ABSTRACT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GULLAH CHURCH by Alicia DeRocke O’Brien Using Charles Long’s hermeutic tool, “signification” (a term derived from African American culture), this paper explores the development of the Gullah church during the era of slavery. Slaves on the South Carolina Sea Islands expressed autonomy despite their oppression by organizing religious communities that produced a new orientation in the ultimate sense, as, through religion, Gullah people made sense of their new place in the world. The Gullah church is an independent regional expression of Christianity that allowed its followers to define themselves through religious practices as they created an independent slave culture. The stories, songs and rituals produced exemplified the vitality of this expression of religion. Functioning first in the Invisible Church and later within the Praise House the church served as a community center, adding to the empowerment of the group, and providing a means of socio-religious agency that served as a foundation for continued forms of resistance. The Development of the Gullah Church A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Comparative Religion by Alicia DeRocke O’Brien Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2006 Advisor Dr. Peter W. Williams Reader Dr. Lisa J. M. Poirier Reader Dr. James C. Hanges © Alicia D. O’Brien 2006 Table of Contents Dedication iv Acknowledgements v Introduction 1 Chapter One 10 Chapter Two 21 Chapter Three 41 Conclusion 56 Sources Consulted 60 iii For Edith iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. Virgil Alfaro, Dr. Neil Draison, Dr. Robert Foster and all of the others that have helped me see over the last few years. They have been some of the most important, patient, determined and understanding people I my life and I am truly lucky to have such wonderful people looking out for my continued visual health. Thanks to my family for being supportive in all of my efforts. You have been very understanding and a source of inspiration. I love you. Many thanks to Jane Odell, Jennifer Peterson, Renee Hebert, Brenda and Robert Rush, and Camden Bowman. You have been sources of support, encouragement and lasting friendship through the good and bad days. I love each one of you as though you were my family. Thanks to Dr. Lisa Poirier, Dr. Peter Williams and Dr. James C. Hanges. I cannot say enough. Thanks to The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Drayton Hall for all of the work you do to preserve the American historic landscape and in particular for supporting African American history and places and making them important to others. Personally, I thank the Drayton Hall site for supporting me in my undertakings, especially to Peggy Rieder, Timothy Chesser, Janice Boast, Wade Lawrence, Ian Purches, John Kidder, and Dr. George McDaniel. Thanks to Jordan Ridgeway, Adam Ridgeway and especially MacLean Ridgeway. You are creative, encouraging, fun, trusting and compassionate gentlemen and I am honored to be working with you. Thanks to the Starbucks crowd: Natalie, Ruth, Katy, Tom, Conrad, James, Roy, Sean, Sam, Randy, Sweet Willie, John, John, Tricia, David, Joe/Ralph, Brian, Landis, Chris Jones and all of the others. You have been great sources of encouragement, diversion and humor. I have learned so much from you all and appreciate your tolerance of my studiousness amidst your levity. I would especially like to thank Chris Nolan for all of his support and for volunteering his artistic and intellectual efforts through the last phase of this project. You are a friend. Lastly, I would like to thank all of the people who served their masters as slaves. You are remembered. v Introduction The port of Charlestown, South Carolina was vital to the colonial American slave trade and a large majority of African slaves brought to America passed through her harbor. The Lowcountry’s dependence on rice cultivation led slave acquisition in the region to take on atypical characteristics. For economic reasons, plantation owners on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia preferred to purchase slaves that came directly from the Windward, or Rice, Coast of Africa and continued this practice until the abolition of slavery.1 As a result, the Sea Islands were constantly assimilating native Africans—people torn from their families, possessions and homelands and forced into slavery. While being massed with fellow Africans who shared similar experiences but very different backgrounds, these individuals faced a seemingly overwhelming number of obstacles, including loss of personal freedom, cultural identity, linguistic heritage, kinship and agency. The oppressors labeled these individuals, who represented different tribes, countries, cultures, traditions and religious backgrounds, as one, subordinate people. Needing to make sense of their oppression and of their displacement from their homelands, these people carved out a new identity for themselves. Religion served as a creative act that empowered African Americans on the Sea Islands to make sense of the situations facing them. From