Role Family and Religion Played In The Slave Community

Introduction

Family and religion played a great role in slavery. Religion was used to strengthen slavery as some of the slaves were told to obey their masters.

Religion reinforced the slaves and propagated it through various justifications from the Bible like required the servant, in this case, the slave to obey the master (Dunaway, 2003). The slaves were taught in this manner thought it was the wrong interpretation. Religions thus required them to be submissive and do all that they were asked. Religion was as a cover in taking missionary work to Africa while propagating slavery, which was one of the profitable trades at that time.

The Bible has various references to slavery, which the whites used to justify slavery (Andersen & Taylor, 2008). Religion was used to enslave people especially Africans with reason that they would easily be reachable through Christianity. Some of the verses were drawn from Apostle Paul where were to obey their masters regardless.

The family was a refuge for the slaves as the outside world dealt harshly with them. The slaves found solace in the various gatherings of the family and would encourage one another. The family unit ensured that more children resulted which were then sold as slaves. The slave family could not oppose the sale of a family member, as it was powerless. As such, the family was a tool used by slavery to propagate and enhance the slave trade due to the children born from those families.

Family and religion thus strengthened slavery in one way or another and ensured that it was here to stay.

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