Front cover image for Noah's curse : the biblical justification of American slavery

Noah's curse : the biblical justification of American slavery

"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
Print Book, English, 2002
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002
Genesis 9,18-28
xiv, 322 pages ; 24 cm.
9780195142792, 9780195313079, 9786610560103, 0195142799, 0195313070, 6610560102
46640712
1. Setting the stage
Part I: Characters in the postdiluvian drama
2. A black sheep in the (second) first family: the legend of Noah and his sons
3. Unauthorized biography: the legend of Nimrod and his tower
Part II: Honor and order
4. Original dishonor: Noah's curse and the southern defense of slavery
5. Original disorder: Noah's curse and the southern defense of slavery
6. Grandson of disorder: Nimrod comes to America
Part III: Noah's camera
7. Noah's sons in New Orleans: Genesis 9-11 and Benjamin Morgan Palmer
8. Honor, order, and mastery in Palmer's biblical imagination
9. Beyond slavery, beyond race: Noah's camera in the twentieth century
Part IV: Redeeming the curse
10. Challenging the curse: readings and counterreadings
11. Redeeming the curse: ham as victim
12. Conclusion: Racism, religion, and responsible scholarship
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