The Black Freedman Who Called a Native Nation to Jesus

   by Tom Goodman

One of the lazy assumptions of our age is that Christianity is a “white man’s religion.”


There are reasons people say this. Some of them are painful and undeniable:

White slaveholders quoted Scripture while holding men, women, and children in bondage.

White foreign missionaries sometimes confused the gospel with Western culture.

White churches too often blessed what Christ would have judged.

But history has a way of complicating our lazy slogans.

I doubt you’ve ever heard of Joseph “Jesse” Island, a formerly enslaved Black man in Indian Territory. His story begins in one of the most sorrowful chapters in American history. During the removal of the Five Tribes to Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma, Native peoples brought with them the thousands of African slaves they owned. Roughly 5,000 to 7,500 enslaved people walked the Trail of Tears with their Native owners.

After the Civil War, Jesse Island was free from his Indian master. And what did he do with his freedom? He went around preaching Christ. Not only to other Black freedmen, but also to the Muscogee and other Native people.

This was no safe hobby. So many Native people were turning to Christianity that Muscogee leaders expanded their “lash laws”—punishments originally designed for cattle rustling and rape and murder—to include those who held or attended Christian meetings.

A first offense could bring fifty lashes. A second could bring one hundred. A third could mean death.

Five tribal police caught Jesse Island. They bared his back, roped him by the wrists, and hoisted him until his feet barely touched the ground. One asked where he had gotten this “new religion.”

Island answered, “In the Old Nation.”

In other words, the nation that had sold him to his Native owners in the first place.

The reply came back: “You have set half of our people to praying and this is what we are going to whip you for.” They lacerated his back fifty times—and then struck him five more times to make their point.

Here was a Black man, enslaved by a Native master, being whipped by Native police for preaching Christianity to responsive Native people.

Is your mind spinning? Are your assumptions upended?

Whatever the faults of white Christians, when those tribal police punished Jesse Island, Christianity was not functioning as the religion of white social control. It was the faith of a freedman who could not stop telling others about Jesus despite withering torture.

Jesse Island’s story does not erase the hypocritical use of Christianity by whites. It exposes it. But it also shows that Christ cannot be reduced to the worst people who exploited his name. The oppressed often saw something in Jesus that their oppressors had missed, buried, or betrayed.

Jesse Island understood that.

I found the story of Jesse Island while reading Donald Fixico’s excellent history of tribal law enforcement called The Lighthorse Police. I am a member of the Western Writers of Amercia, and I was given the book to write a review for Roundup magazine. His book is about the history of Native law enforcement, not Native attitudes to Christianity. But his account of how tribal police treated Jesse Island was compelling.

To read more about the spread of Christianity among Black and Native populations, I recommend the following articles:

• “Why the Enslaved Adopted the Religion of Their Masters—and Transformed It”
• “Christianity is Not a Colonizer’s Religion”
• “Christianity and Indigenous Peoples in Canada”

Also, check out my sermon from 2020 called “Has Christianity Been Complicit in Injustice?”

Tom

Today’s devotional is my own, but the illustration imagining Jesse Island preaching to Freedmen and Natives was generated by ChatGPT.

Free Book!

A deadly train stunt. A pistol-packing preacher. A UFO crash in 1897. A town that outlawed dancing. In Ten Texas Tales, you'll find stories like this from turn-of-the-century Texas. I mine that seam of history for my novels and for anecdotes to put in my monthly newsletter. Each month, I’ll give you nuggets of history, recommended books and films, and behind-the-scenes looks at my novels.

Did Christianity Turn Roman Slavery Upside Down? Maybe.

by Liisa Eyerly

When a novel is set in ancient Rome, it is almost impossible to avoid the subject of slavery. In the Roman Empire, slavery was everywhere. Some historians estimate that as many as one-third of the population was enslaved. Unlike slavery in early America, Roman slavery was not based on race. Masters and slaves were often the same ethnicity, spoke the same language, and sometimes even came from the same region. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Livia%2C_the_wife_of_Augustus%2C_superintending.jpg?

