The Turner Rebellion and Thomas Bacon's

During antebellum, religion, in many cases, was used as a tool to control people, an institution of empowerment. Preachers conformed individuals to their views simply by backing their message with either signs from God or the word of God, the Bible. Nat Turner and Thomas Bacon are two prime examples of preachers that did just this. Thomas Bacon oppressed slaves during the eighteenth century by preaching a comprehensive view of the slaves duties and responsibilities in the eyes of God.1 Nat Turner, on the other hand, preached a message of signs he had received from God in order to conform fellow slaves to rise up and rebel against their current position in society. In both cases, those preachers used religion as a means of empowerment.

Thomas Bacon was a preacher notorious for conforming slaves to think of themselves as creation of God placed on earth for a purpose. That purpose was "to assist and work for masters and mistresses that provide for them."2 In Bacon's "Sermon to Maryland Slaves, 1749," he preached a message to black slaves to, basically

1. Butler, Religion in American History, 74

and were allowed to labor in their own behalf for one to three days per week.12 Slaves were required to labor from sunrise until 2 in the afternoon, not from sunrise to sunset.13

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Approximate Word count = 2626
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)