Chapter XIII is about religion and its role in slavery. This chapter reaffirms that religion is used as a tool in slavery, as previously shown in Douglass. A quote that sums up the role of religion and slavery is: “Ole Satin’s church is here below; Up to God’s free church I hope to go” (pg. 75)
In Douglass’ narrative, his master becomes religious and becomes crueler as a result. In Jacobs', the slaveholders use religion to “brainwash” slaves, especially through sermons. Preaching that God sees slaves' every move even if their masters may not catch them misbehaving, for example, teaches those slaves that they should obey their masters and mistresses. If they disobey their masters on earth, they have disobeyed their master in heaven. Religion was thus used as tool to instigate fear among slaves and stop them from rebelling and trying to escape.
Jacobs reinforces the idea that Douglass presents to us in his autobiography, but she also shows that there were some in the south who didn’t use religion for that purpose. When Jacobs runs away, she is eventually taken to a white woman’s home and hidden from her master. This white woman keeps her a secret even though doing so could ruin her and her family. In response to this good deed, Linda says, “For that deed of Christian womanhood, may God bless her forever!” This indicates that religion may have been a positive force for slaves rather than a way to reinforce the institution of slavery. True Christian ideals were still present somewhere in the South.
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