Sadena Thevarajah
Religious Influences in the Anti-slavery Movement
Introduction
As with much of the events of the period (the late eighteenth century to the early
nineteenth century), the anti-slavery movement was largely propelled by religious
influences. Religion permeated most aspects of life and so when large denominations began
to preach against (or condone) slavery, their voices were heard. Many abolitionists were
either active members in the religious community or had strong religious backgrounds while
growing up. The basic beliefs that they held concerning man and God helped to build the
foundation for the anti-slavery movement.
Evangelical Denominations
Although Quakers were known to be the most vocal concerning their opposition to
slavery, there were also other denominations that did not favor slavery. Methodists,
Baptists, and Presbyterians initially were very vocal concerning their dissatisfaction
with slavery. However, their main concern was that large amounts of the population were
not being exposed to God. They had to resolve whether the larger concern was to end
slavery and thus allow many " unchristian" people to go to hell after death, or
to evangelize the slaves while letting the issue of slavery slide under the carpet. This
was the ultimatum since most slave owners would not let these radical ministers near their
slaves while they so vehemently objected slavery, lest they give the slaves bad ideas of
revolt. So, many people from the clerical community decided that to save the slaves’
souls by exposing them to God was far more beneficial than to alleviate their suffering in
this world. Even though slave owners thought that converted slaves would also cause
problems, they also thought that a Christian slave might be better than a heathen slave
might. Another issue was that slaves should be free in order to be able to Christianized,
since a Christian can’t hold another Christian in bondage. This ideology was
eventually worn down and little by little, slaves were allowed to hear services by these
Evangelical denominations. Subsequently, Methodists and Baptists also became the two
denominations to achieve the earliest successes in proselytizing slaves (Lane 184). From
here, slavery became a political controversy rather than a moral one.
The Great Awakening and the Second Great Awakening
The Great Awakening (mid 1730’s) should receive approbation for the good that was
behind it concerning slavery, however, at that early in time society was stubborn to new
ideas and results were minimal. Many of the religious figures coming to America from
Virginia during this interval of religious revivals were very much so against slavery.
These preachers who came over, welcomed Africans into their churches, which was formerly
unheard of. However, since their masters didn’t allow slaves to attend, there were
very few that would actually show up. Also, none of the clergy was motivational enough to
be able to convince the populace that slavery was a moral evil, or that slavery should be
abolished. So, the Great Awakening came and passed, giving a trivial push for the
Anti-Slavery movement.
The impact of the Second Great Awakening on the Anti-Slavery Movement, however, is
perhaps the single most influential agitator in the movement. The Second Great Awakening
was also a series of revivals similar to the Great Awakening, but this had accumulated a
better result than the first Great Awakening. The Second Great Awakening was influential
due to its emphasis on the theory of creating a true Christian republic. This theory was
based on the hope that God would bestow favor on true Christian republics, meaning the
United States. Through the Second Great Awakening, slavery returned to being a moral
issue, and the ideology of becoming a perfect society instigated new thoughts.
"Perfectionism" (that people could live without sin) preached that people should
not conform to the evil that slavery brought and that moral inducement along with
disobedience should be their weapons to fight against it.
Some slave-owners thought that evangelizing the slaves would be a good idea since they
rationalized that slaves would learn to have devotion towards God and, eventually, to
their owners. Slaves did not look at religion in this manner; they tended to interpret the
Bible to reflect their lives (Pop Up #2). The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt was
symbolized to mean the escape from slavery to freedom, Daniel being delivered from the
lion’s den prompted the thought that God freed men from their difficult situations,
and the Resurrection symbolized a man being brought from death to life. Many Black men and
women went on to become prominent figures in the African churches, which were constructed
later on.
Religious Characters
Bishop William Fleetwood- One of the bishops who traveled over to America from
England in 1701 through the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts." One of the main objectives of the Society was to Christianize the slaves
however, Bishop Fleetwood went so far as to denounce the institution of slavery itself
(which prompted him to be considered a radical).
Charles Grandison Finney- A man who felt he was strongly affected by the Second
Great Awakening and in turn he affected many others. He converted to Presbyterianism and
began conducting revivals. He preached that sinning was purely voluntary and that men and
women could effect their own salvation if only they would surrender to the Lord. He
preached "Perfectionism."
Theodore Dwight Weld- Weld was one of the most active early antislavery
crusaders. He attended the Lane Seminary in 1831. After coming under the influence of
Charles G. Finney, he convinced a large number of students to join the abolitionist cause.
He was expelled for being such a disruption to the school and became a member of the first
class at Oberlin College (Oberlin is a college founded on religious and moral reform). He
composed both The Bible Against Slavery and American Slavery As It Is. After
his schooling, he served as an agent in the American Antislavery Society, and eventually
trained a number of disciples, including his wife Angelina Grimké.
Denmark Vesey- Vesey was a slave who was always absorbed by stories of slave
rebellions that he would hear when slave-owners would come and stay at his master’s
house. In about 1799, he had purchased a winning lottery ticket and was able to buy his
freedom. He quickly became a dominant force. He was an active member of the African
Methodist Church of Charleston and would have such an impact on the other members that
they would call him a prophet. He would always draw parallels between African slaves and
the Israelites in the Bible, claiming that they too should fight their way to freedom. In
late 1821, he devised a plan for a revolt which, at last count involved 9,000 people
(Lofton 126). However, the secret was leaked out and the plans crashed. There were many
consequences of the conspiracy of the revolt, including that the instruction of blacks
became outlawed, free blacks weren’t allowed to enter the state, and strict limits
were placed on the unsupervised movement of slaves. However, Vesey became a martyr and a
model to slaves and the abolitionist cause.
Harriet Beecher Stowe- Beecher Stowe belonged to the nation’s most renowned
Protestant household. She was one of the eleven kids of Leeman Beecher who was a
well-known congretional minister. She wrote the controversial Uncle Tom’s Cabin,
in which she described a slave’s hard life. She had intended Tom to be a Christ like
figure who redeemed America from the sin of slavery.
James Henry Thornwell- Thornwell was a Presbyterian minister who was in favor of
slavery. He wanted to evangelize slaves, but not emancipate them. He insisted that the
church was a spiritual organization concerned with matters of heavenly (not earthly)
concern (The Doctrine of the Spirituality of the Church). He maintained that Presbyterians
did not want to entangle their lives with issues that did not affect the final test of
God.
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