Richard Daly

HIST 96A
Professor Wigmore

The institution of slavery was integral in the formation of the United States of America.

Tracing back to the first English settlement at Jamestown, slavery provided the backbone of the

labor force that was used for growing cash crops in the American colonies. Frederick Douglass, a

nineteenth century African American abolitionist and social reformer reflected on his personal

encounters with slavery in his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In his reflections he

described the fundamental importance of education and religion to both slaves and slave-owners.

While a perverted Christianity mainly served to maintain slavery as an institution, education was

a slaves true path to freedom. Through the juxtaposition of the different effects of the two on the

slaves and slave-owners alike, Douglass effectively examined the inhumane practice at its core.

Religion was employed by slave-owners as a means to justify the practice of slavery.

Douglass explained that Christianity was a tool for slave-owners to maintain their dominion over

slaves. In his narrative however, Douglass wrote that there is a clear distinction between

Christianity proper and Christianity of the land. He explained, between the Christianity of this

land and, the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible differencewe have men

stealers for ministers, women-whippers for missionaries, and cradle-plunderers for church

members.1 This great irony is one that Douglass found deeply disturbing and upsetting. For such

vile, unholy actions to have been taken out by these supposedly holy men seems to be the greatest

hypocrisy of all. Perhaps the most powerful statement he made on the subject is, The slave

auctioneers bell and the church-going bell chime in with each otherThe slave prison and the

church stand near each otherthe rattling of chains in the prison, and the pious psalm and solemn

prayer in the church, may be heard at the same time.2 Douglass described a society in which its

1 Appendix, Frederick Douglass Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (United States/Dover Thrift,
1995), 71.
2
Douglass, 72.

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two most integral pillars were in direct contradiction with each other. Although slavery was an

inhumane, unholy economic system, the Church that preached love and compassion was its

primary endorser.

Douglass witnessed firsthand the corrupting effect of piety. In 1832 he was living with

Master Thomas Auld, a cruel man who starved his slaves. Frederick wrote that in August of that

year that Master Auld attended a religious camp and converted to Methodism. He went on to say,

I indulged a faint hope that his conversion would lead him to emancipate his slavesit would

make him more kind and humaneit made him more cruel and hatefulafter his conversion, he

found religious sanction and support for his slaveholding cruelty. 3 The basic tenets of

Christianity were being overlooked in order to justify the wealth gained from the inhumane

practice. This reflection on piety further exposed the contradictory nature of the Christianity of

the land.

Christianity however was also used as a means of hope for blacks. In his Appeal to the

Coloured Citizens of the World, David Walker, a free African American and leading abolitionist

wrote, I appeal to Heaven for my motive in writingwho knows that my object isto awaken

in the breasts of my afflicted, degraded and slumbering brethren, a spirit of inquiry and

investigation.4 Walker utilizes Christianity to provide hope that his fellow slaves will seek out an

education, which was believed to be the key to freedom.

Being aware of the power of knowledge, slave-owners kept slaves ignorant of basic facts

about themselves such as their birth date and paternity. Douglass begins his narrative by

admitting that he knew neither his age nor his father. By stripping slaves of their personal

identities, they became sub-human and less likely to question their circumstances. The most

powerful method of keeping slaves ignorant was prohibiting them to become literate. One who

could read and write was self-sufficient and did not belong in chains.

3
Douglass, 32.
4 David Walker, Preamble to Walkers Appeal in Four Articles (1830) in Kevin B. Sheets, ed., Sources
for Americas History, Volume 1: To 1877 (Bedford/St. Martins, 2014), 278.

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 Another crucial reason that slaves were not permitted to become literate was to prevent

firsthand slave accounts, which would drastically change the rest of the countrys perspective

toward slavery. In a letter to Frederick Douglass, Wendell Phillips wrote, You come from the

part of the country where we are told slavery appears with its fairest features. Let us hear, then,

what it is at its best estategaze on its bright side, if it has one.5 This form of censorship was an

effective tool in perpetuating slavery. Douglass and other abolitionists were also aware of the

power of knowledge as he attributed his freedom to his education.

In his reflection of his education as a young child, Frederick admits the drawback of

obtaining knowledge. He was fascinated with The Columbian Orator, and wrote, The reading

of these documents enabled me to utter my thoughts, and to meet the arguments brought forward

to sustain slaverybutThe more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers.6

In essence, Douglass realized the old adage, which goes ignorance is bliss.

At the Colored National Convention in 1848, Frederick Douglass and abolitionists alike

gathered to discuss an organized approach to combatting slavery. It was here that they established

a series of resolutions for elevating the status of blacks. Resolution 3, 5 and 16 all emphasize the

importance of obtaining an education for blacks7, as it is through knowledge that one begins to

question the very nature of slavery. Although questioning alone would not be suffice to provide

freedom, it was the first step to freedom. Blacks would ultimately need to seek out knowledge

and by doing so, could attain an identity.

Although a perverted form of Christianity provided a sense of divine-right behind the

institution of slavery, religion and education were heavily embraced free blacks and abolitionists.

Douglass and other abolitionists encouraged their enslaved brethren to be intellectually curious,

for an education was the first step on the road to freedom.

5 Douglass, xvi.
6 Douglass, 24.
7
Proceedings of the Colored National Convention (1848), in Sources, 296-297.

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