INTRODUCTION Baptists and other white Americans North and South during the Civil War-era were unequivocal: secession, the existence of the Confederate States of America, and the Civil War were all the result of slavery, the immoral (or moral, depending on one’s race, political persuasion and/or geographic location) institution that served as the economic engine of…
by Bruce Gourley From its earliest days, the colonial experience in the New World was infused with human inequality. Theocratic colonies through both government institutions and establishment churches refused to allow freedom of conscience or religious liberty. Many poor whites were indentured servants and many blacks either indentured servants or slaves. White women were denied…
Today is Charleston’s first Emancipation Day, three years after former President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation. In the heart of the former Confederacy and accompanied by the 33rd U.S. Colored Troops, thousands, many of whom are Baptists, participate in the parade, listen to speeches, and eat barbecue. The South Carolina Leader describes the scene:…