As early as the late 18th century, black Baptists began to organize separate churches, associations and mission agencies, especially in the northern states. Not only did blacks set up some independent congregations in the South before the American Civil War, freedmen quickly separated from white congregations and associations after the war. They wanted to be free of white supervision. In 1866 the Consolidated American Baptist Convention, formed from black Baptists of the South and West, helped southern associations set up black state conventions, which they did in Alabama, Arkansas, Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. In 1880 black state conventions united in the national Foreign Mission Convention, to support black Baptist missionary work. Two other national black conventions were formed, and in 1895 they united as the National Baptist Convention. This organization later went through its own changes, spinning off other conventions. It is the largest black religious organization and the second largest Baptist organization in the world. Baptists are numerically most dominant in the Southeast. In 2007, the Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Survey found that 45% of all African-Americans identify with Baptist denominations, with the vast majority of those being within the historically black tradition.

When did black Baptists began to organize separate churches, associations and mission agencies?