Although - like the Saint-Henri church in Les Anses-d'Arlet visible here - the first Catholic churches were built at the end of the 17th century in Martinique, Catholicism increased its hold on society decisively in the second half of the 19th century. The Black slaves, who had long constituted the majority of the Martinican population, were most often baptized but had little access to higher levels (communion, confirmation, marriage) of Christian life. Their Catholic practice and the integration of the religious sentiment exploded in the years following their general emancipation in 1848. It gradually replaced the underground practices of voodoo and witchcraft linked to their African origins.