I confess ancient ignorance, but which Brown do you mean?
----- Original Message -----
From: Hal Bush <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, March 20, 2000 9:43 AM
Subject: Re: Bible and slavery


>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]>