Caribbean History -Paper 2

Caribbean Society (1900-1985): Theme 9-Question 18

Question: Discuss 3 missionary efforts to convert people from their Hindu, Muslim and
African religious beliefs to Christianity and TWO reasons for the limited success of these
efforts. (Break up the question into sections and restate in your own words to ensure that you
understand the requirements of the question)

Introduction: European expansion and colonialism of the Caribbean region emphasized “Gold,
Glory and God” from its inception in the 15 th century. The latter was closely aligned with the
need to emphasize the power and might of the religions brought to the Caribbean by these
European powers, namely, Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, and later missionary groups such
as the Moravians, Quakers, the Baptists, the Canadian Missionaries (Presbyterianism) and the
Protestant missionary groups during the periods of emancipation and afterwards. The success of
these various missionary groups was impacted by the resistance from the Hindus, Muslims
and African religions in the 20 th century as the latter asserted their ancestral religions in
various forms. (A brief background or definition of key terms from the question can be
incorporated into your introductions. A thesis statement is vital in showing the examiner
where your essay is headed)

Firstly, missionary groups such as the Protestant missionary groups in Jamaica proselytized
among the slaves and later the newly emancipated black population. Initially , missionaries met
with resistance among the white planters since they feared that they were teaching the slaves to
read and write and that time will be taken away from working on the plantation work-they did
not want their slaves to have a mind of their own. However, the planters quickly realized that the
work of the missionaries inculcated order and docility among the African slaves and that they
emphasized the suppression of African religions. Laws were passed by colonial governments to
outlaw the practice of African religions such as obeah and vodun. The building of schools,
churches was a strategy of the missionaries to consolidate their influence. In spite of these
efforts, with the end of slavery, Africans exhibited many forms of their African religious beliefs
which survived the Middle passage and the centuries of slavery and oppression. Religion which
displayed African retention such as the Orisha, Shango, Vodun, Revivalism, Santeria,
Rastafarianism all highlighted the rise of syncretic religious forms which were a mix of Christian
religion and African religions. The African population in these territories resented the
missionaries’ disrespect of their cultures and between 1846- 1868 Methodist church fell by 30
percent. The revival movement which swept Jamaica also led to the revival of African religions.

In addition to the African based religions, the East Indian immigrants brought their two major
religions to the Caribbean, namely, Hinduism and Islam. The Christian missionaries believed
that these were pagan religions and they made great efforts to convert them to Christian religions
such as Catholicism, Anglicanism and Presbyterianism. In 1936, a survey in colonial Guyana
revealed that out of an Indian population of 130,540, there were 96, 342 Hindus, 21,789
Muslims, and 9,045 Christians. In Trinidad in the same year there were, 94, 125 Hindus, 20,747
Muslims and 23,183 Indians had converted to Christianity. The Presbyterian Church in
particular, led by Reverend John Morton and his wife during the 1870s onwards, were very
active among the newly arrived East Indian Indentured labourers. Their method of operation was
evangelism through education, they established five Presbyterian Secondary schools, and seventy
primary schools. They overcame the language barrier by conducting services and singing hymns
in Hindi.

Furthermore, the lack of religious freedom experienced by the East Indian indentured labourers
also influenced the ways in which they reacted to the proselytizing efforts of Christian
missionaries. The plantation owners did not cater to the religious needs of the indentured
labourers. Their work hours prevented them from performing their rituals and prayers such as the
Muslim practice of praying five times per day. Additionally, Hindu and Muslim marriages were
not recognized, children of these unions were considered illegitimate and there were problems of
inheriting their parents land if their marriages were not registered with the District Immigration
Agent. There were restrictions to wedding and funeral practices. Hindus were forbidden from
beating drums at their wedding ceremonies and they had to bury their dead since they were not
given permission for the traditional cremation ceremonies. Many Hindus worked around
attempts at conversion by adopting Christian names and practicing their religion in secret.
Religious syncretism was also noticeable with participation of some Hindus in All Saints’ Day
and the adoption of the Catholic figure “Sipari Mai”. While conversion was seen by some
Indians as their only way out of the plantations and a vehicle of social mobility. Reverend John
Morton and his team of missionaries offered legal and medial assistance to the Indian labourers,
they disguised their aim to convert by being kind and speaking the language of the Indians.
Those who converted were offered jobs as teachers, preachers within the congregation which
was an improvement to working on the plantation. These efforts of Morton in Trinidad and
Reverend James Cropper in Guyana ultimately led to a small number of converts at the time.

In conclusion, it can be seen that the East Indian and African populations in the Caribbean in the
20th century reacted to the conversion efforts of Christian missionaries via the adoption of
syncretized forms of Christianity which contained ancestral African elements such a drumming,
dancing, communicating with the ancestors, found in Vodun, Revivalism, Shango,
Rastafarianism. In the case of the East Indians certain aspects of Christianity was adopted for the
sake of social mobility but the majority continued to adhere to the tenets of Hinduism and Islam.