How a Culture of Slavery was Changed

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This month marks the 160th anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment, which permanently ended slavery in the United States. The Amendment was passed by Congress in January of 1865 but only became part of the Constitution when three quarters of the states voted to finally close an ugly chapter in American history. What Lincoln called “the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil” finally came to an end.

Such drastic cultural change did not happen as quickly or straightforwardly as America’s earliest documents implied. For example, Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration of Independence included a condemnation of the British slave trade. In 1787, the U.S. Constitution suggested the slave trade would end by 1808. The treaty which ended the War of 1812 called the slave trade “irreconcilable with the principles of humanity and Justice.” And thirty years later, in the agreement finalizing the border with Canada, the U.S. and U.K. agreed to deploy naval forces along the coast of Africa to wipe out the slave trade.

But rather than die out as many expected, slavery in America grew worse. In 1850, the U.S. Congress passed The Fugitive Slave Act, which meant that slaves who had found freedom in Northern states could be returned to bondage. Seven years later, the Dredd Scott decision by the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that black Americans “are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word ‘citizens’ in the Constitution.”

An unexpected factor that sustained slavery was the cotton gin. Eli Whitney’s invention in 1794 dramatically changed the production dynamics of one of America’s most important crops, making it possible to clean seeds out of the cotton much faster than by hand. As Whitney boasted, “One man and a horse will do more than fifty men with the old machines.” This opened the door to immense profits provided that there were enough slaves to pick the cotton.

By the 1860s, slavery was so ingrained into Southern culture that slave owners were willing to face a devastating war to protect it. But ideas take culture in more than one direction. If bad ideas have victims, good ideas have beneficiaries.p

Abolition was a good idea that emerged in the 1700s. Though slavery was common throughout history and select slaves had been freed in different times and places, it took an odd collection of atheist philosophers, Quakers, and evangelical activists to advance the idea of ending slavery altogether. What needed to change was how slavery was understood, from a regrettable, inevitable institution to a serious violation of human identity and moral decency.

Ideas alone cannot shift culture. Ideas need champions. The end of slavery involved the obvious heroes—like Wilberforce and the Clapham Sect in Britain and Abraham Lincoln and Harriet Beecher Stowe in the States—but others, too. Many who have been lost to history played a significant role in normalizing abolition.

Tangible contributions, or cultural artifacts, are also required to shift a culture. Laws alone are not enough, but in the case of slavery, a change in law was essential. The 13th Amendment played a significant upstream role to change hearts and minds downstream. In time, slavery became not merely illegal, but also unthinkable. The stream between politics and culture flows in both directions.

The history of slavery and the 13th Amendment teaches us that humans are not merely products of impersonal forces acting without purpose. Human history is the history of humans, who were created by God to make culture. Not only does that mean that history is not as inevitable as many claim, but it means that our actions matter. We must not succumb to theories of inevitable decline or unstoppable progress, nor should we cower to claims of being on history’s “right side” or “wrong side.”

Rather, Holy Scripture places history in the hands of God, who uses the hands of people for His purposes. As the Hindu scholar recognized, the Bible uniquely presents a comprehensive Story of human history and, within it, describes human beings as “responsible actors within history.” The Bible also describes the cultural moment we are in as a decision by God.

So, our actions matter. We are here by God’s design. The question we must answer is what will we do with the moment that we have been given?

Truth Rising: The Study helps Christians answer that question. Families, churches, small groups and Christian schools across the country are wrestling with their calling to this cultural moment through Truth Rising: the Study. To learn more and access this free worldview study visit truthrising.com/colson.

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Does the Bible Contradict Itself Concerning Slavery?

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John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.

BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.