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
He used his religious faith whenever he was teaching other slaves
Instead he began to propagate the belief that sharing religion with the slaves would “lay them under stronger obligations to perform the greatest diligence and fidelity”. Though a number of protestant religions moved throughout at the time the Baptist church eventually took ahold of the south to become the most practiced religion. Frey discusses briefly the African culture that made some influence on the lifestyle of the African slaves. Most of the African cultural practices were bogged down or destroyed by the slave owners and American society.
Jacobs narrative can be seen in many different ways and she provides several different themes. One of those themes is Christianity; Christianity was very important in the lives of every slave because it united them with their families and God. Jacobs narrative provides one truth about Christianity and slaves; Slaves were the only real Christians during the 1800s. White men were all hypocrites because they thought that by going to church meant they were the best Christians ever.
Many slave owners went to the Church and considered themselves good Christians. The Black population was privy to a crisis of faith because not only was their oppression being justified using law and biology, but religion had also become a tool in the hands of the White man. Douglass writes “and I am almost ready to ask, ‘Does a righteous God govern the universe? and for what does he hold the thunders in his right hand, if not to smite the oppressor, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the spoiler?' (Douglass 77)”.
Slaveholders are using religion to keep their slaves in check. Jacobs explains that “Many of the slaves believe such stories, and think it is not worthwhile to exchange slavery for such a hard kind of freedom. It is difficult to persuade such that freedom could make them useful men and enable them to protect their wives and children. If those heathens in our Christian land had as much teaching as some Hindoos, they would think otherwise. They would know that liberty is more valuable than life.
One is more inclined to believe something if surrounded by it and told by many people. By making those enslaved come to the general church services, the information they receive is controlled by those in power. Another way of controlling was by withholding information from enslaved people. According to The American Yawp, anti-literacy laws made it so enslaved people could not read the Bible and learn of inspirational stories such as Moses freeing the Israelites (The American Yawp, Ch 11, Sec 6, Par 4). Anti-literacy laws have a much greater impact than being unable to read the Bible.
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.
Around the time of Fredrick Douglass, there was people claiming to be Christians used the bible and their religion to justify their injustice actions against humanity. Some Slaveholders mostly abused the religion for their own means. The majority of slaveholders use their religion as a reason for abusing their slaves. These slaveholders acted as if they were God. Slavery has a long and very ancient history, but it is the Christian slaveholders who are considered to be the worst slaveholders in history.
God and religion were no longer seen as holy in most people's mind but as a way to have power over someone else and have a feeling of righteousness in their acts of harm or cruelty. Everybody had an opinion about religion and everybody's opinion was different. Frederick Douglass who was enslaved to many religious people does not view religion as a good thing because how can something be good that gives people the righteousness to kill and treat others as trash. Religion had allowed his white slaveholders/owners to feel saved by god for their wrongdoings by going to church.
Religion to the enslaved was peace of mind to them because to think of constantly being moved around surrounding yourself with people whom you have nothing in common with or any way to connect with them besides pain; God was their way to join together and understand where one and other was coming from. The textbook speaks of how Christianity was good for anyone coming over from a place in the jungle and how they became well-clothed and accustomed to western civilization through Christianity. The
This was a common belief that Stowe used to capitalize her point with. Many slaves felt that they had no place to believe in God because He is against them and doesn’t protect them from sin. A third character who was turned atheist by slavery is Cassy, the slave mistress to Legree. She told Tom that when is was a girl she used to pray and love God, but now she has seen the devil and the evils of man so she no longer believes (p. 311).
Solomon Northup’s master William Ford was a pastor and Northup says, “We usually spent our sabbaths at the opening, on which days are master would gather all his slaves about him and read the expound scriptures. He sought to inculcate in our mind’s feelings of kindness towards each other, of dependence upon God setting forth rewards promise of those who led an upright and prayerful life.” (Northup 97). Both slaves and masters usually protestant beliefs. Masters would often teach their slaves about slavery, and would teach ideas around the idea slavery was “the will of God”.
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
The slave could not own property, and any claims to social ties between slaves were never recognized by the
