Final answer:
Enslaved Africans in the Americas held onto religious traditions, blending them with Christianity and Islam, or maintaining their original spiritual beliefs. Some were educated Muslims who used their faith as a form of resistance. African cultural resistance preserved identity and community among the enslaved.
Step-by-step explanation:
Enslaved Africans brought to the Americas were exposed to the major world religions such as Christianity and Islam; however, they also brought with them a diversity of indigenous religious traditions. African enslavement, under the guise of religious conversion among other justifications, ironically saw little actual conversion due to the emphasis on productivity for profit. While some Africans embraced Christianity, adapting it to include traditional beliefs and rituals, others resisted and maintained their original spiritual practices or Islamic faith.
Historical records indicate that a significant number of the enslaved were Muslims, some with high levels of education, whose Islamic beliefs made them particularly resistant to the efforts of assimilation and enslavement. African cultural resistance was evident not only in religious practices but also in other forms of cultural expression, such as music, dance and even written plans for revolts using the Arabic language.
Despite the spread of monotheistic religions, many Africans retained or adapted their ancestral religious practices, blending them with Christianity or Islam to create distinct practices that maintained a connection with their African heritage, provided a sense of community, and affirmed their identity within the oppressive environment of slavery.