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Ham In The Early Modern Er The Justification Of Slavery

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Slave owners in America until 1865 used religion, specifically Christianity and stories from the Bible, in order to justify slavery in America and the moral qualms that came with owning a human being as property. This essay will take a look at how slave owners and those who held pro-slavery views justified their actions, from a moral and political but mostly religious standpoint. While abolitionists drew on religion when arguing against slavery, slave owners also drew on religion when justifying their actions. The biblical story of the curse of Ham, Noah’s son, in Genesis 9 will be explored as a frequently referenced story perpetuating the justification of slavery, along with other biblical verses and rhetoric. David M. Whitford, in his book The Curse of Ham in the Early Modern Era: The Bible and the Justifications for Slavery discusses how the biblical story in Genesis, wherein Noah curses his son Ham and Ham’s descendants, has been used throughout history to justify serfdom and slavery, and how eventually famous later medieval …show more content…

After Ham sees his father Noah drunk and naked one night, Ham does something to his father, although to this day it is still argued what is actually done to Noah. One loose theory is that Ham actually curses Noah, and this is why Noah curses Ham and Ham’s descendants. Regardless, this biblical curse has been used throughout history to justify slavery. A bible quote that stands out as an example of an adamant pro-slavery stance and what was used as ‘holy’ slavery justification is 1 Peter 2: 18 : “Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.” This is one of the many bible quotes that slave owners had to rely upon to justify their ways. Quotes like these were used by many American slaveholder’s during the Plantation Era to justify their ownership of slaves. This is one of the most harmful outcomes of

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This shows how harsh the treatment of slaves were. They were given no rights, treated simply as a piece of property. White plantation owners remained superior to the slaves at the time. Although treatment of the slaves was bad, many owners did take a responsibility in Christianizing them. Seen in document 4, children that are slaves by birth can be admitted to the sacrament of baptism.

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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).

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Douglass’s words that captured such “veracity” is his saying that “slaveholder’s profession of Christianity is a palpable imposture” (xiv). The strong declaration, which gained many witnesses, proves his first-hand experience with slavery and therefore, justifies his credibility, regarding his religious persecution. Through this, he proves that Christianity, as they call it, is an illicit form of religion bent toward justifying white slaveowners’ actions while praying for “heavenly union” (Douglass 106). In the following occurrences, Douglass provides insight into the religious masking that Christian slaveholders use to cover-up the unjust treatment of their slaves, shining light onto the misinterpreted cult they have formed to justify their crimes and the effect religion has upon the white dominant culture

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Likewise, he promotes his classifications of human races based on the biblical stories of Ham, Japeth, and Sham. Through the curse of Canaan, Sloan extrapolates that it is a Christian moral obligation to follow the suit of their forefathers in demanding servitude from the descendants of Ham, which once again becomes a justification for slavery. Moreover, from the Christian perspective, the Bible sheds light on the creation of a favored race by God which is deeply rooted in the White supremacist ideals that justify this social race theory for the author and many others who also similarly align their views. Together, these arguments presented by Sloan take upon a Christian perspective and attempt to protect the damaging institution of slavery. They further perpetuate White supremacist ideals that develop a societal classification based on the labels dictated by biblical stories, further fostering a sense of inferiority amongst other races and oppression; negatively impacting the identities of everyone within society.

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Douglass who grew up under the hand of many different Christian overseers and masters, shared that, “religious slaveholders [were] the worst.” When Douglass was abiding with Mr. Thomas Auld (Mr. Auld’s brother), He described him as a man, “incapable of managing his slaves either by force, fear, or fraud,” until his religious conversion. Mr. Thomas Auld was converted at a Methodist camp-meeting, and Douglass expressed, “I indulged in a faint hope that his conversion would lead him to emancipate his slaves, and that, if it did not do this, it would, at any rate, make him more kind and humane.” Douglass was let down in both respects, and he said, “If it had any effect on his character, it made him more cruel and hateful in all his ways… after his conversion, he found religious sanction and support for his slaveholding cruelty.” One of his master’s justifications involved reciting religious passages and quotes from the Bible while whipping his slaves.

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