Throughout Harriet Jacobs' powerful and informative autobiography, Christianity is repeatedly mentioned as a direct and indirect influence on the incidents of her life as a slave woman. Jacobs describes religion among slaves as a comforting escape from their suffering and exposes the Christianity of white slaveholders as a hypocritical contrast to their lack of morality. In his autobiography he dedicates a chapter, entitled "The Church and slavery", to the place of Christianity in Southern society. His accounts in this chapter show Northern Christian readers how their religion had been corrupted by the institution of slavery. Jacobs' predicted effect on the antislavery movement was influenced by the effects of the Second Great Awakening and the cohesion between abolition and religious revival. Although many Northern Christians favored immediate emancipation, they focused their religious energy on the conversion of natives abroad rather than on the moral education of white slaveholders at home. However, Jacobs recognizes that there were too many obstacles to overcome to inspire a moral revolution among Southern slaveholders. Within this section of Harriet Jacobs' short story, the author attempts to connect with Northern Christians to expand the abolitionist movement; Since his call to action is ultimately unrealistic, we get a sense of how difficult it was for abolitionists to achieve widespread change. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Christianity in the Harriet Jacobs community was used as a means to further control enslaved people. Because slave owners feared that their slaves were planning a revolt against them, religious instruction was used to encourage slaves to submit to their master and, therefore, to God. Reverend Pike taught the slaves in his community his interpretation of Christian morality. This was ironic because, according to Jacobs, “many of them [were] sincere and closer to heaven's door than the bigoted Mr. Pike” (Jacobs 78). Although Southern whites tried to prevent revolt through moral education, African Americans had a purer connection to God and better moral understanding than any slaveholder or self-righteous Southern preacher. The most disturbing aspect of each violent slave owner she described was that “he…boasted the name and position of a Christian, though Satan never had a more faithful follower” (Jacobs 55). A slave owner's Christianity was used as a means to justify to himself and others that they had a moral conscience and that God would save them because of it. Jacobs writes about this religious corruption to get the attention of Northern Christians. The Second Great Awakening inspired a religion centered on morality, philanthropy, and reform. Therefore, any Protestant devoted to the values ​​of religious revival would be offended by the events narrated in Jacobs' tale. Religion should not be used as a means to control enslaved people, but rather as a means to free them. Many Northern Christians were unaware of the true suffering of enslaved people. This is partly because slave owners were manipulative and made it seem like their slaves were happy with their position. All religious leaders who traveled to the South were deceived into believing that enslaved people were allowed to worship freely and did not want to be emancipated. Therefore,Jacobs took it upon herself to expose the plight of the enslaved person to those who were deceived. He used the theme of religion along with the suffering of slaves to build a connection with religious readers. The pressure to motivate readers to sympathize with the antislavery movement impacted the topics Jacobs focused on in Harriet and the themes she incorporated into her narrative. Jacobs saw the importance of religion in his story partly due to the fact that religious Northerners could most likely have been influenced to join the abolitionist movement if it connected with them. Since Jacobs was influenced by the anti-slavery movement and wrote her narrative for the cause, she was forced to call on others to do their part in the movement. He criticized the religious revival and asked them to focus on national rather than international missionary work. He wrote, “They send the Bible to the pagans abroad and neglect the pagans at home… I ask them not to neglect the dark corners at home” (Jacobs 82). Here he refers to Southern Christians as pagans because they did not have a correct understanding of Christianity and its core values. They treated men as property, took children from their mothers, and physically assaulted slaves, even though they considered themselves ethical and in touch with God. If religious revivalists worked with Southern slave owners, in theory, they would leave their position as slave owners. slaves to follow a more Christian life. Because he personally saw the healing powers of religion within his community, he hoped that people with money and higher status could use it as a weapon against the institution of slavery. His connection to Northern Christians, along with his call for help in the South, should have been beneficial to the anti-slavery movement. However, Jacobs recognized that change wasn't so simple. Because of the conflict between the North and the South and the aversion Southerners had toward abolitionists, it would have been nearly impossible for missionaries to effectively inspire change among slaveholders. While there may have been some missionaries willing to teach in the South, they would have been driven from the region or punished for their work. For slave owners to be aware of their sins, they would have to accept the Reformed religion and the teachings of the missionaries. Therefore, it was unrealistic to assume that missionaries would have the same influence on Southern whites as they had on other peoples. Jacobs tried to achieve what the antislavery movement asked of her by giving incentives to Northerners to help enslaved people. The withdrawal of his call to action represents the difficulty that many anti-slavery activists have faced. There were too many obstacles to overcome due to the immense power of the slave owners and the legal system that supported them. Social influence and dehumanization of enslaved people allowed people to become blind to how evil the institution of slavery was every day. Even the most powerful of antislavery arguments, including Jacobs's emotionally provocative narrative, had difficulty incorporating realistic plans to abolish the institution. Harriet Jacobs' only weapon was her narrative. Although it was powerful, it was not enough to convince all Southern slave owners to emancipate their slaves. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Jacobs' incorporation of religious themes is representative.