Volume 5 Article 4 4-20-2015 “Servants, Obey Your Masters”: Southern Representations of the Religious Lives of Slaves Lindsey K.D. Wedow Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/gcjcwe Part of the African American Studies Commons, Cultural History Commons, History of Religion Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social History Commons, and the United States History Commons Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. Wedow, Lindsey K.D. (2015) "“Servants, Obey Your Masters”: Southern Representations of the Religious Lives of Slaves," The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era: Vol. 5 , Article 4. Available at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/gcjcwe/vol5/iss1/4 This open access article is brought to you by The uC pola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The uC pola. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. “Servants, Obey Your Masters”: Southern Representations of the Religious Lives of Slaves Abstract This paper focuses on how representations of the religious lives of slaves, specifically their abilities to comprehend the Bible and flourish spiritually, became an issue that not only propelled the North and South toward the Civil War, but also perpetuated the conflict. Using original documents from the collections housed at Chicago’s Newberry Library, predominantly sermons written by proslavery ministers as well as documents published by missionary organizations, this paper explores the fierce defense of the institution of slavery mounted by proslavery Christians. Specifically, this paper’s interest is in how the representation of slaves by proslavery evangelical Christians as incapable of achieving spiritual flourishing without the aid of white Christians was the lynch pin that held their defense of slavery together.