African-American Church, 1860s

African-American Church, 1860s. . , Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church , This log church was built near New Hope, Virginia by an African-American congregation. It was the original place of worship for the Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church. It may have served as a school for African-American families during and after Reconstruction., After Nat Turner's slave rebellion in 1831, Virginia prohibited African Americans from preaching and attending nighttime religious services without written permission. As a result, many African Americans worshipped in biracial congregations controlled by whites, or African-American congregations with white pastors. After slavery ended, many African Americans created their own religious and cultural spaces separate from those of their former enslavers., Christianity and Slavery , Early slaveholders discouraged outward expressions of African spiritual beliefs among enslaved people, but were hesitant to see them converted to Christianity. They feared this might entitle them to legal or even social equality. However, later slaveholders believed Christianity could be used to control the enslaved by highlighting Biblical messages about obedience to a master., Many African Americans found Christianity appealing, but not for the reasons slaveholders intended. They focused on Bible stories that related to their own lives, such as the story of Moses leading the oppressed Israelites from Egypt to freedom in Canaan. They infused Christianity with elements of African culture and preferred churches with an emotional and exuberant worship style. African Americans did not adapt themselves to the slaveholders' model of Christianity; they adapted Christianity to fill their spiritual needs., [Caption:] , The First African Baptist Church was founded by free and enslaved African Americans in Richmond, Virginia in 1841. In keeping with antebellum Virginia law, whites were appointed to supervise the congregation. "The African Church, Richmond, Va. 1865." Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.