"In God we trust". Dualism of Christianity in "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass"

Academic Paper from the year 2013 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1.0, Ruhr-University of Bochum, language: English, abstract: This paper argues that Frederick Douglass exposed the American double standard towards Christianity. To verify this thesis, Douglass' Narrative is first put into context, both into the context of its time as well as into the context of its genre, the African American slave narrative. Subsequently, the American sociologist Robert N. Bellah's term and definition of "American Civil Religion" is introduced. Finally, the author applies a close reading of Douglass' Narrativethrough Bellah's findings, whichshows how and why Douglass unveiled the Christian yet cruel values of Southern plantation owners to his readers. By means of conclusion,the paper shows that Douglass's Narrative paved the way for other abolitionist slave writers, who might not had been able to tell their story if the American Christian double-standard had not been exposed by Douglass.