Writing

Aidee’s Reflection Post one

A few days ago I sat in one of my friend’s sociology class on race and ethnicities, the subject of the day was a film the examined the different portrayals of the African Americans that were enslaved and the African American that were  “free”. The enslaved African American was characterized as the mami, the uncle, ect. These characters were well behaved, loyal, and attentive to their masters every need. They were happy, well feed, and housed “blackies”. The mami character was a parallel to the white mall head of the house, expressing the so thought incompetence of the black male. The free blacks were loud, bum-ish, and shown in images with monkey like features. The children were dehumanized by having them play with crocodiles and even die in children’s books. The endpoint was to show how much better off black people where, but actually showed  how much better off a civilized white society is when blacks are enslaved.

My interpretation of the picture and the conversation surrounding  picture 26 “Condition” made me think back to that lecture.  The characters involved in the conversation seemed white and from different parts of society, they were contemplating the effects of free black people. Considering that this discussion occurred on the eve of the civil war, it is of high importance. In the film I watched, one of the concerns of the white people was that black people didn’t have the mental capacity to think for themselves. This lack of mental capacity was also noted in William and Ellen Crafts Escape with the white “Christian” slave owner believing her slaves were better while under her control. In the “Condition” there is a young black on the bank of a river dressed in rags while around him to one side are beautiful fields and the other side there are yachts. He is described to be in a trance of “interference of stolid content … Pale and emaciated he sits” (Ethiop 243). The questions of “can such a subject be improved” is asked (244).

The white viewers interpreted the boy’s facial expression as him not knowing what to do with his new found freedom, that is his condition. To them, he a black man, that just doesn’t have the intelligence to be free. The Doctor believes that by changing the youth’s nature his condition will improve, while the Skeptic believes its by giving the youth wealth and intelligence (that he lacks probably because he is black). The author clearly related to the reader that these two suggestions are actually the same. At this time period being poor and in poverty went hand and hand with being black. The Skeptic noted that by giving the youth money he wouldn’t have to change his repulsive features (ebon face, dull eye, curly hair), these features are a part of the youth’s nature. The money would make people look past his blackness. Perhaps even view him as white? I drew to this conclusion by making a stretch from a Brazilian literature class I took last semester. One of the authors were read, Machado de Assis, had black slave grandparents but since he was a prominent wealthy member of society in Brazil he wasn’t viewed as black.  The narrator fires back by explaining the true significance of the picture. This is an image of a young black man that has risked his life and relied on his intelligence and strength to break through barriers to obtain his freedom but now is tired. The youth “has all the great essentials common to humanity.” (Ethiop 244). The youth lacks nothing expect the opportunities he will miss out on due to the racism in the United States.

Other examples in the African American Picture Gallery could have been used as examples to show that this piece of literature was ahead of its time, already predicting the types of conversations and other barriers free blacks would face.

 

 

 

Work Cited

Ethiop. “Afric-American Picture Gallery” (1859). jtoaa.common-place.org/welcome-to just-

teach-one-african-american/introduction-afric-american-picture-gallery/.

 

Win Martin Post 1: 19th Century Southern Christian Doctrine

In the narrative of William and Ellen Craft, many of the white slave owners that the couple meets on their journey are professed Christians and believed that their slave ownership was backed up with Christian doctrine. For example, the lady on the train who mistook William for “her Ned” told Ellen that her son, who was “a good Christian minister,” advised her not to “worry and send her soul to hell” for the sake of her slaves and to just sell them all instead (p. 65). In addition to this, Craft later writes about a plethora of white Reverends who not only approve of slavery but emphasize its importance. However, many of these “Christians” who advocate for slavery misinterpret the Biblical references that they draw from. The idea of this “Christian” slaveholder idea is a hallmark of slave narratives and was obviously abundant in Southern states. One New York Times article said, “This ‘Gospel Civilization,’ … didn’t just permit slavery – it required it.” This begs the question: what sort of doctrine does the Bible preach that condones the atrocious practices that were occurring in the South?

