slavery and religion

A detailed Summary of slavery and religion


Frederick Douglass was one of the most important leaders of the slave abolitionist movement and fought to end slavery in the United States during the 19th Century. In his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, he thoroughly describes the harsh life and life-threatening conditions of slavery and his escape to freedom in the North. Throughout the narrative, Douglass' masters justify the beatings, the blood, and even the murders of slavery through religious "excuses," which, ironically, question some people's religious views in the 19th Century. Douglass makes a point in his narrative that the Christianity of the slave masters (or "white Christianity") was different from the slaves' Christianity in that the whites' religion was a wrong belief and that their acts were very sacrilegious.


In the appendix of his narrative, Douglass makes a point that he is not "an opponent" of religion, but rather he thinks that the slaveholding religion that the masters practiced was wrong. But despite what Douglass mentions in his appendix, slave masters' religion is very questionable during the 19th Century. In other words, Douglass indirectly places questions about the whites' Christianity in his readers' heads. For example, his readers may think, "How could a good and Almighty God allow all of these beatings and deaths among the slaves? Or How could He let the masters turn to Him and allow them to justify their actions? Or If there was a God there, why didn't He stop slavery?" What the masters believed in was false, and the real religion was what the slaves believed in.

"It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 592
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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