completely, although in 1871 it had ensured that eventual result with the gradualist method of freeing in the womb. See Abolition of slavery timeline for other dates. Indigenous African religions in the United States In the 18th century, slaves came from various African societies, cultures, and nations which existed on the West African coast, such as the Igbo, Ashanti and Yoruba. Slaves who were members of different ethnic groups displayed few religious commonalities, despite the fact that they came from the same continent and belonged to the same ethnicity; those Africans who were sold to American slavers shared little of their traditional cultures and religions. Igbo, Yoruba, and Ashanti religious practices did not survive in slave communities in the United States. The institution of slavery, with its high conversion rate, ultimately eliminated traditional African religions in the country. Christianity has existed in Africa for a very long time (most notably in Ethiopia) that some scholars consider it an "indigenous, traditional and African religion", nonetheless, it was a minority faith on the continent as a whole. Most of the slaves who lived in the United States came from the West-African coast, which was far less Christian, so converting slaves to Christianity was common but it remained controversial, with some slave owners resisting conversion because they feared that "slaves seeing themselves as spiritually equal" would spur an abolitionist movement. On the other hand, other slave owners promoted conversion because they thought that Christian slaves would make better workers. While many Americans argued otherwise, an increasing number of citizens and slaves argued that Christian religious principles directly conflicted with the institution of slavery. Even though these changes occurred in mainstream Christian thinking, many argue that this fact does not imply innocence on the part of Christian religious institutions: Harvard Divinity School's Jacob K. Olupona states that Christianity was "deeply culpable in the African slave trade, inasmuch as it consistently provided a moral cloak for the buying and selling of human beings". In addition, some missionaries and clergymen wrote about the indifference of masters to their religious welfare. Even for Christian slaves, the actual ability to practice their religion was often impeded: while some slave owners openly encouraged their slaves to hold religious meetings, this was not a universal position across the country. One former slave recalled, "When de niggers go round singin' 'Steal Away to Jesus,' dat mean dere gwine be a 'ligious