Rivers, Larry E. "A Troublesome Property: Master-Slave Relations in Florida, 1821-1865.” A Troublesome Property: Master-Slave Relations in Florida, 1821-1865 by Larry Rivers encompasses the relationship between bondsmen and masters in Florida. The violent institution of slavery has existed since the beginning of man. During the years between the American Revolution and the Civil War it was pushed to its full extent. This was especially present in Florida, where slave owners relocated with high expectations after the territory was acquired from the Spanish. Throughout history the valiant efforts of blacks in Florida have been overlooked, such as the Seminole Wars and the Civil War. Blacks in Florida have …show more content…
Many slave owners were against the belief of religious expression because they believed it was the source of disciplinary problems that would lead to fights, low efficiency, and insubordination. Slave owners such as Zephaniah Kingsley and Judge Wilkerson believed that religion would threaten slave control and as a result slaves would become more difficult to handle. Kingsley and Wilkerson assigned white ministers to preach to the slaves and the ministers suggested the beliefs that the slave owners were “Gods” and the slaves were obligated to respect and serve them. Blacks were not satisfied with their owner’s and many held secret meetings when they believed their owner or overseer weren’t looking. Those who were caught suffered consequences of physical abuse or murder. These meetings often included freedom hymns, religious sermons by slaved and ex-slaved men, and many other forms of worship. Some slave owners were content on allowing slaves to marry and be with their families because they
But the reality was that the Black Seminoles and Seminole Indians outnumbered the low number of fugitive slaves in Florida. And within two years, most of these slaves would be returned to their owners thus limiting their role in influencing the Seminoles or the outcome of the war. But more importantly, the actions of the escaped slaves and their contribution did signal a significant argument for a slave rebellion concurrent with the War. The alliance among the Freedmen, the escaped slaves, and the Seminoles, though, was solidified at the beginning of the War, when they collectively attacked plantations in Northeast Florida in late
David Walker says, “whites have always been an unjust...set of beings, always seeking power and authority,” to call for slaves to revolt against their masters. Angelina Grimke builds upon Walker’s position, saying “the opposition of slavery has done its deadliest work in the hearts of our citizens,” to illustrate how slavery has caused nothing positive to the nation and is only diverting the country apart. The Northerners also had the interpretation of “holding slaves is morally wrong...upon precepts taught in the bible, and takes (the bible) as the standard of morality and religion” (Slavery and the Bible,1850) to further question the justification of holding slaves and how the morals of Christians in the North aided by the rise of the abolition movement during the Second Great Awakening. The morality of slavery was being questioned in the United States during the nineteenth century because of the denial of happiness and human rights among those under the rule of southern plantation owners. Reformers expressed their point of views, and many northerners began to join the abolition movement, however their attempts couldn’t influence the southerners and slavery continued on plantations in the southern
Beyond all the horrible treatments that slaves received, enslaved women also had to go through master-slave relationships. Women were not just only bought to do housework or labor in the fields, many times they were purchased for male pleasure and reproduction. "Enslaved women were forced to comply with sexual advances by their masters on a very regular basis" (Sonnen 1). The consequences of resistance often came in the form of physical beatings. This wasn't always the case, even that it was very rare there are examples that show ordinary master-slave relationships, were enslaved women were treated good.
Backed by religion slave owners thought it justified to own slaves because it was their God-given duty so they raised negro children “in the fear of God” Document 3 states that they were allowed to have slaves because God permitted them to they were given sufficient food, drinks, and clothing. Not only was their institution justified their forced conversion to Christianity in the eyes of God was necessary. For example, slave-born babies were not granted the right to freedom but they were granted the right to be baptized for the progression of Christianity according to Virginia General Assembly of 1667. (Document 4) Although they were not viewed as people plantation owners enforced religion onto slaves in hopes of a larger
I found the book Day of Tears by Julius Lester a very good read and I would certainly recommend the novel to others. This is a historical fiction book about the lives of slaves, and specifically, a major slave auction known as “The Weeping Time.” Lester wrote this book in dialogue of both the slaves and whites in the south. One of my favorite parts of this book was how the author included interlude sections to let readers know about certain characters later in their life.
Slavery: Effective on Slaves and Slaveholders In Frederick Douglass’s autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Douglass recounts his life in slavery to reveal to his readers the horrors of the American slave system. To effectively inform his readers of the corrupt system, he publicizes the slaveholders’ hypocritical practice of Christianity. Although he himself is a Christian, Douglass’s narrative is a scathing commentary on the ironic role of Christian religion in the Southern slaveholding culture. Throughout his book, the author expresses and exemplifies his perspective on religion by illustrating the falseness and hypocrisy of the Southern people. To start off, Frederick Douglass suggests that the Southern people’s religion is false and insincere.
1. Fredrick Douglass witnessed harsh and violent actions throughout his slave life, as slave owners utilized Christianity as a justification for these actions and for the system of slavery. Douglass experienced this religious abuse throughout his life as a slave. However, in 1832, when he began working for Captain Auld, he witnessed the misuse of religion in the setting of a violent action. After Auld whipped a young woman, he justified his actions by quoting the Bible: “He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many strips” (33).
Evangelical preachers, in keeping with their social doctrine that targeted the disadvantaged in society, attempted to convert slaves and Native Americans. Prior to the Awakening no one had made a serious effort at their conversion for fear that Christianity was “a step towards freedom” (357). Slaves attended evangelical sermons en masse, wary of the Anglican ministers who supported their masters. Evangelical Christianity offered moments of release and equality from the perpetual suffering of a slave’s life. This did not mean, however, that the evangelists actively opposed slavery.
During the time when Douglass wrote this book, there were several myths which were used to justify slavery. The slaveholder during his time justified this inhuman practice using different arguments. The first argument they used was the religion. From the narrative, Douglass says that slaveholders called themselves Christians which was the dominant religion by then.
Douglass claims in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by human nature, humans simply want to sense and be superior than others as it triggers the sensation of possessing authority over others. Individuals will possibly result to anything in order to obtain this state, to the point of brainwashing others whether it was desired or not by the individuals themselves. To experience the sensation of having authority, people conformed to such actions which can be shown in when, “Colonel Lloyd had three sons—Edward, Murray, and Daniel,—and three sons-in- law, Mr. Winder, Mr. Nicholson, and Mr. Lowndes. All of these lived at the Great House Farm, and enjoyed the luxury of whipping the servants when they pleased…”(Douglass 15). These people
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
Douglass has shown how religious slaveholders are the worst especially when entertainment comes into play. The first being from one of his slaveholders Master Thomas, he whipped a young woman while reading a quote from the scripture to explain his reason for whipping her. The next example was with his other Master Mr.Covey, he would go to church and preach the word but come back beating slaves and going against the almighty God. The last example that is shown is again shown with Mr.Covey, he was guilty of compelling his woman slave to commit the sin of adultery. All of the examples illustrate that religious slaveholders are worst than non-religious slaveholders.
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
Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.
and by those too, who profess religion?”(Apess, 6). In this way, Apess argues by pointing out the hypocrisy found in the Christian ideology of the time, insisting that the ideas held on racial superiority and slavery, while not explicitly condemned in the Bible, go against the ideas of the teachings of Jesus. Apess also uses an appeal to authority, to Jesus nonetheless, in order to shame those who would argue for slavery by mentioning that their savior would be discriminated against in American society. Another voice against slavery, Frederick Douglass, not only uses his religion as an argument against slavery, but also condemns the branches of Christianity which supported it over the course of his 1845 “Narrative”. In his appendix, Douglass states “I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt,