Slavery to Liberation- The African American Experience, 2019a

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Slave owners allowed slaves to hear biblical scripture, but only in so far as it reinforced
the narrative that required their subordination to their masters. 3 Many slave owners
realized that controlled religion could be used to make their slaves docile and
subordinate. Slaves were typically allowed to have their own services where either a
White overseer or another slave gave a sermon based on the guidance of the master.
In other words, officially sanctioned Black churches were under the supervision of White
pastors who used religion as a way to reinforce their social and political agenda. 4 To
further limit any form of autonomy in Black churches, laws were created that prevented
slaves from assembling together for “worship” or for any other purpose between
sunrises and sunsets, even with a White master present in many Southern states. The
only exception to these rules occurred when the slave masters took their slaves to an
ordained White minister who regularly conducted services. 5 Furthermore, the influence
of White masters on many Black Churches created a religious benevolence between
slave and slave master that helped to keep intact the moral order that served to justify
both the institution of slavery and the treatment of slaves. Slaveholders had a religious
imperative to make money and to have a comfortable living, as long as they were
faithful to God. Masters were supposed to take great interest in the slave’s security
because it would benefit both the slave and the owner. They also had the responsibility
of teaching the slaves good behavior and morality.
They believed that religious instruction of the Black slaves would promote both
their morality and their religion. Black churches became the ideal institution to realize
the creation of a Christian interracial community. In these communities, slave owners
would benevolently rule over their slaves, who were presumed to be satisfied with their
positions in life. 6 This form of social control had some success with slaves. Most did not
subscribe to the benevolent master motif that was impressed upon them, but the
3
Albert Raboteau, Slave Religion: The “Invisible Institution” in the Antebellum South
(NEW YORK: Oxford University Press, 2004).
4
Ibid, 137.
5
Ibid, 138.
6
Ibid, 165.