Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery
Abstract
This book is a study in the history of biblical interpretation with implications for contemporary social relations. It illumines the religious dimensions of America's racial history by exploring how the book of Genesis has been used to justify slavery, segregation, and the repression of “blacks.” The book focuses on passages in Genesis 9–11 that have been consistently racialized by Bible readers in search of authoritative explanations for the origin and destiny of sub‐Saharan Africans. This often‐overlooked section of the Bible's primeval history includes the tale of Noah and his sons (Gen. 9: 20–27), the legend of the “mighty hunter” Nimrod (Gen. 10: 6–10), and the Tower of Babel story (Gen. 11: 1–10), passages that have contributed profoundly to Euro–American images of “blacks.” The book carefully analyzes the so‐called curse of Ham (or Canaan) recorded in Genesis 9, invoked by antebellum proslavery apologists, and explores the influence of the curse tradition in America before and after the Civil War.
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Scripture lay at the heart of disputes regarding slavery.
“Inasmuch as scripture was always at the forefront of debates about human origin and unity, so too scripture lay at the heart of disputes regarding slavery (Haynes 2002;Whitford 2009).”
From Slavery, the Hebrew Bible and the Development of Racial Theories in the Nineteenth Century (2021) · cites this paper as Haynes 2002
Cited by
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Slavery, the Hebrew Bible and the Development of Racial Theories in the Nineteenth Century
Burrell, K. (2021) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel12090742 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
The Creation of Adam and the Biblical Origins of Race in The Slave’s Friend (1836–1838)
Sonia, K. M. (2021) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel12100860
- Authors
- Haynes, S. R.
- Affiliations
- Rhodes College (US)
- Corresponding author
- Haynes, Stephen R.
- Publisher
- Oxford University PressNew York
- Published
- 2002-04-25
- OpenAlex
- W2505620388
- Cited by
- 181
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 6.74
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Theological Perspectives and Practices
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Biblical Studies and Interpretation
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Race, History, and American Society
- Keywords
- curse of Ham, Genesis 9, biblical exegesis, slavery, segregation, sub-Saharan Africans, Nimrod, Tower of Babel, antebellum United States, post-Civil War United States
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