All 3 Uses of

consequence

in

Black Boy

Consequently I stopped studying.
Chpt 1.4 *

consequently = resultantly (as a result)

Embedded in me was a notion of the suffering in life, but none of it seemed like the consequences of original sin to me; I simply could not feel weak and lost in a cosmic manner.†
Chpt 1.4

consequences = results

Negroes are told in a language they cannot possibly misunderstand that their native land is not their own; and when they, acting upon impulses which they share with whites, try to assert a claim to their birthright, whites retaliate with terror, never pausing to consider the consequences should the Negroes give up completely.†
Chpt 2.17

Definitions:

(1) (consequence as in: a direct consequence of)
a result of something (often an undesired side effect)
(2) (consequence as in: of little consequence)
importance or relevance
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
In classic literature, consequential may refer to someone with too much feeling of self-importance as when Dickens wrote "Because he's a proud, haughty, consequential, turned-up-nosed peacock."

Self-consequence was used in a similar manner, but is more easily understood by modern readers since important is one of the modern senses of consequence.

Another classic sense of consequent that is similar to importance or significance refers to "material wealth or prominence" as when Jane Austen wrote: "They had each had money, but their marriages had made a material difference in their degree of consequence."