One of the primary arguments that white Christian proponents of slavery used was that Jesus is never recorded of speaking directly against slavery. Looking on the surface level of Gospel accounts, they were right in that Jesus never directly said, “Don’t have slaves.” Southern slaveholders argued that if he was against slavery, surely he would have condemned it wouldn’t he? If it was an important issue, surely he would have said that it was wrong and shouldn’t be done, right? By looking through the lenses of assuming that slaves weren’t people, slaveholders would be right in assuming God was okay with slavery. However, as soon as slaves are seen as people, this logic that Jesus condoned slavery falls apart. Take the story of the Good Samaritan for example. After telling a crowd to “love your neighbor as yourself, Jesus tells this story to define exactly what a neighbor is. In this parable, a Jewish man, who was robbed, beaten and left for dead on the side of the road, was passed by three Jewish temple priests (who would know the command of Leviticus 19:18 to love one’s neighbor). And who should come and help the man but a Samaritan! In this period, a Samaritan was viewed with the same disgust and hatred by the Israelites as Blacks were viewed by Whites in the 18th and 19th centuries. But instead of holding a well-deserved grudge against the Jew, the Samaritan puts the Jewish man on his donkey, takes him to an inn and pays for his every need! This example of mercy is Jesus’s definition of a “neighbor,” and he closes with a command for the listeners to, “Go and do likewise.” According to this definition, blacks are the neighbors of whites, and according to this command, they have a responsibility to love them as such if they truly are Christians. So, if a slaveholder would never choose to sell himself into slavery, under what, or whose, authority are they enslaving blacks against their will?

William Craft described in his slave narrative a hallmark of similar narratives at that time: a “Christian” slaveholder. He accurately describes how many whites saw slaves: property, not people. Yet, upon looking at this account in the Gospel of Luke, it is seen that everyone who has breath is a person and a soul that deserves the same respect and love that one would show to himself or herself. This is the hypocrisy of Southern Christian doctrine that tries to promote slavery and is something Craft accurately labels as “slave-holding piety,” (p.10).

Bassett, Thom. “The South, the War and ‘Christian Slavery’.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 27 Apr. 2012, opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/the-south-the-war-and-christian-slavery/?ref=oembed.

Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers, 2013.
Craft, William. “Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom.” Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2001, docsouth.unc.edu/neh/craft/craft.html.

Post One-

While reading Running a Thousand Miles For Freedom; Or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery (1860), you cannot help but feel as if you are with this empowered couple as they are escaping their southern shackles during this trying journey. William Craft is able to shape this narrative into one that explains the adversities he and his wife, Ellen Craft, faced. He does this without excessively describing the brutality which he had to face, unlike most slave narratives. This is rhetorical strategy is ironic, along with many other things in Craft’s narrative, making irony a shaping force in this narrative.

When thinking of irony in this narrative we can initially begin with the plan in which look at the way they escaped. Ellen Craft was a black woman, however, she had to act as a white male. These two characters are two completely opposite things politically and socially during these times. However, when “passing” through towns along this journey she was able to join this class and exposing her and William to the true beliefs of those who they were escaping.

While traveling with those who they were running from the Craft’s encountered many different types of people, and most of these situations showed different ironies. One time the couple encountered a Virginian gentleman and his two daughters, who, “‘…fell in love with the wrong chap.’ ” (60) This situation was ironic because the women fell in love with a southern gentleman who wasn’t a gentleman at all. This scene of irony shows how though White Southerners believed they were the wisest of them all, they couldn’t help but fall in love with a black woman.

Another time of irony during the Craft’s travel was when they met the Christian slave owner. Her husband had freed his slaves in his will, yet she decided it was best to sell them back into slavery. This woman was guided by her, “…dear son who is a good Christian minister…” (65) to do so. This shows the hypocrisy of the people of the south during this time because they twisted the truth of the Bible to match their wants of slavery. The Bible doesn’t support slavery, especially that based on the color of their skin, yet these people morphed this work to fit their own standards.

