Fill in the blank o After formal services in the white church, slaves usually conducted their own religious ceremonies called praise meetings' These praise meetings were usually in origin and allowed them to preserve some of the cultural feature of their African heritage.

AFRICAN

Explanation:

EXERPT FROM ANTEBELLUM MISSISSIPPI---CHAPTER 5

Religion among the Slaves

Next to the family, religion was the most important feature of slave life in the quarters. A deep faith and hope of deliverance sustained the slaves during their long years of bondage. On most plantations, slaves went to church with the white people. Then, after formal services in the white church, slaves usually conducted their own religious ceremonies called praise meetings. Those activities took place in the quarters and were attended only by the slaves.

In the praise meetings, slaves were free to express their innermost feelings through their songs, chants, spirituals, and dances—many of which were African in origin. Slaves were unrestrained at those times. They often acted out their deepest anxieties, frustrations, and anger in tribal dances, accompanied by the rhythmic chanting and clapping of other slaves. These ceremonies were an escape for slaves and enabled them to “let off steam” that might otherwise have been expressed in some form of violence. These religious activities also enabled slaves to preserve some of the cultural features of their African heritage.

basic principles: federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, judicial review, representative democracy, limited government, rule of law, individual rights and responsibilities, consent of the governed, majority rule, popular sovereignty, equal protection.