Christianity Mixing with Slavery There are many elements to having a piece of writing to be considered a slave narrative as well as a sentimental novel. Some examples of such are attempting to promote sympathy to all human beings, showing acceptance of ideals in the white society, emphasis on the behavior of a slave owner and emphasis on religious belief of Christian ideals. The reasoning behind all of these approaches is that each slave narrative has a different side of explaining slavery. Slavery to someone can be bad or good and sometimes, it does not correspond with what people believe. This goes to explain that throughout Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, there are many references to religion, specifically, Christianity and how it is incompatible …show more content…
As a slave, the slave owner was the preacher to the slaves. He told them what they could and could not do. “Well, I’ll soon have that out of you. I have none o’yer bawling, praying, singing niggers on my place; so remember. Now mind yourself’ he said with a stamp and a fierce glance of his grey eye, directed at Tom, “I’m your church now! You understand,-you’ve got to be as I say”” (308). This was trying to say that there was no space or room for a slave to be devoted to God because they had a new leader to follow. God was a leader of devoted faith and helped many slaves, but the new leader, Legree, which slaves had to obey, was in disbelief. This very moment in the book showed that slaves had to give up their religion. Religion and slavery did not work together because the slaveholders did not believe that was really a way to live. Slaveholders wanted to be the only ruler and they could not if God was in the picture. Legree wanted Tom to obey him and leave his faith behind. Legree wanted to be in control of Tom, and not have God in control of him. Legree and Tom were not the only representation of the view of not allowing the two important things of this generation to flow together in the …show more content…
This exemplifies the incompatibility between slavery and Christianity in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Every Christian in the society pushed and pushed for what they believed and what they thought was right, but nothing came out of it. Slaveholders pushd for their control and they got what they wanted. What they wanted did not satisfy everyone, so there were examples of people trying to get by with what little they had left deep in their hearts. Uncle Tom and Eva showed Christianity with everything they did behind the hypocrisy of slavery and died while trying. They showed progress, but not a salvation to the ending of
What is presented to the slaves as a religious tenet is merely propaganda used to quell rebellious behavior. They fear a society in which they no longer serve to benefit from slave labor, and so they fear rebellion, they fear objection, they fear events like the Nat Turner Insurrection. The system the slaveholders strive so ardently to protect begins to affect even them, those in power, negatively. They begin to cope with their fear the only way they know how, by projecting it upon the slaves.
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Olaudah Equiano’s Narrative of his Life both endeavor to stir antislavery sentiment in predominantly white, proslavery readers. Each author uses a variety of literary tactics to persuade audiences that slavery is inhumane. Equiano uses vivid imagery and inserts personal experience to appeal to audiences, believing that a first-hand account of the varying traumas slaves encounter would affect change. Stowe relies on emotional connection between the readers and characters in her novel. By forcing her audience to have empathy for characters, thus forcing readers to confront the harsh realities of slavery, Stowe has the more effective approach to encouraging abolitionist sentiment in white readers.
Uncle Tom’s cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. It is an anti-slavery book that shows the reader the many sufferings endured by slaves in the period before the civil war. To the people of the modern day generation, these acts of slavery are unbelievable but the reader has to realize the fact that in those years, people suffered, to the point where they were just treated as property, where owners can do whatever they like and be disposed of or traded as if they were just material possessions and not even human. The book talks about the relationship between slaves and their masters as well as the role of women. As slavery was practiced during such times, Stowe tries to expose the difficult life people had in the past and how their faith in God helped them to endure all there hardships.
While lying on her death bed, in Chapter 26 of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, little Eva says to the servants in her house who have gathered around her, "You must remember that each one of you can become angels" (418). In this chapter and the one before it, Eva has actively worked to make the people surrounding her into "angels," taken here to mean one who is saved by God. In chapters 33 and 34 of Stowe's book, Tom similarly works, though more quietly, to turn the other slaves at Simon Legree's plantation into "angels." Both of these scenes, and particularly the evangelical characters within them, reveal Stowe's Methodist theology, a theology that rejects the predestination of earlier American Christianity. In Stowe's theology "each one" of the people can be saved; God's love is universal. Original sin still exists, but now an individual is given control to escape this sin by embracing God's love. At the heart of the theology and the resultant morality that Tom and Eva evince, is a warm, knowable God, who is knowable through love, and the heart.
