ABSTRACT
The focus on slavery in the 1830s to the 1850s was complemented, not coincidentally, by a new concentration on spiritual freedom. This stress on Christianity and Christian values enabled women like Maria W. Stewart, the first black female political writer born in the United States, deeply religious, abolitionist, and committed to women’s rights; Zilpha Elaw, gospel missionary who wrote her memoirs; and Jarena Lee to see themselves as agents with power of their own. 89 Lee and Elaw wrote their spiritual autobiographies while Stewart spoke out publicly on a wide range of issues. Religion was frequently a goal and a tool, as well as a fortification. During this tumultuous era, black churchgoers were independently restructuring their institutions: “The first separate denominations to be formed by African Americans in the U.S. were Methodist and organized by free black people in the North. … It was the first effective stride toward freedom by African Americans” 90
