that started on the Danish island of St. Thomas eventually spread through the Caribbean and North America and became “one of the great social and religious movements of modern history.” The mixture of African religions and Christianity provided the enslaved people with escape from harsh environment of treacherous labor and inhumane treatment if only during prayer and gospel. Slave owners’ brutal persecution of black Christians did nothing to extinguish the fire Rebecca had started. Sensbach attributes the beginning of the black church to its roots in St Thomas and further attests that only the unique environment “in the Atlantic World…could have produced a person like Rebecca.”
In the first chapter Sensbach describes a slave rebellion on the island of St John. The leaders of the insurgency intended to exalt themselves to a position of power and take over the sugar production. Creating a pan-African coalition to rise against their white masters was not part of their plan. Other slaves were to remain as such. This minority possessed a sense of superiority over other blacks because of their high social standing before humiliating enslavement. By no means was this a romantic battle against right and wrong thus the revolt did not provide an inspiration for the enslaved blacks. Sensbach contributes the impetus for the rebellion to famine, harsh reprisals for nonconformity, Gold Coast rivalries among the captured, and slave trade. For the proud Aminas there seemed no other option but to revolt.
Sensbach asserts that the early life of Shelly, later baptized as Rebecca, is very sketchy since no documentation exists regarding that period of her life. Nevertheless, the author provides credible explanation to how Rebecca obtained her freedom. Most likely Rebecca’s manumission was possible because she accepted Christianity. But securing one’s freedom was not the same as white men’s freedom. Many harsh restrictions imposed on the slaves were not lifted due to their changed status. In the house of von Beverhouts the young servant learned how to read and write and used that ability to learn about the bible. Whether Rebecca’s initial interest in Christianity was due to her need of securing certain favors or was it purely out of her personal convictions cannot be established for certain.
The author describes a skilful Monrovian missionary, Friedrich Martin as Rebecca’s long awaited mentor. As previous missionaries were unable to gain many converts, Martin proved more skilful in the art of salesmanship. His church, in contrast to the Protestant churches of North America, even with a strong opposition from the slaveholders, gained significant following among the black slaves. Although the missionaries’ admitted goal was to provide “spiritual transcendence not social revolution,” it is difficult to see how they could be ignorant of the true results of their gospel. As described by Sensbach, “the bible classes…became searching discussion about slavery, violence, resistance, and the role of religion in helping people make sense of conflicting pressures.” Thus it is hard to dismiss that such injection of ideas would not create problems. How could the enslaved be controlled if they possessed a notion of equality before God?
Even before Martin’s arrival, Rebecca was knowledgeable about the bible but he noticed her ability to teach and wondered if it can be used to spread the scripture among the women slaves. As more and more blacks learned to read and write, with Martin’s supervision, they wrote letters to the headquarters in Herrngut describing their religious convictions. Those correspondences, according to Sensbach, “constituted historical evidence on how religious sentiments among the enslaved were shifting.”
To make the Christian scriptures more convincing, the missionaries had to adjust some of their teachings. This mix of Christian and African beliefs wrought the system that later became the foundation of the black church. Upon their arrival on St. Thomas the captives were quickly incorporated into a support network nurtured by the converts. According to Sensbach, such strategy of “appealing to captives’ desire to rebuild kin connections… would come to form the marrow of black Christian fellowship in the Protestant Atlantic world.” As the congregations’ membership increased, the total eradication of “pagan” beliefs was difficult as Christianized Africans still sought “additional power from traditional spirits and deities.” The path to gain souls among the enslaved was not always easy but the efforts of the missionary with help from Rebecca resulted in “hundreds of people adapting new way of thinking.”
Eventually, slaveholders realized the danger of Christianity in the hands of the enslaved. Large congregation of blacks, interracial marriage between Rebecca and Freudlich, fueled planters’ fears of insurrection thus this perceived threat was addressed through legal means. Sensbach describes the unbroken faith of the black Brethren and their leader during difficult times. Martin’s failure to pay the fines imposed by the judge resulted in jail time for him and others. Nevertheless, the difficult times provided an opportunity for Rebecca and others to affirm their faith.
In the chapter titled, The Devil’s Bargain, Sensbach paints a picture of Zinzendorf as an arrogant leader of a church that was shrouded with controversies in Europe. Zizendorf, just like the Aminas who instigated the bloody insurgency on St John, was not concerned with African slavery. His only concern was spiritual – the black captives provided members for his church and souls for Christ. In discussions between the leader of the Moravian church and St Thomas’ planters, slaveholders admitted their fears of black insurrection, accusing missionaries of seducing blacks. In order to assure peace on the island, Zizendorf legitimized slavery in his speech since, in his view, God approved of it thus effectively enslaving the black Brethren “to biblical and racialism defenses of bondage.” This point clearly illustrates that Zizendorf did not support emancipation; God approved slavery.
Once in Europe, Rebecca was easily incorporated into the church’s strict hierarchy. Sensbach asserts the practice of educating blacks and sending them back to Africa to preach, provided geographical and social mobility for non-Europeans. According to Sensbach, the colored Brethren were conveyors of news and ideas to black communities thus it was the indigenous women and men who were responsible for establishing roots of Christianity around the world. But the discourse of race was always present within the congregation.
Although not directly presented by Sensbach, the banishment of Rebecca and Christian could have been motivated by racism. Christian, a highly qualified preacher, most likely felt unappreciated. No matter what, he could not fulfill his ambitions because he was black. Although Rebecca meets a familiar environment in Christiansborg, she did not accomplish as much as she did in St. Thomas. Sensbach underlines the unusual role
Sensbach’s strengths are in his concentration on a small community of enslaved peoples and his primary sources. Thus he was able to portray the contemporaneous environment of islands’ inhabitants to life.
However, Sensbach did not show a clear connection between Rebecca’s role in St. Thomas and the rise of black church in America. Rebecca’s hard work was essential in congregation’s development but how was this new blend of African religions and Christianity established in North American is not shown. Although the primary sources that include letters written by Spangenberg, Martin, Rebecca, Christian, and others, are valuable, they can only be used to describe a relatively small community within a large Atlantic world. Although it may seem Sensbach portrays blacks as having a voice, having an active role in their lives, it is misleading. The enslaved people on the island of St. Thomas were victims of friction between the two different groups of whites in a position of authority. This caused additional, burden, hardship and confusion among the black population. Each group, the slaveholders and religious zealots, used the enslaved to their advantage.
Sensbach provides yet another thread that connects the transatlantic world together thus further contributing to a better understanding of a complicated dynamics attributed to history. He describes the dynamics present within the slave culture, including gender relations on the small island of St. Thomas. Sensbach proves that blacks could shape and sustain their own culture behind the curtain of daily duties. He further reveals the connection between North America, Denmark, and West Africa, when ship arriving in St Thomas with human cargo from West Africa, had lines and iron from Denmark, and grain from Pennsylvania. The book is most useful in comparing gender roles and treatment of slaves throughout the Atlantic world.
