fforts at conversion to the Native Americans. For that matter, organized religion was not as important to the colonists as we might believe today. Fewer than half belonged to churches, and most were more interested in interpreting their faith in terms of proper personal ethics. In terms of converting the blacks, there were reasons why the colonists considered this something they should avoid. There was a fear that if blacks were allowed to congregate in churches, they might also congregate to plot rebellion. There was also the belief that if blacks were taught the Christian doctrines of brotherhood and equality for all before God, they would no longer accept the precept that whites had a moral authority over blacks. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, all southern states plus New York and New Jersey had passed laws stating that conversion to Christianity did not entitle slaves to freedom (Ploski and Williams, 1983, 1253).
The enslaved Africans who arrived in the New World enco
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