Summary: The Influence Of Religion On Slavery In 19th Century America

In the 19th Century the American South was heavily dependent and built upon the institution of slavery. It dominated the economy and politics in various ways, providing labor for the extremely profitable cotton market and strongly factoring into the political instability within the Union. Although religion strongly influenced the African-American community and was intertwined with anti-slavery movements, I argue that Christianity played a much more significant role in sustaining slavery. It was effectively employed to both justify and control enslaved African-Americans while christianizing them. In the following I will examine how religion enabled and ensured its stability both on the side of the oppressors as well as the oppressed. Slavery, previously deemed immoral by the evangelical church, was eventually declared an essential part of performing Christian duty and exhibiting faith by the 1830s within the southern clergy. They argued that it was their religious duty to

Further displaying their confidence in the compatibility of slavery and Christianity. In doing so, the southern church demonstrated a prevalent perception that Christianity would not argue against slavery or incite rebellion in the slaves. This was accompanied by a widespread belief that a “Christian slave was a better slave”, as Christianity supposedly encouraged obedience (Boyer, 2011). This phenomenon is mentioned by Charles C. Jones, as he tells the story of a black preacher who, after receiving tracts from abolitionists, turned them over to white authorities for destruction (Boyer, 2011). As the story is told by a white southerner, the narrator is unreliable and the truth of the story questionable. Nonetheless, the story exhibits the function of Christianity in maintaining the stability of slavery, by means of conversion to a religion supporting their