Katharine Gerbner

History
College of Liberal Arts
Twin Cities

Award Year
2018
University Award
McKnight Land-Grant Professorship

Constructing religion, defining crime: Slavery, power, and belief

Religious freedom is one of the founding principles of American democracy. But modern ideas about religion and freedom emerged within a colonial slave society. As my research shows, under the institution of slavery, some religious practices were deemed legitimate while others were criminalized. Recognizing the complex dynamic between race, belief, and danger shows that we must examine the history of slavery in order to understand the meaning of religion and the concept of religious freedom.