When showing these beliefs of the people on the South, along with his journey, William Craft does not use words of hate to degrade their character in any way. This narrative still shows how hateful, and ignorant, these people truly are though. This shows how the people were making unjust prejudices and hate, ruining the lives of many African-Americans.

Lucas B Short Reflection 1

Lucas Baldridge

Professor Boyd

28 January 2018

ENGL 129

The Craft Narrative, although written to discuss the times of slavery, is still a good descriptor for the modern issue of racism and racial prejudice. Ongoing racism is a world-wide issue and is the most prominent social issue around the world. In an allegorical manner, William Craft, the narrator of this text, describes his interactions with racism as he and his wife, Ellen Craft, ventured their way to freedom. The main plot was of William and Ellen’s escape; however, William Craft made a point to also attract attention to the issues surrounding racism in a more indirect way.

There are two kinds of racial injustices that I would like to discuss. The first racial injustice shown in the text comes from the treatment of slaves. These slaves were denied all human rights, which is absolutely horrifying in itself, but were also attacked and punished for being of African decent. In some cases, such as the case involving Salomé Muller, whites were sold in to slavery solely because they appeared to be black (Craft, 4). People were being sold as slaves simply for racial appearance, which goes to show how intense slaveholders were about racial differences. If someone, who may even be white, had a darker complexion than white skin, they were instantly mistreated. However, do not let this occasional mistreatment of some white Americans hide the hardships faced by all African slaves. William Craft displays even more harassment on page 8, as Craft discusses how women were “severely flogged” as punishment. Slaves were not only denied civil and human rights, but additionally were punished for the complexion of their skin. Sadly, this social matter still is not solved in modern day America. African-American citizens are continuously harassed, both physically and socially, to this day. Racial difference should not be the targeting factor for one’s presumed character, as shown in multiple occasions throughout The Craft Narrative.

The second most prominent racial issue within The Craft Narrative is racial prejudice. William and Ellen Craft foresaw acceptance and pure freedom in their escape, but were continuously hazed by surrounding citizens just because of their skin color. One occurrence of this prejudice is shown in St. John’s, New Brunswick, as William and Ellen Craft try to stay the night in a hotel. Ellen was treated with utmost respect, as she was assumed to be white, while William Craft was instantly neglected stay at the hotel purely because he was of African decent. The butler of the St. John’s hotel denied William a room to stay in based off of wrongful opinions regarding African-Americans (Craft, 101). Since the South portrayed them with such negativity, much of the world assumed the Southern opinion was correct, even though supporters of slavery were the only problematic human beings in this narrative. The racial prejudice continued to live on even as William and Ellen made their way to Halifax. William sent his ‘white’ wife to find shelter because he knew they “were still under the influence of the low Yankee prejudice” (Craft, 105). Of course, Ellen was offered a room until the landlady discovered William would also be staying with her. William and Ellen craft did not fully feel free until they “stepped upon the shore at Liverpool” (Craft, 108).

William Craft’s Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery captivated the harsh livelihood of all African decedents during the times preluding the Civil War. This notion of chattel slavery denied Africans basic human rights everyone deserves, and it was all because of racial difference. Between the prejudice and harassment described by William Craft, black people were all in need of escape. Knowing that some of these prejudices live on today is quite daunting, and this issue needs to be addressed. Someone’s race should never be the deciding factor for any mistreatment or exclusion. William Craft’s response to these racial issues were constructed in a calmly manner, which goes to show the great character within himself. Hate was not the answer for William, despite the continuous hate he faced throughout his victorious escape with Ellen.

 

Bibliography

Craft, William. William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery. docsouth.unc.edu/neh/craft/craft.html.