its beginning, the Lowcountry was an area of religious pluralism. Enlightenment philosopher John Locke directly influenced the Fundamental Constitution by drafting the document as secretary to Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper, one of the colony’s eight Lords Proprietors.2 It included religious tolerance to slaves, adding that slaves’ Christian conversion did not affect their status as slaves, and gave the Freemen of Carolina “…absolute power and authority over Negro slaves…” beginning 1669.3 To this it also added, “yt heathens, Jues and other dissenters.”4 Locke’s drafts of the constitution promoted a religious openness while at the same time subscribing to what Charles H. Long refers to as the European myth of conquest in which God’s providence enabled the European people to dominate lesser peoples. This mythic concept makes the relationship and resulting balance of power appear to be divinely sanctioned.5 Although never fully ratified, due to the fact it also stipulated the Church of England as the official church, 6 Locke’s influence upon the constitution did establish a lasting direction. 1 This fact is an important consideration in light of the fact that International slave trading was outlawed in America beginning in 1810 and enforceable by 1811. 2 Peter Wood, Black Majority, 18-19.; RM Miller, “Roman Catholics,” Religion in South Carolina. Charles H. Lippy, ed. (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1993), 82.; McKever-Floyd, “Pluralism,” Religion in South Carolina. Charles H. Lippy, ed. (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1993) 154.; Robert Rosen, A Short History of Charleston. (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1992), 10-11. 3 Wood, 18-19.; Rosen, 10. 4 Rosen, 40. 5 Charles H Long, Significations: Signs, Symbols, and Images in the Interpretation of Religion. (Aurora: The Davies Group, 1995), 115. 6 Rosen, 40. 1 Because of this tolerance, the plurality of religious practices in colonial South Carolina was an exception to the norms of colonial Puritanism that pervaded other colonies. To those outside her borders, South Carolina exemplified a society based on hedonism and immorality. Charlestown, the hub of the Lowcountry, willingly epitomized this perception of decadence while simultaneously remaining true to the morals and values of its people.7 Although the societal elite enjoyed pastimes found by their neighbors to the north to be exceedingly decadent and frivolous, Charleston garnered the name “holy city” because of the number of churches it contained. The religions established in the colonies underwent changes, or re-orientations. For some, like the Puritans of New England, the Atlantic crossing meant freedom to act on revolutionary beliefs. For other groups, the mere geographic separation of congregations from their mother churches allowed for subtle changes, some of which took place naturally with the passage of time, especially as they lacked the direct influence of close neighboring sister congregations. The religions became distinct through adaptation to new surroundings and interactions with other systems and cultures. Like European Christianity, African religious beliefs became uniquely American in the North American colonial context. The European denominations represented in the Lowcountry ranged from those with major influences on Gullah, such as the Baptist, Methodist and Episcopal denominations, to those less influential, such as the Lutheran, Catholic, French Huguenot, Presbyterian, and Congregational. African American religion and folkways were attempts to preserve and transform African traditions, but were not without white influence.8 It is important to consider the expressions of white Christianity in relation to the Gullah church because of the impact these expressions had on the beliefs and practices of the African American slaves. When exploring Gullah, categories and nomenclature can be somewhat problematic. The word “Gullah” generally references a number of things. The origins of the word “Gullah” has been linked to both Angola and the Gola tribe of Liberia.9 The first known use of a similar word in print was a May 12, 1739 runaway slave ad in the South Carolina Gazette that mentions a man named “Golla Harry.”10 According to Peter Wood, the term “Gullah” specifically refers to the black peoples of coastal South Carolina, whereas the term “Geechee” refers to the peoples the Georgia coast.11 In modern times, it identifies people, a culture and cultural area, a language, a regional vocal 12 accent, a folklore tradition and a religious tradition. 7 Rosen, 10. 8 Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Within the Plantation Household: Black and White Women of the Old South, (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1988), 295. 9 Rosen, 70. 10 William S. Pollitzer, The Gullah People and Their African Heritage, (Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1999), 107. 11 Wood, 170. 12 Wood, 173-175. In the beginning stages of the colony, South Carolina saw first generation slaves who spoke English, having been exposed to it elsewhere.