Mocking the sacred: Frederick Douglass's “slaveholder's sermon” and the antebellum debate over religion and slavery

Abstract

In his early addresses on religion and slavery, particularly his famous “Slaveholder's Sermon, “Frederick Douglass used parody to address one of the abolition movement's most serious challenges, the belief that the Bible sanctioned slavery. Douglass strategically juxtaposed explicit claims to his status as a fugitive slave with a persona he enacted by mocking proslavery preaching in such a way that he confronted audiences with what Kenneth Burke called “perspective by incongruity.” In this way, he forcefully undermined proslavery religion's claim to legitimacy.

Key words:

• Frederick Douglass
• abolition
• hierarchy
• perspective by incongruity
• parody