Most Romans saw slavery as a normal part of life. 

Philosophers like Aristotle even argued that some people were “natural slaves.” He believed certain people were meant to do physical labor and were better off being ruled by others. Whether someone became enslaved through war, debt, or punishment, very few people questioned the system itself. Slavery helped power the Roman economy, its armies, and its growing empire. Faustyna E., CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Then Christianity entered the picture.

The writers of the New Testament never directly called for the end of slavery. The Apostle Paul still told slaves and masters how to live within the system that already existed. But Christianity introduced a dangerous new idea: before God, slave and free were equal. Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28 that in Christ “there is neither slave nor free.” In churches across the empire, slaves worshiped beside masters, shared the Lord’s Supper together, and called each other brothers and sisters. 

.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Monuments_of_the_early_church_%281901%29_%2814783189742%29.jpg?

To most Romans, this sounded absurd. Roman society depended on status, rank, and legal divisions. Christianity quietly challenged those divisions by teaching that a person’s value came from God, not from wealth or social position. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/The_early_days_of_Christianity_%281922%29_%2814765643872%29.jpg

That tension appears throughout my novels set in places like Ephesus. In cities loyal to Rome, Christian communities created an uncomfortable gray area where slaves, merchants, soldiers, and nobles gathered as equals. Roman authorities did not always understand this movement, but they recognized it could weaken the social order that held the empire together, and began persecuting the followers of this strange religion.

Christianity did not end Roman slavery overnight. That would take centuries. But it planted ideas about human worth and equality that slowly began to crack the foundations of the system.  


                                                                                              Fortunes of Death

In the bustling streets of ancient Ephesus, fortunes can change in an instant. When one of the city’s wealthiest citizens is found crushed beneath his own triumphant memorial, the powerful elite demand justice—but at what cost? Enigmatic investigator Sabina faces her most perilous case yet. As secrets unravel and enemies close in, she must navigate political intrigue, dark sorcery, and forbidden love to uncover the truth. In a city where everyone has something to hide, who can be trusted? And how far will Sabina go to solve a mystery that could cost her everything?

Liisa’s books have been called a cross between Agatha Christie and Francine Rivers. Her mystery novel, Obedient Unto Death, won the Eric Hoffer First Horizon Award for a debut novel and first place in the Spiritual Fiction category. The sequel, Fortunes of Death, continues the Secrets of Ephesus series, weaving fascinating Christian twists into the historical mystery genre of the first-century Roman Empire. Liisa’s travels to Turkey, Greece, and Italy have enriched her stories with vivid depictions of New Testament culture, history, and people.

Liisa’s journey into writing proves it’s never too late to follow your dreams and share your passion with the world.

Purchase her books at:
Crossriver Media 

• Fortunes of Death
• Obedient Unto Death
• My Amazon book page

Visit Liisa at:
Her website www.LiisaEyerly.com
Author Facebook page at Liisa Eyerly Author page

 

Roman Citizenship, the Gold Standard

By Liisa Eyerly

Historical authors and readers must navigate a murky and treacherous landscape when writing. Murky because we don’t know all the facts and nuances of any period. So much has been lost to the melting ice cubes of time. Treacherous, because peering into the past confronts us with the impossible task of disconnecting from our present-day selves, modern ideas, and our evolved knowledge base.

Suspending moral judgment on the culture, rules, and practices of the Roman Empire, 2,000 years ago, can be especially challenging. Developing characters while distancing them from modern-age perspectives can be difficult. Depicting beliefs where slavery is neither right nor wrong, simply an accepted way of life; or exposing newborns to nature to die, as a common-sense solution for unwanted children; or their choice of mass capital punishment, ignites moral outrage. Is there a limit to how far we can suspend our beliefs, especially when it comes to our values, good and bad, right and wrong?

But to be fair to the times, we must try as much as possible.

