A fascinating history of the Black church in America, this book provides insight into the role that churches played in African American communities during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Bragg profiles many of the key figures in this movement and offers a vivid picture of the challenges that they faced in their efforts to build strong, independent institutions. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.