When slavery had become societal, Christianity was the preeminent religion in America. Frederick Douglass is recognized as an implausible abolitionist. He has worked incredibly hard to abolish slavery and everything it stood for. He portrays the ways religion and its literature had a repugnant effect on slavery and the slave owners. Christianity had more of a jaundiced effect on the slave owners than it did unmitigated. Throughout the novel we find that Frederick’s friends were all religious and swayed Douglass toward Christianity. He often references religion in the novel to explain that the slave owners who are Christian, are more vicious than the ones who aren’t, nevertheless, Douglass is on the edge to find out if there really is a God; if there is, Frederick wants an answer as to why He lets slavery go on.
Some slaves were religious fanatics who would not let anyone sway their beliefs. No matter how valuable the reason or how hard a person tries, they will always stick to their ways. Almost all of Douglass’s friends were a part of the abolitionist movement. The proposition of the movement was to try to get emancipation, or equality, of all slaves throughout the United States. Frederick is recognized as being a preposterous abolitionist. He used his personal life experiences to protest against slavery. By being a part of this movement, Frederick was exposed to Christianity. "From my earliest recollection, I date the entertainment of a deep conviction that
Therefore, he appears quite compelling when he attempts to bring out the connection between religion and slavery. Looking at what Douglass went through as a slave, it is unfortunate that his act of reading the Bible was considered a violation of the law. At one point, Douglass narrated that his master’s wife offered Douglass with help to read and write. However, due to “advice” given by her husband and the connection between the Bible and slavery, Douglass’s master’s wife turned against him and was now cruel and bitter towards him.
Douglass’s narrative is a courageous work, as it confronts the slavery institution, and the misuse of Christianity by the slave owners
There are a number of key arguments in “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”. A few of which include inequality, education, and Christianity as the keys to freedom in terms of its true values within the institution of slavery. While Frederick Douglass made some key arguments, he also made common ground to make his appeal for the abolition of slavery.
The brutality that slaves endured form their masters and from the institution of slavery caused slaves to be denied their god given rights. In the "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," Douglass has the ability to show the psychological battle between the white slave holders and their black slaves, which is shown by Douglass' own intellectual struggles against his white slave holders. I will focus my attention on how education allowed Douglass to understand how slavery was wrong, and how the Americans saw the blacks as not equal, and only suitable for slave work. I will also contrast how Douglass' view was very similar to that of the women in antebellum America, and the role that Christianity played in his life as a slave and then
Since before the time of Jesus Christ, religious hypocrisy has run rampant throughout those who held power. Countless lives have been affected by others twisting religious interpretation in order to fit their own needs. Slaveholders used religion and scripture to their advantage when disciplining slaves, sometimes even if they did no wrong. Religious hypocrisy is especially relevant in the life of Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass’s life story depicts how religious hypocrisy committed by both slaves and slaveholders diminished the rights of slaves, while at the same time allowing injustice to endure.
Fredrick Douglass is famous for being an excellent orator, and he is acknowledged for putting much effort into the slavery abolition movements. In the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” he outlines the negative impacts of religion and the bible on slavery alongside the development of Christianity among the whites. Although Douglass seems to be working against Christianity, he is far from being an atheist. Christianity used to be the dominant religion in America when slavery was at its peak in the United States. The religion was practiced by both whites and blacks. Usually, the slave masters professed the same religion as their subjects (Glancy 49). According to Douglass, Christianity is a pure, peaceable, loving and impartial. However, Christianity exists in two forms, namely: “the Christianity of the
Frederick Douglass was an important leader who helped fight for slaves freedom in the 19th Century. Religion played a major role in Mr. Douglass’s life. In his autobiography, he describes his daily struggles of being a slave and how he escaped to freedom. In his narrative, he explains the way his masters would beat, rape, and murder slaves, but only to use their Christian beliefs to explain why they did it and basically use it as an excuse. Douglass himself was also a Christian and explains in his autobiography that the religious views of the masters were very different from the religious views the slaves had. Frederick Douglass composed his autobiography to explain that the master's view of Christianity was unholy and if there was no change to be made, it could continue and lead to an increase in sacrilegious acts.