 

 

 

 

Noah M’s Short Reflection #1

By analyzing the Craft Narrative, I learned about not only the stark social and cultural differences between Northern and Southern citizens in America but of some surprising similarities in attitude regarding race and equality during the years leading up to the civil war.

An interesting social concept that Craft did a good job at highlighting was the way Southerners during the 1800s acted around and towards each other. The text showed how traditional values such as respect for elders and honor were engrained in the southern social culture. I found it almost funny that many times the Crafts escaped being caught solely because of the southern culture of respect. Ellen Craft was acting as a sickly white man. Many times the couple made it through because other southerners were raised not to question a white, sick man or give him a hard time. It seemed that the Northern society was generally less hostile, but did not adhere to the same social code as the Southerners.

In contrast with my previous ideas about Northern attitudes towards slaves, Craft’s narrative did a good job at exposing the racism that permeated Northern society. The racism the Craft’s experienced in the North was more subtle than that of the South but it was definitely present. An inn in the North was extremely reluctant to house the Craft’s when they presented themselves as an interracial couple. In fact, almost no inn in town would house them. There was no proudly proclaimed vulgar language or violence but the North was pretty racist in addition to the South, something that I didn’t totally realize before reading this text.

Despite all of the injustices presented to William and Ellen, Craft’s narrative is tame when compared to other slave narratives like Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Craft chose instead to use excerpts and poems from other writers to describe the most graphic or disturbing moments. Craft may have chosen to do this in order to preserve his credibility regarding a narrative that is as educational as it is exciting. Craft’s story was not particularly emotional. He told the events of his journey and provided the reader with real local and state laws to paint an objective, didactic picture of slavery in the early 1850s. When Craft wanted to show the pain and disgust felt by himself and other slaves, he employed passages from the bible or used poems from well-known poets like Cowper.

The extra texts within the Craft Narrative add to the writer’s credibility and help readers to believe that his written story is true and not exaggerated by emotion.

 

 

 

 

 

Courtney Swanteson- Post 1 Craft Narrative

William Craft used various allusions in his narrative (William and Ellen Craft, Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom) to emphasize his point in a different way from other slave narratives. Many others will use extreme descriptions of violence, and emphasize their extremely unfair conditions in order to get their point across and to get people to really feel what they felt. Craft used allusions to do that instead, and I am going to explore some of the ones that stood out to me.

The first one is the first thing you see when you begin reading the narrative; a poem. The poem reads “God gave us only over beast, fish, fowl, Dominion absolute; that right we hold By his donation. But man over man He made not lord; such title to himself Reserving, human left from human free.” This poem was written by the English poet John Milton and was taken from his religious book of poems “Paradise Lost: The Twelfth Book“. I think this allusion was used to show how unethical it is to think that one human can be above another. It was taken from a religious book, and with many references in the narrative to so-called “Christian” slaveowners this proved his point that this was not a Christian value. Craft was trying to show that from a religious standpoint the things they went through were not okay.

The second allusion that Craft used is his references to the slave laws in various states. Rather than just focusing on the state he was in, he chose to expose the laws in three different southern states. The states he mentioned were Louisiana, Georgia, and South Carolina which go from the bottom of the country and up. I think he chose to do this to emphasize the many states that slaves had to get through in order to be free, as well as show that these degrading laws were in place everywhere.  He also wanted the reader to actually see the laws and the way they worded things to make them understand that slaves were not seen as people, or at least lesser of a person than the white individuals.

The last allusion that I am going to address is the one with the Fugitive Slave Act. This law made a huge impact on the lives of not only Ellen and William Craft, but for many escaped slaves that were living in the north. Craft put this in here with exact words from the law to give the reader a feel for just how much it impacted them and the implications of it. He wanted the reader to read his entire escape story, get to this part, and realize that everything he had just went through could have been for nothing at all. He wants to emphasize the terror that he felt when realizing that this was passed as legislation, and transfer that to the reader in order for them to truly understand how he was feeling while going through this ordeal.

