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).
In Incidents In the Life of A Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, Harriet shares her experience in slavery and how she overcame trials presented in the form of her master and mistress, and how she battled constant separation from her family and children. In order to protect herself from her master, who constantly attempts to pressure Harriet into a sexual relationship with him, Harriet becomes involved in a relationship with a white man and gains two children. However, in order to escape slavery, Harriet stays for seven years in a small shed in her grandmother’s home and eventually gains her freedom. The book shows that in a system of slavery, family ties and the idea of motherhood are two things that are almost unachievable due to the uncertainty
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
Christianity was, to the slaves of America, (something with a double meaning). In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave, Frederick Douglass, the author, argues about how Christianity can mean one thing to a free white man and something completely different to a black slave. The slave owners follow the ‘Christianity of the Land’ while the slaves follow the ‘Christianity of Christ.’ Frederick begins to build his credibility to a, white, northern, audience by including documents from trustworthy writers and by getting into personal experiences through his writing. Throughout the narrative, he is articulate in how he writes, and it shows the reader that he is well educated.
Douglass tells us this by saying that he believes anyone who is a slave owner cannot be a Christian. In his view, he believes being a slave owner violates the very principles of being a Christian. Auld quote he believes that the Christianity practiced by the Slave owners and the Christianity practiced by non-slave owners are two
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.
While this is one instance, it portrays a clear contradiction. Regarding Douglass’s religious code, one cannot be religious as well as a slave owner because it undermines the Bible's doctrine of good works. Douglass presents slave owners as “non-compliance [whom] produce much confusion. To show himself [...] in this state of mind, he prayed with more than ordinary spirit. Poor man!
When reading the narrative about Harriot Jacobs, one has to ask; what was it that kept her faith in God? How could she ever keep her hope alive that she could survive in a world where a young black slave girl could endure sexual harassment, slander, physical abuse, and emotional suffering from that of her slave master, Dr. Flint? There is no doubt that religion was viewed differently with black slaves and white slave masters. Religion and the Bible was interpreted differently from what was right and wrong, and what was good and evil. Most white masters which had the power over slaves viewed the Bible in reference to justify the evil and wrong doings that they would commit such as adultery and rape among female slaves.
In (1) Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass addressed to (2) white Americans unaware of the consequences of slavery, (3) Douglass (4) appeals to empathy by presenting his story in order to (5) promote the abolitionist movement and to (7) illustrate (8) the harsh realities of enslavement. Douglass strengthens the abolitionist movement by presenting the irony in the lifestyle and values of Christian slaveholders. When clarifying his point of view towards Christianity, Douglas claims, “so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure and holy is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt and wicked.” pg.119. The author uses diction to exploit slaveholders religion and how it was used negatively and contrary to what Douglas believes
In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the reader follows Harriet Jacobs’s first-hand account of her life when she was first enslaved in the South and then living in the North. With the use of this book, the class textbook The American Yawp, and the lecture “The Second Great Awakening”, the means oppressors used to control those enslaved will be explored and explained. Christianity was used in the American South to justify and uphold slavery through the manipulation and withholding of information, alongside the use of hypocrisy in order to gain and keep control over those enslaved. One way of controlling this was through the manipulation of information from the Bible. In Chapter 13 in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Reverend Mr. Pike
The Degradation of Beliefs In the Bible book of Luke 12:47, “He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.” One who reads this statement would conclude that violence towards another who is not following orders is alright in the eyes of God. Slaveholders often use the Bible as a way to right their wrongs. In their slave narratives, Frederick Douglass in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, and Harriet Jacobs in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, both describe the role of religion in their lives.
In the autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Douglass discusses the hardships he encounters that transformed him from an unknowledgable slave to a powerful man who took a stand for the abolishment of slavery. He utilizes an assertive tone in order to grasp the attention of a primarily white audience because he believes they are the only ones who can penetrate moral judgement into the heads of slaveholders of the South. Douglass characterizes Christianity as the most influential source that encourages the continuation of slavery. The growing fear and brutality among slaveholders towards many slaves persists as long as slaveholders manipulate religion as a validation for their actions. Douglass uncovers
“ I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, woman-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land.” (Douglass 100) Douglass does this to show how hypocritical people in the South were being. Churches were teaching the Christian practice of being kind and compassionate while not actually practicing it themselves. Douglass argues that the actions of some people are against religion.
Here, Douglass exposes the Christian attempt to wash their hands of any guilt or wrong doing. Overall, Douglass exposes the truth behind this hypocrisy; when these slaveholders use God as a
Mathew DeWinters Paper #2 Fredrick Douglass The Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglass shows many occasions were slavery and religion collides between a master and a salve. Douglass demonstrates the way religion and the bible have had negative impacts on slavery as well as development of Christianity. Douglass has betrayed some very harsh criticism for the slave owners that betrayed to be Christian that he came into contact with over the course of his life. Douglass tells his readers that he believes people cant be Christian and be a slaveholder, he tells the readers that by doing this they are acting as hypocrites.
