Justifications of Slavery in the Bible
Slavery was probably one of the most significant and inhumane treatment in the history of the United States. Slave owners and authorities of that time, thought that the Bible, as a book of Christianity, is convincing and a proposal for executive of slavery. Therefore, they used it as a way to persuade those who disagreed with holding humans in captivity and abusing them as they are their own possessions. So, religion was the most proper way to serve a purpose of unburdens consciences of “white master” and super class that surrounded him in the religious community of that time. In the Bible there is a story that tells the origin of the African. This story used as a main justification and impose of slavery
…show more content…
Those people were Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives. The story of Ham being cursed takes place on the Bible right after their survival from the anger of God arriving earth by the way of flood. In his book about the Bible and its justifications for slavery in modern era David Whitford explains the possible meaning of oath taking place in the Old Testament. According to Whitford “The Curse of Ham comes from the story of Noah’s curse upon Ham’s son Canaan in Genesis 9. In that chapter, Noah curses Canaan into slavery. Though Ham is never cursed himself, the so-called “Curse of Ham” was the used to explain the origins of slavery for more than fifteen hundred years.” (25) So the belief of thinking Africans cursed and they are to be slaves eventually started when Ham mocked with his father and made Noah …show more content…
The purpose was to spread Christianity to the across the ocean to Africa continent. According to this view of seeing, enslavement was something beneficial and blessed. About this argument, John C. Calhoun said: "Never before has the black race of
Central Africa, from the dawn of history to the present day, attained a condition so civilized and so improved, not only physically, but morally and intellectually." (Bell 3) So, according to inference of this view, slave masters, by capturing and ‘protecting’ they educate them religiously they provide them better living conditions. Moreover they thought that they gain the appreciation of God by being the missionary of Christianity and by helping the enlightenment of African-Americans’ religious pursuit. In conclusion, in the era of enslavement of the United States, the Bible and the religion were the one of the cover that Southern slave owners used to defend
This resulted in the sharing of general views between the North, and South thus allowing faith to be preached across races. This belief led to emergencies of evangelism leading to preachings that condemned slavery terming it as a sin. Moreover, in the first general meeting of Methodism, it was declared that being in possession of a slave would result in instant dismissal (Edwards, et. All, 2013)
Allen Dwight Callahan’s The Talking Book: African Americans and the Bible connects biblical stories and images to the politics, music and, religion, the book shows how important the Bible is to black culture. African Americans first came to know the Bible because of slavery and at that time the religious groups would read it to them instead of teaching them by letting them encounter it for themselves. Later the Bibles stories became the source of spirituals and songs, and after the Civil War motivation for learning to read. Allen Callahan traces the Bible culture that developed during and following enslavement. He identifies the most important biblical images for African Americans, Exile, Exodus, Ethiopia, and Emmanuel and discusses their recurrence and the relationship they have with African Americans and African American culture.
Auld’s misinterpretation of the passage emphasizes slave owners use of religion to reinforce their power over their slaves. Christianity rationalized the concept of buying and selling human beings, and that God approved this too. In addition, Douglass used religion as a way to fuel his abolition movement. Under Master Hugh’s, Douglass began to learn how to read and write. Once
By using this reference, it illustrated the severity of the alienation of blacks in the Southern United States. In 1619, a Dutch ship “introduced the first captured Africans to America, planting the seeds of a slavery system that evolved into a nightmare of abuse and cruelty that would ultimately divide the nation”. The Africans were not treated humanely, but were treated as workers with no rights. Originally, they were to work for poor white families for seven years and receive land and freedom in return. As the colonies prospered, the colonists did not want to give up their workers and in 1641, slavery was legalized.
There was of course people who sold others into slavery like Joseph's brothers sold him. However, for most of God's people, slavery was far different. For most slaves, it was more like being an indentured servent than simply a possession. They were meant to be treated like family and were allowed to leave after 7 years of work under most circumstances. By this description, you my be able to understand
It is a common argument for Christian slaveholders to make “…that God cursed Ham, and therefore American slavery is right…” (5). this argument exposes their hypocrisy as it conveys how they attempt to stretch small pieces of scripture to justify the violence of the American slavery. Douglass thus asks if it is humane to use a small piece of writing to damn an entire race to hardship and subhuman treatment. This case of blasphemy is amplified by the observation that Douglass makes of one of his slave masters, Mr. Covey, in that “he seemed to think himself equal to deceiving the almighty” (61).
Africans who were already enslaved saw conversion to Christianity as a road to freedom, and many others who were not already enslaved believed conversion would protect them from becoming
In “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass narrates in detail the oppressions he went through as a slave before winning his freedom. In the narrative, Douglass gives a picture about the humiliation, brutality, and pain that slaves go through. We can evidently see that Douglass does not want to describe only his life, but he uses his personal experiences and life story as a tool to rise against slavery. He uses his personal life story to argue against common myths that were used to justify the act of slavery. Douglass invalidated common justification for slavery like religion, economic argument and color with his life story through his experiences torture, separation, and illiteracy, and he urged for the end of slavery.
Religion and its relationship to slavery is a contradictive subject, whether it was forced upon slaves or was a form of hope and freedom is still commonly debated about to this day. However, these individuals were devoted Christians in the abolitionist movement who all
Slaves were warned to obey their masters, “As to the Lord and not to men.” However, their masters were also held to this same standard. Masters were expected to treat their slaves well and even to treat them as brothers, as God is the master of all people, including
In the narrative “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave”, Frederick Douglass shows the religious irony in southern slaveholding culture. Douglass gives the reader personal accounts of how brutally some slaves were treated on the plantations. Douglass also contrast the differences between southern and northern slaveholding culture. In the appendix, Douglass argues that there a major differences between Christianity shown to us in the South and Christianity shown to us in the Bible. Douglass gives us personal insight to the life of a slave and their treatment.
The Second Great Awakening’s Impact on Abolitionism in the North The Second Great Awakening during the late 18th and 19th centuries sparked many reform movements in the United States. The new enlightenment age fostered scientific thought that often challenged traditional Christian practices. Principles of “Deism” and “Unitarianism” were religious philosophies that focused on free will, reason, and science.
The idea behind keeping the slave’s faith in the Lord was that the Lord allows slavery because white people are better than the blacks. Basically, any slave who disobeyed their owner was disobeying the Lord, resulting in an eternity in hell, “To be good children of the Lord, the slaves must beware of Satan who created their cunning wicked master of Hell – for it was Satan who created their desires for freedom and tempted them to run away” (Oates
Throughout the narrative, the author includes his personal stories about experiencing the violence of slavery first-hand. For example, on page 20, he writes about the first time he witnessed a slave, his own aunt, getting the whip. “The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest…I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition… It struck me with awful force. It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery…” The author including his experience of his aunts whipping, in detail, appeals to the emotions of the reader.
Jonathan T. Stoner Dr. Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen HT501: The Church’s Understanding of God and Christ in Its Theological Reflection June 9, 2016 CRITICAL RESPONSE # 3: James Cone’s A Black Theology of Liberation James Cone’s black liberation theology was his response to what he and many in the black community saw as the bankruptcy of the theology of white theologians, which was blind to black suffering while knowingly or unknowingly propping up the white-supremacist theology that had been the status quo in the United States since our nation’s founding. In A Black Theology of Liberation, which was his follow-up to God of the Oppressed, he fleshed out his black liberation theology that was rooted in the experience, cultural heritage, and distinctive