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Religion for Slaves: Difficulties and Methods
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2009
Extract
I confine myself largely to the period between 1830 and 1850 and to the movement for additional religious instruction of slaves which flourished during those years, though it did not end in 1850. The sources on which the analysis is based represent conditions in South Carolina and Georgia, with a moderate sampling of Alabama and Mississippi, and not a great deal for the border states.
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References
1 See the excellent article by Jackson, Luther J., “Religious Development of the Negro in Virginia from 1760 to 1860,” Journal of Negro History, XVI (04, 1931), 168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2 Columbian Star and Christian Index, V (12 24, 1831), 410.Google Scholar
3 Southern Presbyterian Review, VIII (10, 1854), 270.Google Scholar
4 Resolution of a Georgia presbytery, quoted in Jones, Charles C., Suggestions on the Religious Instruction of the Negroes (Philadelphia, n. d.), 112Google Scholar. Jones was the outstanding missionary to the slaves and also the spokesman for the movement. His books give a complete picture of its theory and practice, with a good deal of its history, and also survey with acumen and honesty the state of slave religion.
5 McTyeire, H. N. et al. , Duties of Masters to Servants (Charleston, 1851), 25.Google Scholar
6 Presbyterian Herald, XIV (01 22, 1846), 3, col. 6Google Scholar. Cf. Jones, , Religious Instruction of the Negroes (Savannah, 1842), 179.Google Scholar, Do not confuse this with the book by the same author cited above. The book now referred to is the best single volume for anyone who wants to make the acquaintance of the movement rapidly.
7 Wilson, Joshua L., Relations ana Duties of Servants ana Masters (Cincinnati, 1839), 23.Google Scholar
8 Thornwell, James H., Rights and Duties of Masters (Charleston, 1850), 37, 44.Google Scholar
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11 Adger, John B., My Life and Times (Richmond, 1899), 178.Google Scholar
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13 See Proceedings of the Meeting in, Charleston on the Religious Instruction of the Negroes (Charleston, 1845), 20Google Scholar. This is an invaluable source. It contains 44 letters from 20 districts, describing conditions and making suggestions. The meeting lasted three days, was interdenominational, and was attended by many outstanding public figures.
14 Bruner, Clarence V., Religious Instruction of the Slaves in the Antebellum South (Ph. D. thesis—typewritten—Greorge Peabody College for Teachers, 1933), 194Google Scholar. Bruner reproduces the relevant material from most of the available sources.
15 One of the best descriptions of a joint communion service is in Stacy, James, History of the Midway Congregational Church, Liberty Cowvty, Georgia (Newnan, Georgia, n. d.), 180Google Scholar. This is a valuable book, since the community described—it was the scene of Jones' endeavors—probably had more intensive work on religious instruction for Negroes than any other in the South, and over a longer period. The changes from generation to generation are clearly shown, beginning before the Revolution and carrying down into the 1880's. The book is concrete and factual.
16 Quoted in Gadsden, Christopher E., Essay on the Life of the St. Rev. Theodore Dehon (Charleston, 1833), 205.Google Scholar
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33 See below.
34 Quoted in Olmsted, , Back Country, 67.Google Scholar
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