Noah’s Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery (Religion in America)

Stephen R. Haynes9780195313079, 0195313070

“A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” So reads Noah’s curse on his son Ham, and all his descendants, in Genesis 9:25. Over centuries of interpretation, Ham came to be identified as the ancestor of black Africans, and Noah’s curse to be seen as biblical justification for American slavery and segregation. Examining the history of the American interpretation of Noah’s curse, this book begins with an overview of the prior history of the reception of this scripture and then turns to the distinctive and creative ways in which the curse was appropriated by American pro-slavery and pro-segregation interpreters.

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Table of contents :
EEn……Page 1
Title Page……Page 2
Preface……Page 6
Acknowledgments……Page 12
Contents……Page 14
1: Setting the Stage……Page 18
Part I: Characters in the Postdiluvian Drama……Page 36
2: A Black Sheep in the (Second) First Family: the Legend of Noah and His Sons……Page 38
3: Unauthorized Biography: The Legend of Nimrod and His Tower……Page 56
Part II: Honor and Order……Page 78
4: Original Dishonor: Noah’s Curse and the Southern Defense of Slavery……Page 80
5: Original Disorder: Noah’s Curse and the Southern Defense of Slavery……Page 102
6: Grandson of Disorder: Nimrod Comes to America……Page 120
Part III: Noah’s Camera……Page 138
7: Noah’s Sons in New Orleans: Genesis 9-11 and Benjamin Morgan Palmer……Page 140
8: Honor, Order, and Mastery in Palmer’s Biblical Imagination……Page 161
9: Beyond Slavery, Beyond Race: Noah’s Camera in the Twentieth Century……Page 176
Part IV: Redeeming the Curse……Page 190
10: Challenging the Curse: Readings and Counterreadings……Page 192
11: Redeeming the Curse: Ham as Victim……Page 216
12: Conclusion……Page 235
Notes……Page 238
Bibliography……Page 314
Index……Page 329