Modern democracies work hard to include all citizens in their country's rights and responsibilities, with equality for all, a laudable goal. But Roman society was anything but equal. It was based on a ladder of legal identities, a tiered system of status, and privilege.

Almost every aspect of a person’s life was governed by their legal designation, and Roman Citizenship was at the top, the gold standard of privilege, power, and rights. And unsurprisingly, a major catalyst for power struggles, resentment, and rebellion in the Roman world.

A. Roman Citizens (Cives Romani)  

* Full rights and protections
* Included elites, veterans, colonists—and some provincials
* Women were citizens too, though without voting or office-holding rights

B. Latins (Latini) Originally from Italy, later expanded
* Partial rights- a “citizenship-adjacent” status
* Could trade and own property
* Sometimes eligible for citizenship after holding local office

C. Freedmen (Liberti)
* Former slaves who had been legally freed
* Became Roman citizens, but with limits:
     * Could not hold high office
     * Owed loyalty and service to former masters
* Their children, however, were full citizens

D. Provincials (Peregrini)  

* The majority of the empire
* Free people, but not citizens
* Governed by local laws, not Roman civil law
* Vulnerable to:
     * Torture
     * Summary punishment
     * Exploitative taxation
* Could gain citizenship through:
     * Military service
     * Imperial favor
     * Collective grants to cities

E. Slaves (Servi)
* Considered property, not persons
* Not determined by race or ethnicity
* No legal rights
* Could be punished, sold, abused, or killed (with some limits in later periods)
* Manumission (freeing a slave) was common—and strategic

Ironically, a freed slave could outrank a freeborn provincial in legal status. And it was one of Rome’s quiet engines for social change and mobility.  (Collared Roman slaves / Ashmolean Museum, Photo by Jun, Wikimedia Commons)

Why This Mattered for Christians

Christianity flattened social categories spiritually and sought to practice equality within the church, but Rome did not recognize or understand the religious rationale for Christian inclusiveness. Loyalty to Christ cut across Rome’s legal hierarchy; slaves shared the Lord’s supper with their masters, each serving the other on equal footing, and this terrified authorities. In the provinces like Ephesus, where my books take place, this legal gray zone was a powder keg and exactly the kind of fault line Rome cracked down on.

Christians included:    

* Slaves
* Women
* Foreigners
* A few citizens

Each of these legal designations included categories; even within the upper classes, women and children were typically at the bottom. Tune in next month for a look at the limits, challenges, and opportunities women of the Roman Empire faced.

Step into the shadowy streets of 96 AD Ephesus, where danger lurks around every corner, and the line between friend and foe is razor-thin. Fortunes of Death, plunges you into a world where faith is tested, alliances are shattered, and one woman's courage could be the difference between life and death.

Sabina, a fierce young Christian widow, is thrust into a deadly game when a wealthy citizen is murdered. With her friend’s life hanging in the balance, Sabina must unravel a web of lies, deceit, and hidden motives. Every clue she uncovers brings her closer to the truth—and closer to becoming the next victim.

This isn't just a murder mystery. It's a gripping tale of faith, resilience, and the power of one woman standing against the darkness.

Visit me at my website, on my Author Facebook page,

or purchase my books at:

Fortunes of Death

Obedient Unto Death

My Amazon book page

Liisa’s books have been called a cross between Agatha Christie and Francine Rivers. Her mystery novel, Obedient Unto Death, won the Eric Hoffer First Horizon Award for a debut novel and first place in the Spiritual Fiction category. The sequel, Fortunes of Death, continues the Secrets of Ephesus series, weaving fascinating Christian twists into the historical mystery genre of the first-century Roman Empire. Liisa’s travels to Turkey, Greece, and Italy have enriched her stories with vivid depictions of New Testament culture, history, and people.

