Atlantic Faiths: Restriction and Toleration

           Through the articles, it is quite apparent there were restrictions concerning religious freedom in the Atlantic World – such as the forced removal of Jews from the Iberian Peninsula or the forced baptism of newly arrived slaves in the New World.  Even though Christianity was forced upon various peoples in the Atlantic, many still retained their traditional beliefs secretly while adhering to a public Christian appearance.  Due to the demanding economy of the Atlantic and the lack of state church power in the New World, there were various religious leniencies within the Christian faith – such as African Christianity and the port Jews in Brazil.  As a result, an outward Christian identity proved paramount, while what the individual practiced privately was of less importance.

            Sultana Afroz attempts to make the argument that the Baptist Rebellion of 1831-1832 in Jamaica was actually a jihad influenced by slaves who practiced Islam secretly.  As noted by Afroz, 56.8% of Jamaican slaves came from Muslim areas (Afroz, 228).  Even though the slaves were members of Christian churches, many retained their Islamic faith.  Jamaican slaves that adopted Christianity done so to, “avoid confrontation and punishments from the plantation owners and the church (Afroz, 231).  Thus, African slaves often adopted Christianity from their masters in order to assimilate, avoid punishment, and fit into their new environment.  In essence, the Atlantic World proved to offer no alternatives to a Christian identity publicly. 

            John K. Thornton discusses the advent of African Christianity in the New World and in Africa, which blended African and Christian religious themes.  Various papal bulls demanded slaves to be instructed in Christianity after their purchase (Thornton, 269).  African Christianity typically paired African gods with Christian saints –an effort that missionaries eventually adopted so that Christianity appeared less foreign to their future converts.  Once the Atlantic slave trade increased, African Christians – not the clergy - taught African slaves how to retain their traditional beliefs, but to also exhibit the identity of a Christian.  Even though African Christianity was far from orthodox, it was accepted in Africa, the New World, and by the Church (Thornton, 266).  In the New World, African slaves that partook in acts that were deemed “fetishisms” were often punished such as nocturnal dancing (Thornton, 277).  Thus, even though variants of Christianity such as African Christianity were accepted in the New World, outward acts considered foreign such as nocturnal dancing were not tolerated.

            Finally, Wim Klooster discusses Jews who began to create their own communities along the ports of the Atlantic, so that their trading networks allowed economic and religious benefits.  Jews were forced to leave the Iberian Peninsula and its colonies or to convert to Christianity after the Alhambra Decree. Some Jews took a Christian identity to retain their homes and businesses, but secretly continued to adhere to Judaism.  Jews who fled to Amsterdam retained a strong religious and economic relationship with the crypto-Jews of the New World colonies.  Once the Jews in the New World proved to be successful economically, the Spanish and Portuguese became suspicious of the special relationship between Brazil and Amsterdam.  In response, the Dutch invaded Brazil and overall allowed religious toleration of the Jews because they proved to be, “indispensable to the colony” economically (Klooster, 137).  This is evidence of religious toleration in the Atlantic where the rules of the state church were not enforced as vigorously in the colonies as they were in the Old World.

              In all, there were religious restrictions in the Atlantic such as the forced baptism of slaves, but there was also toleration in the New World as exhibited by the port Jews - at least in comparison to the Old World where state churches were very powerful.  The lack of state church power in the American colonies allowed individuals to adopt a Christian public identity in order to assimilate or fit into their new environment, but to still practice their traditional religion secretly.