In Richard Allen’s “Life Experience and Gospel Labors” he discussed how he converted to Methodism at the age of 17. Allen was similar to Hammon in that he also spoke of how well his master treated him. He stated that his master gloated about how his slaves were religious and that made them better.Allen had a strange relationship with his master. he described leaving his master’s home felt like “leaving a father’s” and stating that he was “kind” (141). After Allen settled into his free life, he had no idea how to do hard labor. Which means to me that he worked in the house, rather than the field. The employer probably figured that all slaves know how to work hard outside. Allen has went through different struggles than most black slaves. It seems like the only disagreement that took place was when the Methodists was when the congregation was filled with more white people than black people.

In the Peter Randolph selection, when it was mentioned that the Baptists were seen as mostly slaves and lower class whites, I was not surprised. I figured that Baptists would be seen as on the low of Christianity spectrum. But even the white Baptists would only allow the slaves a small section to sit in the church. Once again, it was not surprising but just unfortunate that the people on the lower class side of Christianity spectrum, where it was a majority of black people still had to be second rate for their white Baptist counterparts.

“The Gospel was so mixed with slavery, that the people could see no beauty in it, and feel no reverence for it” (64). This quote made me stop reading and take the time to go through what Randolph meant by this exactly.  I feel like this quote means that the people of Prince George county were so used to hearing the word of God and knowing how that might go against slavery that some put Christianity on the back burner and focused on doing whatever made them happy while the preacher was preaching.

Close to the end it is mentioned how if some slaves were to pray then they would get whipped by their master. It is confusing because some of them just wanted their slaves to be of the same religion as them and others wanted them to believe in God. But the thought of the slave praying for mercy or for the slave master to stop making them work might be why they were not allowed to pray in front of them. the slave master probably thought that it was offensive or that the slave prayed to be free.

In the Hammon chapter, I was confused by the calmness of being a slave that he possessed. He seemed so into wanting to make sure that he pleased his master, I kind of understand that because if he works hard he might not get treated so bad. But he believed that being a good slave would make the master also good. And that part just confused me. I did understand what he meant when he mentioned how old slaves would not know how to take care of themselves. Although, I believe that they would to a certain extent. They would be skilled in what they normally do everyday and that could be enough for them to have a job. What got me the most was that Hammon did not want to be free. That just stumped me. The thought of a slave not wanting to be freed is almost unheard. I have heard about slaves that were kind of okay with slavery, but not ones that did not want to be free.

In African Religions in Colonial Jamaica, I was shocked to find out that the slaves from the Caribbeans and South America were more religious than the slaves from the American south. I always thought that the slaves from the south were high on the religious scale. I was also shocked to find out that the Jamaican slaves participated in practices and beliefs associated with witchcraft. Until recently, I believed that it was the Haitians that dealt with witchcraft. I feel stupid for not knowing this. I thought it was funny for the white people to be mocking the black slaves for being superstitious, when they put up scarecrows to keep the crows away from the garden.