Canadian Heroines: Marie Marguerite Rose

by Terrie Todd

If you’ve ever held the notion that Canada’s history does not include slavery, it’s time to rethink that notion. Slavery was legal in Canada until 1834 when it was outlawed throughout the British Empire. While it’s true that many black slaves from the American south sought freedom in Canada in the years leading up to the Civil War, an estimated population of 1,375 Black slaves existed in Canada during the French Regime in the 1700s. Among them was Marie Marguerite Rose.

We don’t even know her original name. Captured by slave traders in Guinea at the age of 19, Marie was transported across the Atlantic to Louisbourg, Nova Scotia. Naval officer Jean Loppinot purchased her in 1736, selected her name, and had her baptized into the Catholic faith. It’s possible she was branded with a hot iron, in keeping with the custom.

Marie would have been expected to work every day except Sunday in the family home. She cooked all meals, washed clothes, and scrubbed floors. Since slave masters could use their slaves in any way they wished, it was not uncommon for the master to rape them, thereby siring more slaves. This may or may not have been the case for Marie. She gave birth to a son, Jean-Francois, who automatically became a slave in the household even though his paternity is unknown. Sadly, her son died at the age of 13.

Marie served as a slave for 19 years before her release. How this came about is not recorded. Perhaps she was purchased by the man who later married her—Jean Baptiste Laurent. This mixed marriage to Laurent, a Mi’kmaw, is part of what makes Marie’s story remarkable. Not only would the union have been nearly unheard of at the time, but the resulting business proved especially notable. Marie and Laurent rented a building where they lived and ran a tavern—right next door to her former owner. Most of their clientele lived in the Fortress of Louisbourg. 

Fortress of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia Tourism

Before her fortieth birthday and after only two years of freedom, Marie died. She never bore any other children. It was noted that she left behind a thriving vegetable garden.

From a plaque at Fortress of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia Tourism

Why did the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada select Marie as a national historic person in 2008? Because, as an illiterate slave, she achieved three things that were next to impossible: she managed to secure her freedom, she married an Indigenous man, and she owned and operated a business. I can’t help thinking she must have possessed uncommon fortitude and intelligence.

If you ever visit the Fortress of Louisbourg, the largest reconstructed eighteenth-century French fortified town in North America, you’ll see the gravestone of Marie Marguerite Rose.

A plaque at Fortress of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia Tourism

 

Sources:

100 Canadian Heroines: Famous and Forgotten Faces, by Merna Forster, Dundurn Press, 2004

Wikipedia

The Canadian Encyclopedia

Bitter war might be raging overseas, but Rose Onishi is on track to fulfill her lifelong goal of becoming a dazzling concert pianist. When forced by her own government to leave her beloved home to work on a sugar beet farm, Rose’s dream fades to match the black soil working its way into her calloused hands.

When Rusty Thorne joins the Canadian Army, he never imagines becoming a Japanese prisoner of war. Only his rare letters from home sustain him—especially the brilliant notes from his mother’s charming helper, which the girl signs simply as “Rose.”

Rose Among Thornes received the 2022 Debra Fieguth Social Justice Award as well as Best Cover Award from The Word Guild.

Terrie Todd’s novels are set mostly in Manitoba, Canada where she lives with her husband, Jon, in Portage la Prairie. They have three adult children and five grandsons. Her next novel, Even If We Cry, releases in November, 2024.

Follow Terrie here:

Blog

Facebook

Quarterly Newsletter Sign-up

The Federal Writers' Project Slave Narratives of 1936

By Michelle Shocklee

Growing up, I heard many stories about the Great Depression. My parents were young children during those difficult times, so they developed an appreciation for hard work and were grateful for everything they had. Mom's family lived in Oklahoma and had to contend with the Dust Bowl too. Although we're experiencing difficult times in our world today, as an historical fiction author, I like to look back in history and find hope in how the generations before us made it through their dark days.   

Travel back to 1936 with me. 

