During this time period, many people believed that God would forgive their actions against African Americans and that no effort would be needed to change the system of slavery. Miss Ophelia assumes that God will forgive her for her bigotry even if she makes no effort to become a better person or change her views on race. Many also believed that African Americans were not their equals and therefore saw no problem with the treatment of slaves. Despite this, many still feared an organized slave revolt against them, so it was important to maintain power over them. Simon Legree uses Christianity against his slaves to maintain control over them, hoping that the punishment for practicing the Christian faith will prevent his slaves from developing ideas of freedom. On the other hand, religion also creates hope for many people during this time. Evangeline is described as the perfect Christian and shows how the Christian faith can create hope for people and inspire them to lead a good Christian life, setting an almost unattainable standard. Uncle Tom also portrays the hope that can be gained from Christian faith. As a Christ figure, Uncle Tom is able to inspire many others to become better Christians and hope for a better life in the future. Religion had a very wide range of meanings for people