"No longer is it responsible for students of American religious history to ignore the religious experience of Black Americans, or that of other people of color, or of women, as if they were invisible," writes Albert Raboteau in his prologue to A Fire in the Bones(p.6). His book, of course, eloquently treats the experience of black American Christians. Summarize the early American history of the conversion of African-Americans to Christianity. How did the development of black American Christianity draw on African cultural roots? How did African-American Christians appropriate biblical narrative and how was this both akin to and different from the way early American white Christians used the Bible to understand themselves and the place of the new nation?You essay needs to address all of these matters. Weave together these concerns so that you have a coherent discussion that covers them all but is not simply a disjointed set of responses to the questions posed.

Particularly Raboteau's opening essay, "African-Americans, Exodus, and the American Israel," should be helpful in treating these issues but other chapters (e.g., 7 and 8) also provide relevant discussions. If you quote from Raboteau, simply note the page number in parenthesis following the quotation. The essay should be 3 to 3 ½ doublespaced pages and is due 4/17/08 in class. Late papers will not be accepted. Since you will not have an opportunity to revise this essay, be sure that the draft you submit is a well groomed, lucid effort.