Newspaper from 1929

The Great Depression has been raging since the stock market crashed in October 1929. Millions of people are out of work. President Roosevelt and the folks in Washington DC are working to create jobs through the New Deal initiatives and put Americans back to work in all sorts of occupations--construction workers, teachers, farmers, and yes, even writers.

One of the New Deal programs was called the Works Progress Administration. Under the WPA umbrella, a program called the Federal Writers' Project was created. By the beginning of World War II, over 10,000 people had found employment with the FWP. One of their best known projects was the American Guide Series, consisting of guides to the (then) 48 states, as well as the Alaska Territory, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. 

But it is the FWP Slave Narratives that captivated this author. 

While I was researching slavery in Texas for my historical plantation series, I discovered the Slave Narratives, the telling of life in bondage by former slaves. It had been 70 years since the Civil War ended. The former slaves were in their 80s, 90s, and 100s. If their stories were going to be preserved, it had to happen soon. Equipped with a list of questions, the FWP interviewer asked each former slave a question and then let them answer in their own words. The interviewer would record every word spoken, even the more difficult to understand dialect and slang words. Some told of being a slave on a plantation or farm. Others lived and worked in town. They spoke about family, freedom, and life after the war. The word-for-word interviews are utterly fascinating, yet they are so much more than mere historical documents. 

Reading these narratives has taught me an important truth: everyone has a story to tell, and everyone should be able to share their story, no matter how difficult it may be to hear. More than 2,300 former slaves from 17 states participated, bravely telling what it was like to be owned by another human being. Some of the tales are brutal to read, while others tell of good times despite living in bondage. None of them wallow in the hardships they endured; they simply tell the story of their life. Many of the participants allowed the FWP employee to take their photograph, so there are over 500 priceless black-and-white photographs archived in Washington DC's Library of Congress along with the narratives.

Library of Congress

While perusing the Library of Congress site, I came across a picture of a former slave woman taken by an FWP employee. This woman, sadly unnamed in the records, was a sharecropper in Mississippi. There isn't much information on her, but she commanded my attention when I saw her. Looking closely, you see that her simple skirt and the cuffs on her blouse are soiled, yet she is wearing earrings and a wedding band. Her short hair is braided and she has a contemplative look on her face. But it is her hand in her lap that stole my breath. 

Do you see it?

Her hand is disfigured. When I saw that, I immediately asked, "What happened to her hand?"

Library of Congress

The answer will forever remain a mystery, but simply reading through the narratives, one can imagine all kinds of terrible reasons why her hand was deformed. I explore this in my new novel Under the Tulip Tree. Frankie, a former slave woman who is interviewed by an FWP writer, tells her story to readers in much the same way the former enslaved people told theirs back in 1936. I imagine her looking very much like the precious woman in the photo.

Although the affects of the Great Depression were devastating to a large portion of our country, some good actually came out of those hard times. Had the economy been strong, its doubtful the Federal Writers' Project would have ever been created. And even though some narratives had already been collected by Fisk University and others, the FWP collection is by far the largest body of work of its kind. They are a priceless treasure that will (hopefully) be available for generations to come thanks to the Federal Writers' Project.

Had you heard of the FWP and the Slave Narratives? If you're interested in reading more about them, visit the Library of Congress. 

Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels. Her work has been included in numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books, magazines, and blogs. Married to her college sweetheart and the mother of two grown sons, she makes her home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about. Visit her online at michelleshocklee.com.






UNDER THE TULIP TREE
Releases September 8, 2020

Sixteen-year-old Lorena Leland’s dreams of a rich and fulfilling life as a writer are dashed when the stock market crashes in 1929. Seven years into the Great Depression, Rena’s banker father has retreated into the bottle, her sister is married to a lazy charlatan and gambler, and Rena is an unemployed newspaper reporter. Eager for any writing job, Rena accepts a position interviewing former slaves for the Federal Writers’ Project. There, she meets Frankie Washington, a 101-year-old woman whose honest yet tragic past captivates Rena.