Eliza Liriano Post 1 – The “Afric-American Picture Gallery” and the De-evolution Within the United States

Amidst the rising of the Civil War, the “Afric-American Picture Gallery” was published and utilizes dramatic irony in an attempt to illustrate the growing racial differences that exist within the United States. The Anglo-African Magazine catered to the black audience, with Ethiop describing his journey to the Black Forest. This bizarre episode demonstrates how whites and blacks within the United States cannot coexist. In order to display the treatment experienced by slaves, Ethiop writes about his encounter with Bernice, a former slave, and how Bernice has his old slave master locked in a cave. In this instance, the roles are reversed, and Bernice, a black man, chains up his white master, Felix, and separates him from his family. Bernice tells Felix that the latter no longer has rights and no longer possesses himself (Ethiop 177), which is exactly what slaves faced until after the Civil War. Despite to their racial differences, Ethiop does not promote integration, but rather uses this story to appeal to slaves and highlight how whites should be treated like those enslaved. This incident promotes the idea that slave-owners should receive equitable retribution and punishment for their actions.

 

The excerpt about the year 4000 and the Amecans, also known as the “Milk White Race,” is another instance in which Ethiop employs dramatic irony to emphasize de-evolution occurring within the United States (174). In the 1850s, slaves were inferior to white colonists. They were treated as chattel and lacked the liberties white Americans were entitled to under the Declaration of Independence. However, it is in this literacy piece that the white race does not advance. According to the tablets Ethiop found in the Black Forest, the “milk white skins” used to rule the land with their “hands of iron” and their “hearts as the stones of our valleys” (175). Although, they were recognized as individuals of eminence, they enslaved African Americans to do their work for them, which caused them to “vanish” (176). Ethiop describes how their lack of labor caused their muscles to atrophy, leading to the end of the white race. The irony Ethiop employs in this passage relates to theory of “survival of the fittest” suggested by evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin in the 19th century. His theory of evolution argues that those who are superior would be able to survive and reproduce. In relation to society’s advancement, society evolves as long as the individuals apart of it are able to adapt to various conditions. Instead of surviving, reproducing to promote slavery, and developing new cities, it is the power of the whites that leads to the demise of their population.

 

On the brink of the Civil War, white superiority promoted divisions within the states. Although tablets in the magazine article exemplify how the blacks advance in society, white individuals were the ones that advanced and survived to reproduce to continue slavery within the United States. This literary piece may appeal to African Americans and those who are enslaved because many of the stories regarded and promoted white inferiority. Regardless of the races that prospered in the magazine or the United States, only one race survived. The underlying idea illuminated by Ethiop is that the promotion of one race does not actually indicate evolution or advancement. Instead, the inability for various groups to get together and coexist peacefully hinders the progression of society. Ultimately, Ethiop’s “Afric-American Picture Gallery” is a literary piece that foreshadows the problems that Americans are going to encounter as the Civil War approaches and promotes the death of individuals from both groups. If whites and blacks are at war and are dying, the advancement of the United States will be hampered altogether and the United States will be subjected to de-evolvement.

 

 

Ethiop. “Afric-American Picture Gallery.” The Anglo-African Magazine, vol. 1, 1859, pp. 174-177, http://apercu.web.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/16090/2017/12/afro-american-picture-gallery-1859-Anglo-African-Magazine.pdf. Accessed 27 Jan. 2018.

Reflection 1 by Molly Cartwright

     Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom responds to the practice of slavery that was justified based on racial differences. William Craft bases his entire narrative on the belief that race, as a biological category, doesn’t exist. Rather, race is socially constructed and perceived racial differences are based on prejudice beliefs that create a corrupt and unequal society. While Craft understands the clear evil rooted in perceived racial differences and slavery, he knows his white audience may not be easily convinced of this truth. So, with careful consideration of his audience, Craft aims to change people’s views on slavery as a system and the individual rights and liberties of an African American by pointing out the hypocrisy of people owning white slaves.

