Custom essays on The role of religion in Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

The role of religion in Uncle Tom’s Cabin
by Harriet Beecher Stowe

1. Historical background on religion in slavery

The system of slavery and the use of slave labor existed in the United States in 1619-1865. Most slaves were Africans who had been abducted from their homes, and their descendants. First African slaves were brought by British colonists in Virginia in 1619. By 1860, the 12-million population of 15 American states where slavery still existed, 4 million were slaves. Out of the 1.5 million families living in those states, more than 390 thousand families had slaves.
Slave labor was widely used in plantations, allowing American slave owners to receive high profits. Benefits from the plantations of cotton and sugar cane together with the increasing price of slaves encouraged to take all possible measures to protect the institution of slavery and to keep slaves in a subordinate position. Slaves were actually at the mercy of their masters. For example, in some states, teaching of slaves was penalized. A slave was legally forbidden to study literacy, as the practice of slave owning quickly revealed that an educated slave was more inclined to disobedience and runaways. Until the 18th century, black slaves in general were not Christianized, wedded and read the burial service (Duitsman-Cornelius 253-58).
The denial of basic human rights of slaves hindered the political and economic progress of African-American population; in response, the slaves formed their own powerful social institutions which later in the middle of the 20th century would encourage the civil rights movement, providing it with support and social capital. One of such opportunities was opened by the “Black Church”. Over time, more and more African-American slaves turned into Christianity, becoming Baptists or Methodists, as these religions prevailed among white Southerners. Some of the owners were afraid that the Christian dogmas would undermine their attempts to theoretically justify slavery, others called their slaves for attending church (although in a separate section, just for Blacks) in order to persuade them in the necessity of Christian humbling (Thatcher 84-98).
The struggle against slavery began in 1734 during the Great Awakening headed by a white theologian Jonathan Edwards. In contrast to traditional faded bigotry, Edwards put forward the idea of acquiring the Holy Spirit. But the spirit came to people of all colors; it turned out that the experience of communion with God united Christians of any social status. And, since the Great Awakening up to 1865, when the U.S. Congress passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the main thing which especially inspired fighters for the abolition of slavery was the religious experience, i.e. the experience of passing through the prism of personal meeting with Christ.
It was earlier acknowledged that the social perception of Christianity as something that confirmed the society and social structure was the source of the promotion of slavery. Even nowadays modern Roman Catholic historians, sometimes trying to justify the Church, say that Christians did not protest against slavery, when such a protest could undermine social stability (Mitchell 62-75).
However, African slaves with their primitive, but very flexible mind were absorbing the surrounding reality like a sponge, but deeply in the soul hiding their own faith, while pretending that they accept the Catholic religion imposed by white people. But at their heart, slaves continued to worship the forces of nature, remembered the native language and chants of distant Africa, appealing to the gods and telling the incredible stories of their lives. Studies have shown that African slaves were able to maintain their traditions despite the fact that they were totally controlled and brutally used (Mitchell 126-133).