While most studies of Black Christianity in America have focused on its Protestant and indigenous African elements, the legacy of Afro-Atlantic Catholicism stretches back to the seventeenth century. Through the transatlantic slave trade, many Africans who had lived in areas of strong Portuguese influence brought Catholicism with them to the Americas. The influence of these communities has, unfortunately, been understudied.
Jeroen Dewulf redirects the scholarly conversation about Black Christianity by drawing attention to these Catholic communities and their history. Focusing on historical documentation of their rituals, devotions, and social structure, Dewulf illustrates how Afro-Atlantic Catholics transformed the American Christian landscape.
Afro-Atlantic Catholics: America’s First Black Christians examines the influence of African Catholics on the historical development of Black Christianity in America during the seventeenth century. As Hein Vanhee remarks, “Jeroen Dewulf revolutionizes our understanding of the development of African American Christianity. Based on an extraordinary range of historical documents, the resulting narrative restores justice and dignity to countless generations of enslaved Africans who responded to harsh living conditions by organizing their own mutual-aid organizations focused on solidarity, care, comfort, and pride.”
The new paperback edition is available for purchase on the Notre Dame Press website.
Jeroen Dewulf is director of the Center for Portuguese Studies and professor in the Department of German and Dutch Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of a number of books, including The Pinkster King and the King of Kongo: The Forgotten History of America’s Dutch-Owned Slaves and From the Kingdom of Kongo to Congo Square: Kongo Dances and the Origins of the Mardi Gras Indians.
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