Stowe and her siblings were involved in various reform movements and even “...reformed Puritanism itself by challenging some of its harshest creeds” (Reynolds, 2011, p.6). Stowe was uninterested in the political issue created by slavery, she wanted to bring light upon the emotional and religious problems caused by it. Stowe was able to receive testimony from former slaves because of the close interaction she had with them. One of her housekeepers, Eliza Buck, was a fugitive slave and was able to tell her story. Eliza Buck, along with Stowe’s mother’s sister, were able to influence Stowe in her creation of the characters for Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The immense cultural importance produced by Uncle Tom’s Cabin is created through its emotional appeal. Stowe’s book aid “...rectify
Throughout Linda’s life she came to acknowledge that a Christian master was the most dreadful master of all. A Christian master knew the word of God or what we would call the teachings of the Bible, so he was able to intentionally misconstrue biblical verses to his. Yet, white southern “Christians” committed these cruel acts, believing their behaviors were neither wrong nor immoral(BN 1). Looking back at these atrociousness, those who call themselves Christians are appalled. In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, Harriet A. Jacobs describes the hypocrisy of Southern, Christian slave owners in order to show that slavery and Christianity are not congruent. Despite the fact that Christianity teaches the values of respect, goodwill and generosity, etc., Christian slave holders seem to think these teachings do not account for them and they do not have to follow them, which is without a doubt hypocritical. African American slavery is reducing a human being to the condition of property, the same as other goods, wares, merchandise and chattels almost like prison if not worse.The treatment of slaves was customarily unfortante because slave masters did not care if their slaves were hurt,tired,hungry, etc they had their profit in mind rather than the well-being of their slaves. Due to the way that
...g himself he managed to save escaped slaves and freed all the slaves on the Shelby's plantation. Eva was beyond her years but managed to do so much in the time she was here. She loved everyone just the same and saw no differences in any of God's people. Till the day she died she was spreading the word to love one another. She touches many lives in her short life. Even after death Eva made a huge impact on people's lives; Miss Opehlia and Topsy use Eva's Christian love as an example to live by.
The white institution of Christianity has been forced upon Tom since childhood to make him believe in the Puritanical tenet that individual suffering in life, guarantees a good tidings in death. Tom has been taught to read the Bible and believes that God will be with him everywhere he goes, even after he has been sold and separated from Aunt Chloe and the rest of his family. “I’m in the Lord’s hands,” said Tom; “nothin’ can go no furder than he lets it;--and thar’s one thing I can thank him for. It’s me that’s sold and going down, and you nur the chil’en. Here you’re safe; ---what comes will come only on me; and the Lord, he’ll help me,--I know he will,” (Stowe 81)...
Slave narratives were one of the first forms of African- American literature. The narratives were written with the intent to inform those who weren’t aware of the hardships of slavery about how badly slaves were being treated. The people who wrote these narratives experienced slavery first hand, and wanted to elicit the help of abolitionists to bring an end to it. Most slave narratives were not widely publicized and often got overlooked as the years went by; however, some were highly regarded and paved the way for many writers of African descent today.
