Americans justified enslaving Africans by declaring them godless heathens without souls

Evidence

The label “heathen” did not apply just to Native Americans, but to people who did not worship the one true God, as determined by Anglo-Saxon Protestants. In the case of Africans, Americans justified their enslavement based on their Christian beliefs that Africans were godless heathens with no souls. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 218 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Moreover, White Americans believed that slavery helped Africans by exposing them to the gospel of Jesus Christ through their masters and Anglo- Protestant cultural norms. Despite religiously grounded opposition by Quakers and other Christian minorities, the prevailing view was that Africans were not human because they purportedly lacked souls. Hence slavery continued for centuries without contradicting mainstream Christian morality. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 222 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Americans condemned white enslavement while justifying African slavery on racial theology. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 510; The heathen label justified enslavement of Africans as soulless godless people — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 218; Believing Africans lacked souls let slavery coexist with Christian morality — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 222 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• The heathen label justified enslavement of Africans as soulless godless people #corroborates (0.98) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 218
• Believing Africans lacked souls let slavery coexist with Christian morality #expands (0.93) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 222