Section One: Journey into Slavery

Brother selling brother and tribe selling tribe were initiating events in both the Israelite and the African journey into slavery. In the book of Genesis, the ten eldest children of Israel turned against their brother Joseph, their father's favorite son, in order to prevent Joseph's dreams from coming true. The brothers even considered killing him before ultimately deciding to sell him into slavery far away. Ironically, it was in that distant land, Egypt, that all the brothers eventually came to live, each becoming the head of his own tribal family; in effect, then, the elder brothers sold another future tribal leader into slavery.

Similarly, the African's entrance into the Atlantic slave trade most often began with one tribe selling the captives of another tribe at a local inland slave market. This would begin an overland journey that would last weeks or even months until the captive arrived at a port on the west coast of Africa. Once there, the captive might wait months in deplorable conditions in a stockade until being sold again and boarded on a ship. That ship might tarry months more in port or along the coast until making its six-week journey to the New World.

In this section we discuss the events leading to the long-term mass enslavement of both the Israelite and African peoples. We begin by exploring the individual's transition from freeman to slave. That discussion is followed by an analysis of Joseph's journey to slavery in Egypt. Joseph's journey is compared to the African slave traveling from his native land to the seacoast to be sold again. Finally, we explore the sharp contrast between the stately wagon laden journey of Jacob's family into what would turn into Egyptian bondage with the journey of the almost naked African, the Middle Passage, traversed in the sardine packed belly of a ships' hold, in the depths of despair.

Section Two: Slave Experience
Theme: Political Slavery vs. Personal Chattel

"We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt" (Deuteronomy 6:21) succinctly articulates the nature of the slave experience of the Israelites. The Children of Israel were political slaves of a state whose authority rested in Pharaoh. The location of their enslavement was Egypt, arguably the most powerful nation of that time. In contrast, African Americans were chattel slaves sold first in slave markets in the port cities of Charleston, Richmond, Baltimore, and New York, and later in inland locales. They came from regions of the world that Western Europeans and Americans looked upon as uncivilized. This distinction between political and chattel slavery is crucial for exploring the commonalities and differences in the respective slave experiences. This contrast is not, however, absolute. As the Children of Israel declined in status, the Egyptian masses seized the opportunity to make the Israelites also their personal slaves by requiring them to work their fields. (Exodus 1:13, 14)

Section Three: Freedom's Road
Theme: Exodus and Emancipation

The Exodus from Egypt was the defining experience in the formation of the Israelite nation and the establishment of its special responsibility toward God. It is woven into the fabric of the national identity and embedded in the nation's collective memory. Although Passover is the preeminent occasion for remembrance, the Exodus memory is threaded throughout Jewish law and ritual. The Exodus from Egypt is recalled in the Jewish liturgy recited morning and night. The grace after meals includes thanks to God for the Exodus. The Sabbath, as mentioned in the restatement of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy, is linked not to the creation of the world but to remembering the slavery in Egypt and the Exodus. Numerous obligations of empathy for the disadvantaged draw on the Egyptian sojourn as a reinforcing motive. Even biblical commandments regarding honest business dealings as manifested in accurate weights and measures draw on an implied contract that God made with the Israelite nation when He took them out of Egypt.

The outlines of the slavery experience and the Exodus were first foretold in a vision to Abraham. Several hundred years later, at the appointed time, God heard and responded to the cries of the long-suffering Israelites. Moses was chosen and given the mission to ask and ultimately demand that Pharaoh free the Children of Israel and allow them to worship their god. Pharaoh and his countrymen were brought to submission through God's awesome display of power over every aspect of nature. The climax came on Passover night when the first-born Egyptians were killed; the Israelites were sent out the next morning. Days later, Pharaoh and the Egyptian army pursued and caught up with them at the Sea of Reeds. The story concludes with the miracle of the splitting of the sea and the drowning of the pursuing army. It is at this point that the Bible records the major impact of the Exodus. Israel saw the great hand that God inflicted upon Egypt; and the people revered God, and they had faith in God and in Moses His servant (Exodus 14:31).

The Exodus enabled the Israelites to see and understand that the forces of nature did not represent conflicts between opposing gods. Rather, there was but one God, master over all elements of the universe. It also established Moses as God's emissary to the Children of Israel. They learned that the one God was a god of history who could and would get involved in the destiny of a people. Finally, the redemption of the Children of Israel from slavery was a down-payment by God on a covenant or contract that would require them to accept special responsibilities and develop into a holy nation.

All these religious and philosophical issues are explored in depth throughout this book along with the impact on blacks of the Emancipation Proclamation, the North's triumph in the Civil War and the Constitutional amendments that granted and guaranteed freedom and rights for former slaves. First, however, we focus just on the short-term transition from slave to freeman.