4a. The Battle Over Slavery

Question 1

As people who’ve never grown up with slavery like the one we had for 150 years of our history, what do WE fail to grasp.

Answer 1

We fail to understand that slavery was powerful because it contributed so much to the economic interest of those who profited. We see the human story, but they saw profit.

Question 2

What does the book of Daniel reach us about how masters use slavery as a social control mechanism?

Answer 2

1. He separated them from their families.
2. He changed their names.
3. He attempted to change their culture by making them read Babylonian literature.
4. He forced them to lean a new language.
5. He attempted to change their diet to keep the new culture.
6. He ordered them to change their religion and bow down to an idol.

Question 3

To be free in America is what?

Answer 3

It is the opposite of slavery. Free to do everything and anything you want. This is a U.S. understanding of freedom and slavery that has been ingrained in us because of our history. Not every culture sees slavery (or freedom) the same way.

Question 4

What role did each continent play in the slave trade?

Answer 4

• Europe traded and sold them.
• Africa was the source, but we can’t totally blame the Europeans because some Africans betrayed their own people.
• America bought and exploited them. And when Europe stopped sending them, we bred them.

Question 5

Where did the bulk of slaves come from?

Answer 5

Angola

Question 6

Why did the Spanish get African slaves instead of Indigenous ones?

Answer 6

Because Native Americans died too easily from diseases. They needed cheap labor, so they got it from Africa.

Question 7

Who were some of the first to engage in the slave trade?

Answer 7

The Portuguese and the Dutch. They began getting Africans and taking them to the Caribbean. The Portuguese took them to Brazil for sugar production.

Question 8

What was one of the implications of the Dutch taking sugar production from the Portuguese?

Answer 8

It motivated England and France to do the same in the Caribbean.

Question 9

What prompted more slaves being taken to Brazil.

Answer 9

The discovery of gold in the 18th century.

Question 10

How many slaves were in the United States?

Answer 10

50,000 in 1700, 1 million in 1800. So 20% of the population at the beginning of the 19th century.

Question 11

When was the international slave trade abolished?

Answer 11

1808, at the height of American slavery. But it had no impact on the United States, because we just bred more.

Question 12

In 1800, what percentage of clergy owned slaves?

Answer 12

40%!

Question 13

Richard Furman

Answer 13

Baptist pastor who believed that slavery was for the greater good of society. But he was not alone in his thinking. Many pastors served on slave patrols to look for runaways.

Question 14

What were the three main crops in the U.S.?

Answer 14

Sugar, tobacco and cotton.

Question 15

What was the relationship between America and Europe in the benefits of the slave trade?

Answer 15

America produced the cotton, and Europe had the textile mills.

Question 16

Where was the cotton being produced?

Answer 16

In the deep south, places like Mississippi and Georgia where slaves outnumbered whites 40:1. Cotton production increased dramatically from 1830 to 1859, and so did the number of slaves.

Question 17

Why didn’t anyone say anything against slavery?

Answer 17

Because so many people owned them. And because the slaves were making them rich.

Cotton was king, a huge cash crop, and there was no stopping it. Morality took a back seat to sound economic policy.

Question 18

Who was William Pitt?

Answer 18

The Prime Minister of England in 1783 who estimate that 80% of foreign income was related to the slave trade.

Question 19

In the United States, who were the first to say something against slavery?

Answer 19

The Quakers, Methodist and Baptists in Virginia.

Question 20

Jean Rousseau

Answer 20

Condemned slavery because it was not needed in the Age of Reason. He attacked slavery from a philosophical point of view.

Question 21

Which Pope ended slavery?

Answer 21

Pope Clement XI (1649-1721), he told the Spanish and Portuguese to knock it off, and they did.

Question 22

Equiano

Answer 22

Slave who was sold to a Quaker in the Caribbean. Master set him free, and Equiano wrote about the horrors of the trade.

Question 23

abolitionists

Answer 23

those who fought to end the slave trade in England, it happened in 1807.

Question 24

emancipators

Answer 24

those who fought to liberate those who were already in slavery

Question 25

Who led the charge to end slavery in England?

Answer 25

William Wilberforce. He was an Anglican layman who was elected to parliament.

Question 26

Who else joined Wilberforce in parliament to fight for emancipation?

Answer 26

Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton.

Question 27

When was the slave trade abolished worldwide?

Answer 27

1885

Question 28

What influenced the abolitionist movement in the United States?

Answer 28

The Second Great Awakening. Christians immersed themselves in social issues. Before this, Christians talked about personal sin, but never talked about society.

Question 29

Who was a champion of abolition in the north?

Answer 29

William Garrison. He wrote for a magazine called “Liberator”. He was very aggressive towards slavery, and didn’t back down. The magazine allowed anti-slavery organizations to communicate and get together.

Question 30

Arthur and Lewis Tappan

Answer 30

Two brothers who funded anti-slavery organizations. They founded the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Question 31

Theodore Weld

Answer 31

Organized through the American Anti-Slavery Society, and went to Lane Theological Seminary where he led an 18 day protest and discussion against slavery. The Board of Trustees put an end to it, so he an his friends went to Oberlin College.

Question 32

Oberlin College

Answer 32

Oberlin College became the first college to admit African American students. It led the abolitionists movement. Charles Finney and Theodore Weld were students there.

Question 33

Elijah Lovejoy

Answer 33

First Martyr in America. Presbyterian pastor who was killed in the north, his death solidified the abolition movement.

Question 34

Which churches split because of the abolition movement? Which ones didn’t?

Answer 34

Those who split were:
Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptist. Lutherans and Episcopalians.

The Catholic Church did not split.

Question 35

Essay Question: 1. Slavery has been with the human race for millennia. Within the Modern period, however, it has been best exemplified by the European and American (including North, Central, South, and the Caribbean) interactions with the African continent. Based upon this lecture and your readings, outline a brief history of the development of slavery within this region of the world. Be sure to note important persons and/or events that led to the development of African slavery worldwide.

Answer 35

• Talk about the interaction between the three continents.
• Sugar
• Cotton in the United States. Talk about the deep south, and the stats.
• Why did no one challenge it?
• What were Christians doing?

Question 36

Essay Question: 2. The work that was done on the issue of Abolition, first to end the slave trade, then to emancipate slaves that were already in bondage was an important work aided and abetted by Evangelicals in Britain and in the United States. Write an essay that takes seriously the information given in this lecture and your readings regarding the role of Christians in bringing about this important work of Abolition. Be sure to note important persons and/or events that led to the end of African slavery worldwide.

Answer 36

do more tomorrow

Question 37

Essay Question: 3. What are the three most significant pastoral implications you see in the discussion on slavery and abolition that would help you to address a contemporary moral/ethical issue in the Church? Tell why this is the case and be prepared to give an example to justify your reasons.

Answer 37

• morality over economics, you can use the prophets here
• as Christians, we follow the gospel first, challenging the status quo
• faith should lead to social engagement, think about the Second Great Awakening.
• the church, when it works together, can bring about real change

Question 38

Essay Question: 4. The Catholic Church provides an interesting study on the strengths and weaknesses of viewing the Church as a global reality rather than a regional or national one. From what you know of the situation, which of these views of the Church seems to be better – local or global? Why do you believe this to be the case?

Answer 38

do more tomorrow