Slave Narrative Entry 1
I was reading a slave narrative by a black slave named Aaron. While reading this particular quote jumped out at me.
“Now God Almighty has spared us to see almost another new year through a great deal of sorrow and tribulation; but yet he has spared our unworthy bodies so far, and has not sunk us as Mr. Miller has prophesied, but we ought not to make our boast about it, for it may not be too late yet, because we do not know when the Lord will break out in judgment against us, when we are living in so much sin and iniquity, when dangers stand thick through all the land to push us to the tomb, and we would go to the tomb if it was not for a merciful God.”
I always knew that many slaves were taught Christianity and basically brainwashed into believing they were barbaric and sinful people. This quote gives me a whole new outlook on how thoroughly successful many slaveowners were in brainwashing their slaves. This man clearly doesn’t enjoy a moment of his life, for the very first sentence states he has lived to see another year despite all the sorrow. But then he goes on to say that he should be thankful that God hasn’t punished him with a judgement day? I was stunned to see that his owner Mr. Miller predicted that he would die by the end of the year. I feel like slaveowners threatened their slaves with death and hell so they’d work well just like the church would threaten the people with hell so they’d follow the standards of society. From reading this article I’ve realized even more how much religion was used as a tool in that time period.
