The Brotherhood of Thieves

The abolitionist movement in the early 1800s caused disagreement over the morality of slavery and played a vital role on peoples religious beliefs and how they manage to justify their actions. Religious leaders convinced Americans that religion was central to the American culture, and without religion there couldnt be a system of morals and ethics (Dyer). However, people were reevaluating their religion and how it played a role with slavery. Historians have questioned whether the abolitionist movement of the 1830s and early 1840s was a success or a failure (Robert A. Divine, The Pursuit of Perfection).

This position implied that blacks should be granted equality as American citizens, so it ran up against the white supremacy prevailing in all parts of the country (Robert A. Divine, The Pursuit of Perfection). Advocates were Christians who felt the Bible strongly supported their stance on the slavery issue, and Christian abolitionists believed the Bible condemns slavery. Both Christian abolitionists and advocates for slavery utilized the same book and Christian principles to support their arguments either for or against the institution of slavery yet came to two very different conclusions. Stephen Symonds Foster and J.D.B. DeBow spoke about slavery and had different view points on the topic.

The Brotherhood of Thieves (1843), was written by Stephen Symonds Foster who left the church because he felt what they were doing was illegal, and by accepting slavery then you must admit that morals are subjective by God.  Stephen Foster was a key leader in the abolitionists movement in the 1800s. In his speech Foster argues that the church and clergy were guilty of theft, adultery, man-stealing, piracy, and murder because they were slaveholders and was using the church to hide behind. J.D.B. DeBow, was an editor of the DeBows Review and saw no reason for slaves not to be used as the main workforce in an industrial revolution (Slaves and Masters).

Debow used several biblical quotes and characters from the Bible that provide the readers with a strong reasoning to defended the institution of slavery. Using references from the bible, allowed Debow to twist the interpretation of the Bible to justify slavery and show that God did not condemn slave owners. DeBow was clever on how he defended slavery and presented it as Gods own will by using various parts of both the Old and New testament to justify slavery as not only acceptable but ordained by God. Although De Bow argues slavery has occurred in the Old and New Testament for centuries, his use of religion in his argument for slavery reflected no important content. The biggest danger of biblical interpretation is ignoring the context of a passage. The authors of the bible wrote with great literary devices presenting metaphors for larger ideas. If interpreters always took the literal meaning, society would be guided by false ideas and untrue laws that God attempted to convey.  

In the bible, slaves are not kidnapped and forced into labor, slaves sold themselves into slavery to settle their debts. Slavery was based upon social class not based on race during that time. In the Bible, some people wanted to be slaves so that they could be taken care of by their masters. Some of the Israelites indicated that life was better as slaves in Egypt because, at least there, they were getting food, water and housing as opposed to the wilderness, where not much was given.The slave masters in the 1800s used bible verses as a scapegoat for believing that it was okay to have slaves on their land and mistreated the slaves and did not treat them with respect as the bible said. In other words, involuntary slavery was a capital offense and was unbiblical.

Slavery was eventually abolished in 1865 but not before many more lives were lost and many more battles fought. The abolishment did not end the inequality that African Americans still must face even to this day. One issue today is determining if the Confederate monuments represent white supremacy and everything they stood for should be taken down, or should the monuments stand as a reminder of how this nation acted with such hatred towards other individuals. Just like Foster and Debow this has caused much heated debate among individuals and people have taken it upon themselves to persuade the public of their opinion on the subject.

Slavery was only one battle on the road to equality for all. Society still has many obstacles and prejudices to overcome if we ever wish to be truly equal and united as a country. The race card cannot be thrown out in every circumstance, but neither can the stereotypes that every race has drilled into their mind about another. Peace can only come with listening, understanding, and acting intelligently on the information we learn everyday as a nation.  

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