By pointing out the hypocrisy of people owning white slaves, Craft makes the audience feel vulnerable to slavery and more empathetic. Craft describes how the offspring of master-slave relationships are increasingly white looking and how white children are accidentally or purposefully forced into slavery. This warns reader that white people are not safe from this system because those in power will overlook race, even with it being the justification for slavery, if it means making more money. By showing the audience in the very beginning that white people are not fully protected from the tyranny of slavery, it gives the audience a different perspective that will affect how the audiences takes in the rest of the narrative. Hopefully, the fear of being in that position themselves will allow people to see slavery for what it truly is and empathize with slaves. While people should be able to empathize with slaves without being threatened by the same fate, prejudice ideas have contaminated morals and beliefs about human rights in order to exploit and make economic gain off the oppressed. But by pointing out that racial differences do not protect white people from this evil system, many will change their beliefs. This rhetoric strategy is also used in Mathew Maconaughy’s closing argument in A Time to Kill. Mathew describes the rape of a black seventeen-year-old girl and then asks the court to imagine if she was white. By picturing the horrendous crime happening to a white girl rather than black, the white jury is able to empathize and see what a racist free verdict would be. The rhetoric strategy of getting your audience to empathize and see things from the other perspective has a powerful effect on beliefs.

Craft prioritized changing his white audience’s views over writing without consideration for a white audience. Considering how to best influence his white audience’s beliefs, changed what Craft included in his writing. If Craft was not using this narrative as a strategy to change his audience’s beliefs he wouldn’t have made an effort to point out white slavery. After his experience through slavery, it would be extremely shocking if he took time in his writing to empathize for white people in any way, even if they were trapped in slavery. Craft was able to identify that his audience couldn’t see the evil of slavery without being scarred into empathizing even when he easily could. Including a topic, that would otherwise be absent, for the sake of influencing the audience’s beliefs shows Crafts dedication to changing ideas about slavery.

 

Link to A Time to Kill speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lnRK8QpC14

Link to  Running a Thousand Miles For Freedom; Or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery (1860)

Brad Lewis Post 1: Craft and Jefferson

Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom gives the first-hand account of William and Ellen’s Crafts escape from slavery. The narrative, written by William Craft, tells the thrilling and dangerous events of their journey from slaves in Georgia to free blacks in the England. Besides the fun, action-packed storyline, the narrative also addresses many serious issues surrounding slavery and discrimination on the basis of race. Throughout the text, Craft addresses and gives examples of moments displaying what it means to be black, white, and/or a slave in the 1850s. Craft’s use of allusions brings an added value to this issue and the narrative as a whole. Perhaps one of the more interesting ideas discussed throughout the narrative stems from the experiences of Ellen Craft and other mixed or white slaves. To further this discussion, Craft cleverly alludes to the life story of a well-known founding father, Thomas Jefferson.

One of Craft’s largest statements about the racial issues of the time center around the idea of him, and slaves in general, as chattel. This is the foundation of the whole slave system as it regards slaves as property of their master. Throughout the narrative, Craft refers to himself not as a person, but rather as property. Everything he does within his context as a slave is centered around serving his master.

Many assume the distinction of a person as a slave stems purely from their dark skin tone. However, Craft explains this not to be fully true. The most blatant example he uses is his wife, Ellen. She is of fair complexion stemming from her white slave-owning father and black slave mother. By eye, she is not much different than any other free white. Throughout their escape, she is able to fit in as a white slave-owner without many questions. However, despite her complexion, she is still regarded as property within the slave system. This contradiction forms the basis for a strange practice within the slave system. As Craft explains, it was very common for white slave-owners to take interest in their women slaves and to have children with them. Yet, as was the case for Ellen Craft, the children, despite being part white and blood kin to the master, must suffer and live their lives as slaves. “That is to say, the father of the slave may be the President of the Republic; but if the mother should be a slave at the infant’s birth, the poor child is ever legally doomed to the same cruel fate” (Craft).

