I second Hal's suggestions.  Also, check out the curse of Ham (who
accidentally saw his drunken father Noah naked as opposed to his brother
Japhet and Shem who walked backwards to cover him with a blanket) for a
comprehensive myth of racial destiny.

Hilton Obenzinger

On Mon, 20 Mar 2000, Hal Bush wrote:

> >In _Twelve Years a Slave_ by Solomon Northup, a free black who was captured
> >and sold to a plantation in Louisiana, Northup details several occasions
> >where owners/other people he was lent out to would quote the Bible
> >supporting the institution of slavery.
>
>
> In addition, besides Northup, most slave narratives contain similar
> materials.  Douglass's Narrative, for example, distinguishes the
> "Christianity of Christ" from the "Christianity of America."
>
> Fiction of the time did similar types of rhetorical tricks.  For example,
> Brown's "Clotel" and Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" contain pretty much all
> major (and most minor) arguments for (and against) slavery, including the
> biblical ones.
>
> By the way, the biblical argument in support of slavery goes way beyond the
> several verses you mentioned.  There are numerous fine historical books on
> this topic -- I suggest visiting a good library and searching under the
> keywords of this strand -- Bible and slavery.
> *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
>
> Dr. Harold K. Bush, Jr.
> Assistant Professor
> Dept. of English
> Saint Louis University
> 221 N. Grand Blvd.
> Saint Louis, MO  63103
> (work)  314-977-3616
> (home)  314-861-3929;  <[log in to unmask]>
>