1700's Newspaper AdIn North America, Africans from diverse religious backgrounds encountered Christianity. However, many slaves were initially reluctant to commit to a religion they viewed as hypocritical, a religion practiced by slave holders who espoused love and brotherhood, yet regularly mistreated and abused other human beings. Still, slaves were fascinated with the Biblical stories, which seemed to parallel many of their own experiences. By the late 1700's, this fascination was reflected in the spiritual songs they were beginning to create, songs which - at least in the early days - also reflected a continuing identification with African cultural traditions. As growing numbers of African Americans converted and an Africanized Christianity took root, the spirituals also evolved to express and consolidate their new religious faith. Because of fear of retaliation from slave masters (who feared the association between religious faith and longings for freedom), worship often took place in secret meetings at night, sometimes signaled clandestinely by the singing of spirituals.