During the European colonial era, Christianity was seen as a necessary tool for "civilizing" those who were considered savages. It was believed that non-Christian individuals could be enslaved, but upon conversion to Christianity and its obligatory baptism rite, they would become eligible for freedom and other benefits of citizenship. The slaves were from diverse cultures and practiced different religious beliefs, with many of the slaves from the East of the Muslim religion, and African slaves practicing Christianity, Islam, and variants of the Orisha religion. At the Cape Colony, slaves used baptism to create new identities and to secure a sense of community and financial well-being through marriage. Indigenous women, female slaves, and their descendants consorted or intermarried with the European settlers and in time many of their descendants hid their origins and were fully integrated into the European communities. Initially, only the religious beliefs of the Dutch Reformed Church were allowed, but later other Protestant churches were permitted to proselytize slaves and their descendants.

​Database compiled from Baptism Records of the Anglican Church, Dutch Reformed Church

Nederduits Hervormde Kerk

Transcribed by Lara Seaward