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Uncle Tom's Cabin Research Paper

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Uncle Tom’s Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. It was published in an abolitionist editorial and had an astounding effect on the country. The authors intent of the novel was to exploit slavery for the monstrosity that it is by demonstrating how the practice pulls people away from Christianity and their morals, destroys families, and
The author conveys how slavery was an evil institution by showing how it propels people to abandon their faith and values. Taking into consideration that this novel was written in the antebellum period, the prevailing religion was by far, Christianity. Harriet Beecher Stowe uses this to her advantage by revealing multiple cases in which all classes of people turn their back on their Godly beliefs due to the corrupt nature of slavery. For instance, St. Clare reveals to Tom that he can no longer believe, that he doesn't see anything when he prays …show more content…

Tom, the most religious character in the book, at one point confessed that it was vain to serve God (p. 329). Even though Tom was a self-made preacher, he was still vulnerable to betray his beliefs after suffering the treatment of slavery. George Harris is another example of this changing mindset. He told Eliza that he has endured too harsh of punishment to still be a christian (p. 16). George also considers God to be on the side of whites, unable to see the terrible treatment that they impose on slaves (p. 163). 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). A prime All of these examples prove how slavery forces people away from

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He used his religious faith whenever he was teaching other slaves

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Many slave owners were against the belief of religious expression because they believed it was the source of disciplinary problems that would lead to fights, low efficiency, and insubordination. Slave owners such as Zephaniah Kingsley and Judge Wilkerson believed that religion would threaten slave control and as a result slaves would become more difficult to handle. Kingsley and Wilkerson assigned white ministers to preach to the slaves and the ministers suggested the beliefs that the slave owners were “Gods” and the slaves were obligated to respect and serve them. Blacks were not satisfied with their owner’s and many held secret meetings when they believed their owner or overseer weren’t looking. Those who were caught suffered consequences of physical abuse or murder.

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Slavery was bound to create conflict. The North believed that slavery was corrupt. A book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, described the cruelty that was slavery. The author’s purpose was to show its readers, the Northern free states, how truly corrupt and hypocritical the Southern slave owners were. She shows this by using the Bible, saying that only God can buy a soul, that the slave owner holds no true hold over the slave, however the slave owner disagrees.

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Mr. Thomas Auld, however, was not the worst religious slaveholder, in fact Douglass shares stories of Reverend Hopkins and Reverend Weeden only to prove the crudeness of Christian slaveholders. Douglass then goes on to tell of how some fellow slaves and himself began to familiarize themselves with Christianity, and how it angered their slaveholders, who, “would much rather see them

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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.

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Although he was taught about Christianity by his mother when he was young, he didn’t become a master with love and tolerance. He has a terrible temper. He drank a lot in order to avoid the reality because he thought he is guilty to persuade his slaves and believe that God will punish him someday. Stowe showed the readers about the contradiction of the Christianity and slavery through this character. The contradiction not only appears in the latter story, but actually throughout the novel.

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In addition to establishing himself as a credible narrator and using anecdotes with repetitive diction and imagery, Douglass also highlights how religion was enforced in slavery. Every slave owner that Douglass belonged to was hypocritical and deceival towards their faith. This is frequently used through all his anecdotes to persuade the reader that slavery is full of non-sense and that the “devoted, peaceful, just, and kind owners” were full of lies. “He seemed to think himself equal to deceiving the Almighty. He would make a short prayer in the morning, and a long prayer at night; and, strange as it may seem, few men would at times appear more devotional than he…

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In addition, the author uses irony to illuminate the values slaveholders believed in, and the values they acted upon. With this Douglass implies slaveholders created a whole new sense of Christianity; leading a life where they believed in something but acted completely against it. By exposing this, Douglas illustrates the reality of slaveholders’ life and morals which he uses to promote the abolitionist movement. When explaining how religion affected slaves lives Douglas declares, “I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land.” pg.119.

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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.

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Douglass complains and states that he believes that Christianity is “used to justify slavery in the South” (Stocks) and therefore is working against the freedom of slaves. Douglass was completely against Christianity because he thought that Christians not only supported slavery, but “encouraged the expansion” (“God In America”) of slavery in the south. Many Christians reading the book were alarmed by his tone and hostility of their religion that they decided to argue against his remarks made in the book. Disagreement caused the narrative to be taken into consideration and ultimately challenged. Douglass was never afraid to say what was on his mind, therefore he was not afraid to write what he thought, even if his words did offend others and

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Evangelical preachers, in keeping with their social doctrine that targeted the disadvantaged in society, attempted to convert slaves and Native Americans. Prior to the Awakening no one had made a serious effort at their conversion for fear that Christianity was “a step towards freedom” (357). Slaves attended evangelical sermons en masse, wary of the Anglican ministers who supported their masters. Evangelical Christianity offered moments of release and equality from the perpetual suffering of a slave’s life. This did not mean, however, that the evangelists actively opposed slavery.

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and by those too, who profess religion?”(Apess, 6). In this way, Apess argues by pointing out the hypocrisy found in the Christian ideology of the time, insisting that the ideas held on racial superiority and slavery, while not explicitly condemned in the Bible, go against the ideas of the teachings of Jesus. Apess also uses an appeal to authority, to Jesus nonetheless, in order to shame those who would argue for slavery by mentioning that their savior would be discriminated against in American society. Another voice against slavery, Frederick Douglass, not only uses his religion as an argument against slavery, but also condemns the branches of Christianity which supported it over the course of his 1845 “Narrative”. In his appendix, Douglass states “I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt,

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Douglass has shown how religious slaveholders are the worst especially when entertainment comes into play. The first being from one of his slaveholders Master Thomas, he whipped a young woman while reading a quote from the scripture to explain his reason for whipping her. The next example was with his other Master Mr.Covey, he would go to church and preach the word but come back beating slaves and going against the almighty God. The last example that is shown is again shown with Mr.Covey, he was guilty of compelling his woman slave to commit the sin of adultery. All of the examples illustrate that religious slaveholders are worst than non-religious slaveholders.

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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

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When it comes to mass shooting, the United States has the most. There are more public mass shootings in the United States than in any other country in the world, according to a study by the U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. Mass shootings are defined for the study as having four or more victims and it doesn’t include gang killings or slayings that involve the death of multiple family members. When used properly, guns can be beneficial to society. However, when in the wrong hands, guns can be used to do terrible things like mass shootings.

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