Question

Why were slaves who claimed to possess 'supernatural power' threatened with death by the law? Choose the most appropriate option:

A) Slavery was based on the belief that slaves were inferior and lacked agency, so any claim of supernatural power was seen as a threat to the established power dynamics.
B) Slave owners feared that slaves with supernatural powers could incite rebellion or resistance among other slaves.
C) The law aimed to suppress any form of cultural or religious practices that were not aligned with the dominant beliefs of the slave owners.
D) Slave owners believed that slaves claiming supernatural powers were attempting to manipulate or deceive them, leading to potential unrest or disobedience.

Answer 1

Slaves claiming to have 'supernatural power' were seen as a threat to the established power dynamics, with slave masters fearing such claims could lead to rebellion and resistance. Laws were established to suppress any potential for autonomy or organized resistance, maintaining control and the ideology of paternalism.

Step-by-step explanation:

Slaves who claimed to possess 'supernatural power' were seen as a direct threat to the established power dynamics and social order in the slave society. Slave masters feared that slaves with such claims could incite rebellion or facilitate escape, undermining the control over the enslaved population. The belief in supernatural powers amongst slaves also represented an autonomous form of cultural or spiritual expression that was not ordained by the slaveholders, who predominantly used Christianity and its teachings to justify and maintain subordination. This was part of the reason why laws were created to prevent slaves from assembling for worship without a white overseer. The aim was to suppress any form of autonomy, including cultural, religious, or mystical practices that might lead to organized resistance or threaten the existing social hierarchy.

The slave society was structured on a system of dehumanization and coercion, where slaves were reduced to property status. Slaveholders relied on the ideology of paternalism, purporting to act in the best interest of the enslaved whilst grossly misrepresenting the brutal realities of slavery. Claims of supernatural powers went against the enslaved peoples' expected docility and the notion that their wellbeing depended on the master's control. Therefore, the law threatened with death slaves who claimed such powers to eliminate any challenge to slaveholders' authority and to dissuade other slaves from engaging in similar assertions of autonomous power.