In the public eye, slaves demonstrated a docile acceptance of this enforced religion and acted eager to learn the biblical texts concentrating on obeying their masters. The development of their distinctive spirituality however was more prevalent in the private meetings of slaves in hush harbors, safe havens in the environment that enabled larger slave worship rituals.5 As stated above, a lay preacher had now become a prominent part of 19th century Christianity due to the Great Awakening, and this development was also felt in the slave community. Relying mainly on emotion and charisma, black preachers could speak confidently to their peers even with their limited knowledge of traditional Christianity. During these "sermons", the congregation was encouraged to shout and respond to what was being said in a give-and-take fashion that was unique to the slave gatherings and was a product of old African worship rituals.6 The messages of these preachers could sometime hardly be considered Christian in that at times no foundation of Christian thought was implemented in their teachings. Black clergymen were described with whites as "ignorant but cunning men who taught the most outrageous antinomian principles, subversive of all morals and ruinous to all correct notions of God and duty".7 Though the content of these black preachers" sermons is largely undocumented due to the reticence of the slaves in front of whites, the spirituals and slave accounts of lively and joyous worship and celebration have been documented in personal slave accounts. .
The content of these sermons was often consistent with themes from the Old Testament concentrating on deliverance, such as Moses and Joshua, which were the same stories that the white slaveholders wanted to shield from the minds of their slaves. Ironically, the same story the white Christians connected with in motivating themselves for separation from England was used by the slaves in motivating them for their eventual release from their current oppressive ruler ship.