Reference no: EM133416942

Case Study: Baily, Julius. "Religious Life of Enslaved Americans." Down in the Valley Down in the Valley: An Introduction to African American Religious History (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2016).

Baily, Julius. "African American Religions Institutions." Down in the Valley Down in the Valley: An Introduction to African American Religious History (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2016).

Questions:

What were the Great Awakenings, when did they occur, and what was its role in the rise of Christianity among Africans in American, both enslaved and free? (See Bailey's "Religious Life of the Enslaved.") Why does Bailey suggest that before the Great Awakenings, only a small percentage of enslaved Africans received Christian religious instruction?

What happens in November 1, 1787? And what was the purpose of the "formation of independent African American churches," according to the author?

What is the distinction between the origins and activities of African American Episcopal and African American Episcopal Zion denominations? Who belongs to the latter and what were their activities after the Civil War? Why was the latter called the "Freedom Church?"

Why were newly formed African American Baptist churches truly independent, while the African American/Colored Methodist denominations, not truly "independent, according to Bailey?

What was the perspective of the Episcopal Church around enslavement and why where African Americans interested in becoming Episcopalians? On the other hand, what was African American Episcopalians' critique of "other" Black denominations and their worship style?

Following the Civil War, what led to the rise of African Americans joining African American denominations?

What were the experiences of Africana women across denominations? Why were Africana women prohibited, in most instances, from preaching? What were some exceptions?

Discuss the ordination of Mary J. Small in the AME Zion church debates surrounding her ordination? What was perspective of her supporters? What were fears? • Discuss the experiences of Mary Cook in Louisville, KY and her efforts towards gender equity within the Black Baptist tradition and elsewhere. What did the work of Africana women in the ministry seek to do and in what ways did they reinterpret scripture?