Saying slaves were forced to practise Christianity is a bit of a generalisation. The extent to which slaves were evangelised varied between times and places. Some slave owners (particularly in North America between the 17th and 19th centuries) encouraged conversion as they could stress biblical texts like the letter of Philemon, which exhorts slaves to be loyal to their masters. Others were reluctant to do this as they believed sharing a religion with their slaves would imply equality with them. Some slaves were required to swear an oath upon their baptism stating that their conversion was not motivated by a desire for freedom. American slaves retained many of their African polytheistic beliefs and practises, though ultimately most became Protestants with a significant Catholic minority (there were also large numbers of slaves who were already Christian or followed Islam. A common figure on many plantations was a practitioner of Conjure who performed magical cures and carried out rituals derived from African religious traditions. A young Frederick Douglas for example was given a magical piece of wood by such a person which was supposed to protect him from lashings.

In the Caribbean and South America, African slaves were imported in far greater numbers and were able to form communities that enabled them to retain more of their native religious practises. In some places these evolved into syncretic forms of Christianity while in others they developed into distinctive traditions like voodoo or Santería. There are also numerous examples of different African and Native American traditions influencing one another feeding into these distinctively new world religions. Outside of North America you were also more likely to get large numbers of people from the same place of origin. This enabled Yoruba people in Cuba for example to preserve worship of their gods while adopting elements of Catholicism. In North America it was far more likely that a slave would be held with people from a multitude of ethnic, religious and language groups so the structure of say Methodism helped form a cohesive community with African traditions from different cultures influencing music, dance and liturgy as well inspiring African American folk magic and conjure.

This is a very long way of saying that slaves had a huge variety of beliefs about what happened after death. One belief which pervaded many slave cultures though is the concept of Homegoing. Slaves believed in some form that by dying they were returning to Africa and home. There are documented examples of enslaved people eating dirt or sand before their transatlantic journey to in some way preserve part of their homeland. In the American south many people still eat dirt in this west African tradition, though it’s lost most of its original cultural meaning. There are also examples from all over the Americas of Europeans being perplexed by the happiness shown at slave funerals which included dancing, singing and a party atmosphere as slaves apparently celebrated the deceased’s return to Africa.

To quote a British Parliamentary report from 1791 (I’ve modernised the spelling):

“As the last proof of evidence and that an irrefragable (indisputable) one, how much happier the Africans are in their own country than in the colonies in the great joy which is discovered at their funerals by their fellow slaves and from which joy is said to proceed from the idea that the deceased are returning home. Mr Douglas saw three funerals of slaves in the West Indies. At these funerals says he, they sing and are merry and naming the deceased say he is gone to Guinea.”

The report goes on at great length citing numerous testimonies to support the existence of this phenomenon. Interestingly it also goes further, suggesting that it is not a direct import from Africa but rather a uniquely American development by displaced people in desperate circumstances.

“Captain Wilson however does not stop here, for he goes on to declare that in Africa the funerals are attended with the most mournful cries”.

While I don’t know if slave masters believed they went to the same place as their slaves after death, we can say that many slaves certainly didn’t think so.