ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

The thesis of the study is that white plantation owners and African-American slaves had different understanding of and expectations for ‘slave Christianity’ in the antebellum South. Under the influence of religious revivals and ‘plantation missions,’ white masters and American churches made great efforts to convert slaves to Christianity. They also wanted to create an ideal Christian plantation community, which was based on the principles of ‘paternalism,’ by teaching the slaves Christian ‘virtues’ such as obedience and docility. For the masters, then, slave Christianity did not simply aimed for slaves’ spiritual welfare. It was a means for slave control as well. The slaves accepted Christianity for their own reasons, however. They found comfort and security in the religion. The slaves developed their own Christian culture, which included praying and singing together, rather than listening to white preachers’ admonishment. The African-American slaves put the ultimate value of their religion not on the virtue of obedience, but on the biblical promise of deliverance. Their Christianity was a source of both perseverance and spiritual happiness.