……In 1845 an extraordinary piece of work by Frederick Douglass was published “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave”; this was the life of a man who through many adversities stood tall with his head in the heavens. Douglass was the more proactive abolitionist as his work was to demolish slavery while detailing his life experience as a slave and expressing is deep emotions and theory on slavery. In the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” he expresses the way religion and its literature, the bible, had an effect not only on slavery but also with white Christianity. His position on slavery was strong and compelling. Douglass used powerful authoritative words from the start of his narrative to grasp our hold and attention and keep us enflamed while realizing God is embedded in the words. ……Phillis Wheatley overcame obstacles most people would quiver against. She showed us slavery and she showed us faith. In the poem, she tells us “Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand” (Wheatley, line 1-2) Right from the beginning , Wheatley shows us religion through her use of subtle but powerful words. She uses the words “Mercy, Pagan
Douglass shows that people who claimed to be moral Christians were torturers of humans. He presents the irony of this situation in the book. "His (the master's) house was the preachers' home. They (the preachers) used to take great pleasure in coming there to put up; for while he starved us, he stuffed them."(40-41) Douglass is presenting his audience with the two faces of the slave holder's version of Christianity; the selfish greed hidden behind piousness. In addition to this Douglass also makes sarcastic descriptions of people and places, describing how un-Christian they were by calling them Christian. "(I)t is almost an unpardonable offense to teach slaves to read in this Christian county."(32)
Degrading is to treat or regard with contempt or disrespect. ] African Americans and women dealt with being degraded throughout 1800-1900, and Frederick Douglass proved magnificent endeavor to increase the respect and immunity for all African Americans and all women. He was a slave throughout his childhood and young teenage years. Learned how to read and write during his late years of leaving his plantation.
In other words, Frederick Douglass does not hate nor blame the Christian Church, he loathes those who use it as an excuse to justify their actions. Their religion does not dictate their persona, there are good Christians and there are bad Christians.
. Both, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave and the article, “KKK Leader: ‘We’re a Christian Organization;’ Claims the Klan is Not a Hate Group” share the theme that white supremacists use religion to defend the way they use racial discrimination. In the novel, Frederick described the horrendous details that his master, Captain Auld used to rationalize his horrid behavior toward his slaves. One summer, Captain Auld attended a Methodist camp to “experienced religion”; thus, giving Frederick hope that the religious camp would lead his master to “…emancipate his slaves, and that, if he did not do this, it would, at any rate, make him more kind and humane”, but instead Frederick was disappointed to have found that his
Fredrick Douglass and Henry Melville both critique Christianity as it was practiced in 19th-century America. Douglass illuminates the aspect of Christianity in relation to the way Christians also uphold the institution of slavery. He views it has ironic that those who claim the Christian faith also believe that there is nothing wrong in the practice of slavery. Douglass questions how one can be a true Christian and still not see that slavery in morally and religiously wrong. He ultimately critiques the way people practice the faith and still uphold slavery. Douglass goes as far to say that the slave master’s even become crueler when they find religion, because then they feel as if they can do no wrong. As Douglass states in relation to slavery and religion, “Here we have religion and robbery the allies of each other – devils dressed in angels’ robes, and hell presenting the semblance of paradise.”
Slavery is severe in two ways; slavery is terrible for slaves, and slavery corrupts slave holders. Frederick Douglass spent his life trying to prove these two topics. He wrote his own books to show people who are not around slavery how horrid it is. He gave countless examples of his own life in order to abolish slavery. In the Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass written by Douglass himself, he says, “Sincerely and earnestly hoping that this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system.”
Throughout his narrative Frederick Douglass tells about his experience as a slave. Frederick’s experiences show that slavery dehumanizes the slave and the slave holder. Slaves didn’t have rights of their own and were treated like animals, while the slaveholders had complete power over the rights the slaves should have had as human beings. This created a unique situation that destroyed the morals of both the slave and the slave holder, which dehumanized them both.