Why did some historians refered to slave religion as the invisible institution

Some historians referred to slave religion as the "Invisible Institution" because much of the black religious life was "hidden from the eyes of the master" and occurred in the secrecy of the quarters. The slaves combined their African ethnic religion, Muslim religion, and Christianity to form what is called the "Invisible Institution." Slaves were secretive because it was necessary for survival.

"Slave Religion" examines the "Invisible Institution," slave religion in the

Antebellum South. When Africans arrived in the New World, they were torn from "the political, social, and cultural systems that had ordered their lives" one of the

few areas in which slaves were able to maintain their culture, linking the African past with the

American present, was their religion. African religious beliefs were transformed or adapted to

American Christianity. In some parts of the Americas, "the gods of Africa continued to live - in exile."  Despite the cruelty placed on American slaves and without family  and kinship systems, they were still able to develop, create, and assemble a rich and unique culture in the United States.   Through prayer meetings, spirituals, ring shouts,  slave preaching, and the conversion experience, slaves were able to adapt African rituals and  beliefs to Christianity.  African American religion began out of necessity; the captured Africans  needed something to sustain them during the middle passage. Once they arrived, slaves needed  someone to administer rituals for special events, such as birth, marriages, illness, death, and other  events that required a ceremony.

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