Slavery and Religion
Taft Rose
Jefferson to Lincoln
HIST 4395
December 10, 2015
The social divide between whites and African Americans is one that goes deep, and unfortunately, can still be felt in present times. Upon looking for causes, one must consider slavery to be at the top of the list. In the 1800’s the social, economical, political, and religious topics all revolved around one question: the morality of slavery. One of the most controversial topics of American history is the use of religion to form proslavery arguments. Many historians will state that the strongest abolitionist movements were born from interracial relationships and sympathy, yet in 19th century Virginia some of the strongest proslavery arguments came out of the biracial evangelical church. In order to better understand the process of dealing with the moral issues of slavery, Virginia in the 1800s becomes a necessary case study. The books A Documentary History of Religion in America to 1877, by authors Gaustad and Noll and The Origins of Proslavery Christianity, by Charles F. Irons derive that whites and African Americans respond to the moral and religious challenges posed by slavery in a series of cause and effect ideological negotiation in which both parties played an active roll. "In this paper I am going to focus on how evangelicalism sparked a sect of prosalvers that intertwined slavery with Christianity and used the bible to twist the movement into a proslavery crusade. I will also discuss the American Anti-Slavery Society and their assurance to end slavery in the United States.
RELIGIOUS EVENTS OF THE TIME PERIOD
Evangelicalism was born out of the Second Great Awakening which started in 1790. Evangelicalists called for an “emphasis on personal, saving experience of faith and [a] sense of mission.”[1] Itinerant ministers and evangelical advocates such as George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards spread the beginning ideals of evangelicalism all over the nation, to all who would listen, white and African American. Whitefield became a powerful proponent of changing the social and religious life of the Old Dominion into one that integrated white and African American evangelicals. Irons states, “More than freedom, Whitefield wanted enslaved men and women to hear the Gospel ‘preached with power amongst them, that many will be brought effectually home to God’.”[2] These early works of evangelicals seeking out their slaves as converts paved the way for later evangelicals to strengthen their proslavery arguments. In chapter one, Irons emphasizes that evangelicals “were reinforcing rather than challenging the practice of slaveholding” during this time.[3] That being said it is evident that from the beginning of evangelical churches in Virginia, the idea was to integrate slavery with the message of being saved. Evangelicalism now not only appealed to the white population of Virginia, but having a specific emphasis on the spirit and conversion, it also appealed to the black population. Irons uses these points to answer a more holistic version of the question of the origins of proslavery Christianity. One way that the religious challenges posed by slavery can be seen from the point of view of African Americans is the idea that once evangelicalism was introduced to Virginia, “black … spiritual initiative was [shown] by affiliating with the denomination of their choice.”[4] By choosing evangelicalism, African Americans solidified their role as active players in the “nature of [the] decisions white evangelicals made about race and slavery.”[5]
SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY (LOUSIANA PURCHASE)
During this time, the reactions of whites and African Americans to slavery became a more widespread conversation. This was due to organizations like the American Bible Society. The American Bible Society was a volunteer organization which was formed in 1816. The main goal of the American Bible Society was to “provide a sufficiency of well printed and accurate editions of the [Bible]” (Gaustad & Noll 312). As the country grew, the protestant believers of the American Bible Society felt it was their Christian duty to supply the new territories with the knowledge of God. The moment in history being described is most known for the vast westward expansion of the United States at this time. The Louisiana Purchase was made in 1803, and in 1816 the effects of settling this new land are being felt. The document addresses this “prodigious territory” as increasing vastly in population and without the help of the American Bible Society to spread the Bible, these peoples would “rever[t] to a species of heathenism” which would feign all of the aspects of a regular society, but would lack any “religious control” (Gaustad & Noll 312). The document states that not only is it the job of this particular Bible Society to ensure that this did not happen, but of all of the Bible Societies together. This idea would become a sort of credo for the American Bible study and shaped the religious unification of the time. The American Bible Society’s constitution stated that no “geographical or political limits [were] to be limits of the American Bible Society” (Gaustad & Noll 312). Not only did they refuse geographical and political limits, but also religious ones. It was the belief of the American Bible Society that “all [their] hands should be joined in the grand design of promoting ‘peace on earth and good will toward man’” (Gaustad & Noll 311). This was a revolutionary idea that topped even the atheological aspect of evangelicalism. This idea of unification further spread Christian ideals and by doing so, spread the conversation about slavers and slaves and the role each group played in regards to the ideological negotiation of the time period.