Religion as we know it infiltrated the black community during slavery. While the objective leaned on pacifying slaves, black people rose against the negative narrative and invested in a community that would be known as the black church. Records indicate that as early as 1794, Richard Allen, a formerly enslaved black man, founded his own denomination and church. Reverend Allen, a man who purchased his own freedom, sought to abolish slavery and help other people escape, as well. As the nation continued to work through the Civil War, Jim Crow, racism, and economic disparity, the black church and its leaders mobilized its followers to speak out and stand up for injustices.