Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery

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Oxford University Press, Mar 28, 2002 - Religion - 322 pages
"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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Contents

1 Setting the Stage
3
CHARACTERS IN THE POSTDILUVIAN DRAMA
21
HONOR AND ORDER
63
NOAHS CAMERA
123
REDEEMING THE CURSE
175
Notes
223
Bibliography
299
Index
314
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About the author (2002)

Stephen R. Haynes holds the A.B. Curry Chair of Religious Studies at Rhodes College, where he has taught since 1989. His publications include Reluctant Witnesses: Jews and the Christian Imagination (1995) and, as co-editor, To Each its Own Meaning: An Introduction to Biblical Criticisms and Their Application (1993)

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