Religion and Slave Rebellion The Role of Religion and Spirituality in the Black Radical Tradition

The Role of Religion and Spirituality in the Black Radical Tradition: Religion and Slave Rebellion

Introduction

From the onset, it should be noted that there was a rather rigorous policing of slavery in America in an attempt to discourage rebellion. For instance, in the American South, slave rebellions were deemed a source of anxiety owing to the fact that a significant chunk of the population of the region comprised of black slaves. In the said region and further afield, rules were enacted with an intention of not only controlling slave movement, but also slave congregation. This did not, however, prevent rebellions from taking place. To a large extent, this text concerns itself with the role of religion and spirituality in the Black Radical Tradition. More specifically, the editorial will explore the role that religion played in inspiring slave rebellions. In so doing, the editorial will first take into consideration the religious context of slavery in America, its utilization as an enabler of slavery, and how African slaves transformed it into a means to advance rebellion and liberation.

Discussion

As Jabir points out, one of the largest conversion of enslaved Africans into Christianity took place in the 1st half of the 18th century (54). It is important to note that as the author further points out, the said enslaved Africans were given hope by the Exodus narrative in the Old Testament, as well as Revelations in the New Testament. While the Exodus narrative talked about the delivery of Israelites from slavery, the book of Revelations made it clear that persecution and hardships would come to an end and called upon Christians to persevere for the end was nigh. Thus, the common themes in both books were hope and deliverance.

To a large extent, religion became a potent tool for slave owners to gain even greater control over slaves. As a matter of fact, according to Gerbner, the vast majority of slave-owners considered themselves Christian (107). To justify their holding of other humans as legal property and push the obedience agenda, they cleverly deployed various scriptures – with Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians – as Gerbner further observes being one of their favorite tools in this regard (115). Here, servants are called upon to be obedient to their masters for this is a way to gain access to God’s favors. More specifically, as Gerbner points out, in VI, 5-7:

Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. (117).

Through the deployment of such tactics, Christianity became an enabler of slavery. It is important to note that as Roboteau observes, slaves who were ushered into the country from the year 1619 going forward subscribed to a variety of religious inclinations (212). Close to a third identified as Muslim. However, a vast majority largely embraced spiritual traditions rooted in the traditional African society. There were, however, also those who had some Christian background. At the onset, very few slave-owners had any genuine concern for the spiritual growth of African slaves. It was not until much later that Christianity appeared, amongst some, to be a viable ideal to direct slave obedience, docility and submissiveness (Roboteau 219). From this point, slaves started being allowed to attend church sermons. However, this was only allowed under a certain set of rules and standards. For instance, only white preachers who were deemed proslavery would lead the separate gatherings of slaves electing to attend church services.

In most cases, proslavery preachers deviated from the gospel in an attempt to advance their agenda. For instance, according to Wilson-Hartgrove, there were even preachers who advanced the erroneous and false teaching that Africans were Ham’s descendants (177). This, according to the author, was a clear attempt to demoralize slaves and make them view the scenario they were in as fitting. There were other preachers who attempted to intertwine slavery and providence – with the claim in this case, according to Wilson-Hartgrove, being that it was only through the slave experience that African slaves would get to know of the message of Christianity and have their souls saved from eternal damnation (179). Thus, the slavery experience was packaged as a way for God to manifest his protective care, i.e. providence. It should be noted that although there were some abolitionists at the time, they were in the minority. The said abolitionists were against the utilization of the word of God to promote or advance slavery. As a matter of fact, their viewpoints appeared strange owing to the fact that what they were preaching hard against appeared to be firmly anchored in biblical teachings. They were, thus, seen as infidels.

However, it would be prudent to note that as Jabir points out, to some extent, “slaves attempted to transform the religion they had been given into a means of envisioning, enabling, and enacting their liberation” (54). To a large extent, this was mediated by their learning of the English language and being able to read and understand the bible for themselves. Indeed, most started to question the biblical justification for slavery at this point. Any discussion of the role that religion played in inspiring slave rebellions would be incomplete without the mention of Nat Turner’s Rebellion. Born on the 2nd of Dec in 1980, Nat Turner was amongst those who were able to later on read and understand the bible for themselves – resulting in the questioning of the ideals that were being peddled around. Irons describes Turner as “a slave who could read and was given religious instruction when he was growing up” (37). He eventually became a minster. Most, however, associate Turner with a murderous onslaught against white men and women in Southampton County, Virginia. How did all this come to be? Understanding Turner’s background would enable us to conceptualize the role of religion in inspiring slave rebellions. The Nat Turner’s Revolt is also significant in this context owing to the fact that it has been identified as one of America’s most notorious slave rebellions.

As Iron points out, Turner was under the illusion that his mission had the seal of God’s approval (42). He was convinced that his was an act of spiritual intervention as well as command. He fashioned himself as a savior of all those who were enslaved at the time. In the words of Iron “Nat Turner believed that he had been specifically ordained to obtain his freedom through the slaughtering of any white person who came into his path” (53). He, thus, embarked on a journey to recruit persons who shared his perspectives and convert those that did not. He took various natural occurrences as being signs from God directing his actions. For instance, his murderous crusade commenced following a solar eclipse that was, according to Iron, considered by Turner to be a divine sign of a victorious march ahead (53). At this point, he only had four followers. Turner’s first victims were the entire family of Joseph Travis – Turner’s slave-owner. In essence, this was the first act in a campaign of terror that left at least 60 men, women, and children dead (Iron 56). It is important to note that as time went by, he was able to recruit scores of other African slaves who considered him the Black Messiah. Although the figure is disputed, it is believed that Turner’s group comprised of more than 70 men (Iron 57).

In the end, Turner was captured and executed on the 11th of November in 1831 following a brief trial. According to Iron, Turner’s murderous crusade was a clear indication that slave-owners and their sympathizers had been unable to corner African slaves using ‘cooked’ Biblical doctrine (59).

The Nat Turner Rebellion appears to have been inspired by the notion and ideal of slave eschatology. This, according to Jabir, was an intention (both active and imagined) to halt slavery via engagement in brutal acts and violence – most of which were largely life-risking (55). As a matter of fact in the words of Jabir, “slave eschatology held that in the divine will of God all should be free… yet that did not mean they should wait for this end to be delivered to them” (55). This appears to be what Nat Turner and his followers ascribed to. The motivation here appears to have been to take matters into their own hands and trust God to deliver victory in the end.

According to Roboteau, there is also the possibility that Turner and his group were convinced that Christianity did not represent African slave interests (131). Towards this end, Christianity could have been perceived as the religion of the white man. This is more so the case given that in being able to comprehend biblical teachings on his own, Turner (and others in his position) could tell that there ware glaring hypocrisies being propagated by those who had taken it upon themselves to spread the good news. It is for this reason that Roboteau is categorical that there is high likelihood that this particular rebellion “underscored the difference between European religion and African spirituality and alerted the country to the reality that enslaved Africans were not willing to circumvent their spiritual identification” (137). However, notwithstanding Roboteau’s assertions, there is no doubt that the revolt that Turner led had some Christian faith undertones.