The Transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans reached its peak in the mid-1700s, at a time when European colonists were preparing for revolution in the name of freedom and prosperity for themselves. As Black families began to establish themselves, and the "Great Awakening" of the 1730s and 1740s spread Christianity through Black populations, a unique blend of African and new "American" traditions emerged–from music, language, lore, and beyond.