defiance publicly. As Drew Faust points out, “Those who performed unsatisfactory labor, or in any way challenged Hammond’s authority were lashed, in a public display of the consequences of refusal to comply with the master’s will” (p.241). The whipping represented shame on behalf of the slave population. The master’s motive for whipping was to humiliate the slaves publicly, so that in the future one might consider the consequences before attempting something foolish. Masters often tried new methods to dominate their slave population. “Over the next several years, Hammond developed carefully designed plan of physical labor and psychological control intended to eliminate the foundations of black solidarity” (p.240). Such methods failed to work. Although the slaves did give in to being exploited for their labor, they could not be undermined to such an extent that they were spiritually broken.The practice of religion was also forbidden to many slaves by their masters. Therefore, slaves often had to have secret sermons, as Lawrence Levine points out, “Slaves broke the proscription against unsupervised or unauthorized meetings by holding the services in secret, well-hidden areas, usually referred to as “Hush-Harbors”” (p.111). The slaves were afraid of being caught, because if they did they would be flogged severely . Masters often tried to disrupt the slaves’ religious life by imposing the white mans version of religion upon them. “To replace independent black worship with devotion entirely under white supervision” (p.241). The master structured religious sermons so that the slaves could be more loyal to him. The master would hire a minister to preach that the bible explicitly states to obey your master. However, black ministers would preach to his fellow slaves that they were the chosen people and that one day they would be set free from...
