Christian Justification Of Slavery And Frederick Douglass's Views On Slave

Christian Justification of Slavery & Frederick Douglass’s Views On Slavery

Slavery has been justified in many ways but has been consistently exercised throughout the history of the US. Although in modern society slavery has been deemed an immoral practice, it played a key role in history prior to the ending of the civil war. However, it was defended and justified by confederate Southerners despite Northern scrutiny and criticism. Among the methods of justification practiced by slave owners was that of religious means. Religious justification and the continued use of slavery brought about the growth and development of influential historical figures, like Frederick Douglass, a pro abolitionist and former slave. Frederick Douglass played a major

Frederick Douglass’s views were greatly influenced by his upbringing. Born February 1817, he was separated from his mom at an early age and rarely saw his father. During the time of his upbringing it was not uncommon for white slave masters to have sexual relations (rape or other cases) with African American slave women on their plantations (“Frederick Douglass Biography”). As a result, his ethnicity was a mix of African American and American, otherwise known as a mulatto. Douglass was raised in slavery and in an environment of hard labor and cruel treatment. Later on in his life he was separated from his family and was sent to Baltimore, Maryland to be a slave for Hugh Auld and his family. The Aulds were not as cruel as his past owners because Mrs Auld was a Northerner and Northern slave owners were more kind and not as tough on slaves as Southerners were. It was here Douglass was able to acquire an education, learning basic reading and writing skills, until Hugh Auld found out and made her stop (“Frederick Douglass Biography”). Slave owners kept their slaves uneducated because they saw an education as an alleyway for a slave to begin freely thinking and eventually escape. Frederick did just that, borrowing identification papers from an African American sailor and escaping to New

It was also here he was able to collaborate with another fellow abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison. Garrison deeply influenced Douglass to begin anti slavery writings. In 1845 Frederick Douglass published his first autobiography and received massive praise, even translation to different languages and distribution to foreign countries. In addition to this publication, Douglass began to portray his abolitionist views and question American Christianity and slavery. He started a weekly journal and paper known as the North Star, which questioned American Christianity and its continuation and justification of slavery (“Category). In a public speech Douglass went on to say, “The slave auctioneer's bell and the church-going bell chime in with each other, and the bitter cries of the heart-broken slave are drowned in the religious shouts of his pious master. Revivals of religion and revivals in the slave-trade go hand in hand together. The slave prison and the church stand near each other.” (“Category: Speeches and Publications”) His slave past and abolitionist views against Christian justification of slavery were especially evident in his writing. Frederick Douglass rejected this religious vindication because he knew from experience that it is morally