Examines the relations between the state and the church in the Dominican Republic during three distinct phases. Relations during the First Republic from 1844 to 1861; Spanish annexation 1861-1865; Early period of the Second Republic from 1865 to 1879; Policy implications.;
Reviews several books on slavery. The Abolition of Slavery in Brazil: The "Liberation" of Africans Through the Emancipation of Capital, by David Baronov; The Virgin, The King and the Royal Slaves of El Cobre: Negotiating Freedom in Colonial Cuba, 1670-1780, by María Elena Díaz; The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas, by David Eltis.;
Argues that although evangelical Christianity involves a variety of beliefs that are incompatible with a strong ethnic identity, this religion also includes a range of ideas and practices that nourish rather than corrode black identity.