As Frankie recounts her life as a slave, Rena is horrified to learn of all the older woman has endured—especially because Rena’s ancestors owned slaves. While Frankie’s story challenges Rena’s preconceptions about slavery, it also connects the two women whose lives are otherwise separated by age, race, and circumstances. But will this bond of respect, admiration, and friendship be broken by a revelation neither woman sees coming?

https://www.tyndale.com/p/under-the-tulip-tree/9781496446077

The Bell of Liberty

Elaine Marie Cooper

This photo of the child touching the Liberty Bell brings back happy memories for me.

Many years ago, I was a child with my small hand touching this same bell that both fascinated me and stirred a desire to know more about our American history. That craving still exists in my heart, as my adult years have brought me to research and write about the years of the American Revolution.

Because of its name, many often think the Liberty Bell was cast during the Revolution. It, in fact, was commissioned by the Quakers in Philadelphia in 1751 to commemorate the 50^thanniversary of William Penn founding the colony of Pennsylvania. 

Since Quakers were the strongest voice against slavery that was rampant in all the colonies, the Pennsylvania Assembly declared a “Year of Jubilee” and ordered the creation of the bell to be placed in the Philadelphia State House. 

According to author William Federer, the Speaker of the House, Isaac Norris, quoted from Leviticus 25: “And ye shall make hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee.” 

In accordance with the Israelite calendar, the year of Jubilee was to free slaves, forgive debts, and return lands to the original families who owned them. 

As proponents of freedom, the Pennsylvania legislature requested these words to be inscribed on the bell: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” 

Monument to Col. John Nixon who read the Declaration in 1776

Since the Liberty Bell became a symbol of freedom during the American Revolution, it seems ironic that it was cast in England. The irony lies in the fact that the bell was rung during the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776 when the writers of the document vilified their Mother Country. Some historians say it was after this event that it became known as the Liberty Bell. Others claim it was not referred to as the Liberty Bell until the 1830’s when an abolitionist group adopted it as their symbol. Regardless of the origin of the name, we all today refer to it as such. 

After the British invaded Philadelphia in 1777, local Patriots feared the British would steal the bell and melt it down to be used for armaments. The Americans snuck it out of the city, transported the 2,000-pound bell into a wagon, then covered it with hay and manure to hide it. The bell was taken to Zion Reformed Church in Allentown, PA where it was hidden in the church’s basement. When the British left Philadelphia in 1778, it was returned.

The famous crack in the bell is a subject of speculation. The original bell, commissioned in 1751, cracked when it underwent a test strike. The metal was too brittle, causing it to be recast twice. The final version was comprised of 2,080 pounds total of copper, tin, and small amounts of lead, zinc, arsenic, gold and silver. 

Despite numerous speculations about the crack’s origin—during the visit of Marquis de Lafayette in 1824 or while tolling to signal a fire or during the ringing for the funeral of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835—historical accounts verify it was damaged by 1846. Although attempts were made to repair the crack, it did fracture beyond repair and was retired from “ringing duty.” 

It was placed in a pavilion near Independence Hall in 1776, then moved to Liberty Bell Center in Independence National Historic Park. Now millions come to view the famous bell each year.

Just like a young girl did many years ago in Philadelphia. As the curious child carefully fingered the crack, a writer of historical fiction was born. 

Elaine Marie Cooper has two historical fiction books that released in 2019: War’s Respite(Prequel novella) and Love’s Kindling. They are the first two books in the Dawn of AmericaSeries set in Revolutionary War Connecticut. This series will re-release with a new publisher beginning in 2021. 

Cooper is the award-winning author of Fields of the Fatherless and Bethany’s Calendar. Her 2016 release (Saratoga Letters) was finalist in Historical Romance in both the Selah Awards and Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul and HomeLife magazine. She also penned the three-book historical series, Deer Run Saga. 

Her upcoming release, Scarred Vessels, is about the black soldiers in the American Revolution. Look for it in October 2020. You can visit her website/ blog at www.elainemariecooper.com