Ham’s sin, Canaan’s curse, and American Slavery
Genesis 9:20-27 has been used in the last 200 years, as the passage that defends the American institution of slavery (that designation comes from Albert Barnes: “This passage, by a singular perverseness of interpretation, and a singular perseverance in that perverseness, notwithstanding the plainest rules of exegesis, is often employed to justify the reduction of the African to slavery”. So let’s look at that passage: Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed by Canaan; a serv
