My project is a long-term analysis of interpretations and cultural images of African American religion. I begin with a study of debates about black slaves in the 1830s, focusing on what such debates envisioned about the destiny of blacks in the United States, particularly in the emphasis placed on their alleged distinctive religious capacities and spiritual qualities. I end the project with an evaluation of controversies in the 1960s about the role of black churches in American society. The argument throughout the book is that a special burden was placed on African American religion as a signifier and symbol of what blacks could contribute to the nation. I contend that religion has been the principal lens through which black life has been approached in this period, by both black and white interpreters. Few involved in this debate envisioned the place of blacks in American society apart from their analyses of distinctive black religious practices. My hope is that attention to this history of interpretations and cultural images of blacks might be useful in contemporary discussions about the roles of churches in society and the specific ways that black churches have figured in concerns about the common good.