Douglass continues to describe the severity of the manipulation of Christianity. Slave owners use generations of slavery and mental control to convert slaves to the belief God sanctions and supports slavery. They teach that, “ man may properly be a slave; that the relation of master and slave is ordained by God” (Douglass 13). In order to justify their own wrongdoings, slaveowners convert the slaves themselves to Christianity, either by force or gentle coercion over generations. The slaves are therefore under the impression that slavery is a necessary evil. With no other source of information other than their slave owners, and no other supernatural explanation for the horrors they face other than the ones provided by Christianity, generations of slaves cannot escape from under the canopy of Christianity. Christianity molded so deeply to the ideals of slavery that it becomes a postmark of America and a shield of steel for American slave owners. Douglass exposes the blatant misuse of the religion. By using Christianity as a vessel of exploitation, they forever modify the connotations of Christianity to that of tyrannical rule and
William Arthur Ward once said, "Real religion is a way of life, not a white cloak to be wrapped around us on the Sabbath and then cast aside into the six-day closet of unconcern." Religion is the one thing that people can usually tolerate but never agree upon. Each faith seems to have an ordained assumption that they have the correct thoughts on how to life one's life or how to think about things or the way to act in certain situations. Still, each religion has its own "sub-religions." If someone refers to Christianity, there are several different religions that are blanketed under that umbrella: Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, and Presbyterian are just a handful. The inconsistencies that are associated with everyone's belief about religion run into deeper ruts of confusion. This confusion leads people to have distorted views as to what they believe and what their religion is all about. This is no different from the feelings about slavery by Christians in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Throughout the novel, Christianity presents itself in a few different lights; as a twisted and deformed glimmer of what religion is supposed to be with undertones of bigotry and prejudice, an innocent yet naive child that brings joy to everyone he or she meets, and as Uncle Tom himself, the standard for what a Christian is supposed to be. These different portrayals of Christian living come from Stowe's own beliefs about Christians and brings them into the light.
Southern slaveowners claimed that they were upholding their Christian duty by engaging in slavery, rescuing slaves from a life of struggle and faithlessness. Douglass dispels this myth by exposing the many flaws of Mr. Covey’s morality, shocking northern Christians with his Christian hypocrisy and faulty character. Douglass introduces Mr. Covey as a “nigger-breaker,” denouncing his ability for human emotion and sympathy(79). Douglass evokes a sense of ethics and judgement in his Northern audience as he questions the authenticity of Mr. Covey’s faith: “I do verily believe that he sometimes deceived himself into the solemn belief that he was a sincere worshipper of the most high God” (82). In pointing out Mr. Covey’s self-deception, Douglass indicates a distinction between true Christianity and false Christianity. Douglass implies that Mr. Covey wasn’t a “sincere worshipper,” proving how slaveowners’ Christianity was not proof of their genuine goodness, but only a hypocritical front they maintained to bolster their complacent brutality. In doing so, Douglass counters the argument of blacks receiving a healthy faith from being enslaved. He a...
It has played a major role in history, persecution, church, wars and most importantly in slavery. in this essay i have focus in how hypocrisy was use in race relations using the slave narrative Equiano. In Equiano 's slave narrative examines Christianity and how it allows hypocrisy in slavery. As Equiano travels he sees and learns how whites use religion as a pocketbook, whites pretended to be holy and virtue by attending church and being thrilled of their practice when in reality they were unjustly treating African slaves and not living up to the tenets outlined in the bible. Equiano studies the bible carefully; despite of the hypocrisy Equianos faces he remains loyal to god and always kept his faith in god. Once his convince of the authenticity of his spiritual transformation and studies of the bible then Equiano convert to Methodist
In the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, one of the main themes is religious faith; specifically Christian faith. Stowe’s characterization of this was that Christian faith is a strong force of love that has the ability to invalidate slavery. This was shown in many characters like Uncle Tom and Eliza. As a result of their strong Christian faith and values, Uncle Tom and Eliza were able to
“Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory” (1 Corinthians 15:57). The novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was a revolutionary book during 1852. This novel “helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War” (h-net.org). Slavery in the United States was not abolished until 1865 through the Thirteenth Amendment to the American Constitution. Harriet Beecher Stowe, being a white woman, felt that she could not speak out about this topic because of her status. Due to this she decided to portray her thoughts through rhetorical approaches in her books. Stowe uses religious aspects, perspectives, and symbolism to call for an end to slavery.