A Slave Desires Baptism to Gain Practical Knowledge 1647

 This account by Richard Ligon provides insight into the complicated views on slavery, religion, and knowledge during the 17th century. Ligon recounts a moment with an enslaved man who shows interest in how a compass works while helping clear paths. Impressed by the explanation, he asks to become a Christian, believing it would help him gain practical knowledge. However, the plantation owner refused, explaining that under English law, making a slave a Christian would mean they could no longer be enslaved. This account highlights the conflict between religious teachings and the economic interests of slave owners at the time. 

Another of another kinde of speculation I found; but more ingenious then he: and t his man with three or foure more, were to attend mee into the woods, to cut Church ways, for I was imployed sometimes upon publique works; and those men were excellent Axe-men, and because there were many gullies in the way, which were impassable, and by that means I was compell’d to make traverses, up and down in the wood; and was by that in danger to misse of the point, to which I was to make my passage to the Church, and therefore was faine to take a Compasse with me, which was a Circumferenter, to make my traverses the more exact, and indeed without which, it could not be done, setting up the Circumferenter, and observing the Needle: This Negre Sambo comes to me, and seeing the needle wag, desired to know the reason of its stirring, and whether it were alive: I told him no but it stood upon a point, and for a while it would stir, but by and by stand still, which he observ’d and found it to be true.

The next question was, why it stood one way, & would not remove to any other point, I told him that it would stand no way but North and South, and upon that shew’d him the foure Cardinall poynts of the compass, East, West, North, South, which he presently learnt by heart, and promis’d me never to forget it. His last question was, why it would stand North, I gave this reason, because of the huge Rocks of Loadstone that were in the North part of the world, which had a quality to draw Iron to it; and this Needle being of Iron, and toucht with a Loadstone, it would always stand that way.

This point of Philosophy was a little too hard for him, and so he stood in a strange muse; which to put him out of it, I had him reach his ax, and put it neer to the Compasse, and remove it about; and as he did so, the Needle turned with it, which put him in the greatest admiration that ever I saw a man, and so quite gave over his questions, and desired me, that he might be made a Christian; for, he thought to be a Christian, was to be endued with all those knowledges he wanted.

I promises to do my best endeavour; and when I came home, spoke to the Master of the Plantation, and told him, that poor Sambo desired much to be a Christian. But his answer was, That the people of that Iland were governed by the Lawes of England, and by those Lawes, we could not make a Christian a Slave. I told him, my request was far different from that, for I desired him to make a Slave a Christian. His answer was, That it was true, there was a great difference in that: But, being once a Christian, he could no more account him a Slave, and so lose the hold they had of them as Slaves, by making them Christians; and by that means should open such a gap, as all the Planters in the Iland would curse him. So I was struck mute, and poor Sambo kept out of the Church; as ingenious as honest, and as good natur’d poor soul, as ever wore black, or eat green.