Craft alludes to the life of Thomas Jefferson in the quote above in order to call out this unjust system further. It was rumored in Craft’s time and is now known that Jefferson fostered many children with slave wives, and all the children were forced to work as slaves despite being the kids of one of the most influential men in America. This allusion continues a few pages later when Craft uses a poem written by William Wells Brown. Brown was a free black writer in the 19th century that famously wrote a book about one of Jefferson’s slave daughters. Craft cleverly uses this allusion to piggyback on the hot rumors of the time surrounding Jefferson. This allows him to better address this very strange practice with the barbaric system of slavery. While Craft decides to leave the more graphic and violent scenes of slavery out of the narrative, he is still able to portray its wickedness effectively by explaining some of its weird practices and laws.

http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/craft/craft.html

The Roll of Religion in Craft’s Narrative

 

In the narrative, Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery, William Craft describes his and his wife’s miraculous escape from slavery to freedom. Throughout the narrative, Craft mentions common beliefs and practices of white Christians towards slavery in the 1800s and exemplifies how these individuals use their religion to support their decisions regarding slavery. Craft’s use of irony to demonstrate how white Christians manipulate and twist the words from religious texts, such as the Bible, to justify the mistreatment and ownership of their slaves. Christians in positions of power had the ability to initiate legislature and dominate all aspects of politics during this period. Although white Christians used religious texts to support their lifestyle, many slaves ironically turned to Christianity for hope and comfort regarding their situations. Craft’s narrative highlights the cultural differences in religion between white Christians and slaves.

One of Craft’s first perceptions of a “white Christian” developed from observing the actions of his former owner, who “thought nothing of selling my poor old father, and dear aged mother, at separate times, to different persons, to be dragged off never to behold each other again,”(9) despite his reputation of “being a very humane and Christian man.” After he plunged “the poisonous dagger of separation” into the hearts of his parents, Craft could not fathom how such a devoted Christian could be capable of such an evil action. In addition, Ellen strikes up a conversation with woman on a train about her son, a Christian minister. The woman states that her son advised her to move to New York and bring her slaves along to live with her, and Ellen questions why the son did not advise her to emancipate the slaves so they may move up north and be free. The woman quickly retaliates, claiming her son knows best and states “the niggers will make me lose all my religion!” (66) Craft exposes the irony behind the slaveholders referring to themselves as “true Christians,” yet continue to act in ways that contrast Christian ideals.

On pages 94-95, Craft names several Reverends that came forward to express their opinions on the passing of the Fugitive Slave Bill. Rev. Dr. Spencer published a sermon titled “Religious Duty of Obedience to the Laws,” Rev. W. M. Rogers preached “if ordered to take human life, in the name of God to take it,” and Rev. Bishop Hopkins stated “every Christian is authorised by the Divine Law to own slaves, provided they were not treated with unnecessary cruelty.” When Reverends, highly regarded members of the Christian clergy, make these sort of statements, those who look up to the Reverends will inherit and implement these beliefs into their daily lives. These men used their positions of power to create and support legislature that favored their lifestyles, rather than being concerned with the well-being of African-Americans.

Although Craft never elaborates on the role of religion in his life, many African Americans, especially slaves, turned to Christianity as a way to cope with the cruelty and injustice so apparent in their lives. While many white Christians use the principles and words of the Bible to promote and defend slavery, the victims of slavery are using the same principles and words to persevere through this horrendous time. The variation among the ways the two races interpret the same text demonstrates the cultural differences surrounding religion and values during this period.

The irony of a “white Christian” treating other with such brutality and inhumanity is apparent not only in Craft’s narrative, but throughout American history. Craft finds their behavior incomprensible and validates the role of these individual’s understanding of the Bible in composing legislature and everyday treatment of slaves.