This month Richmond’s First African Baptist Church debates pastoral leadership. White minister Robert Ryland, president of Richmond College, has long been their preacher, as antebellum and Civil War laws mandated that black congregations must be overseen by a white minister. Ryland, although a defender of black slavery, was somewhat controversial in that he advocated for…
The First African Baptist Church of Philadelphia, founded in 1809, has been without a pastor for nearly a year, ever since Reverend James Underdew (or Underdue) stepped down to serve as a chaplain in the Union Army. A local black abolitionist, Underdew had served as pastor from 1859 to 1863. Now, he is serving in…
In Virginia, an increasing number of blacks, both free and enslavesd, are experiencing the evolving nature of the Confederacy’s military struggle against Union forces. Nervous slaveholders are keeping an ever tighter rein on their slaves in an effort to prevent insurrections, even while publicly voicing confidence (against abundant evidence otherwise) that Southern slaves are too…