Meeting in the weeks following U.S. President Abraham Lincoln‘s announcement of a forthcoming Emancipation Proclamation that will free African slaves from the ten southern states yet in rebellion against the United States, Vermont Baptists offer a hearty endorsement of Lincoln’s actions:
“Resolved, that the proclamation recently put forth by our Chief Magistrate, looking to the emancipation of more than three million of slaves, increases our confidence in the wisdom and integrity of Abraham Lincoln, and meets our hearty approbation, gives us great reason to thank God and take courage, places before us additional motives for labor, and affords new encouragement for prayer for the emancipation of every slave, and for the suppression of the wicked rebellion which seeks to overthrow and destroy all our liberties, both civil and religious.
“”Resolved, that, as citizens and as christians, we tender to the Government, in this contest, our constant sympathy, our earnest prayers, and our cordial and persevering aid in all righteous means for the suppression of this unholy rebellion.”
In voicing a patriotism anchored in the godliness of human freedom and liberty for all, Vermont Baptists echo many other Baptists of the North in their praise of Lincoln and the announced Emancipation Proclamation.
Source: Henry Crocker, History of the Baptists in Vermont. Vermont Baptist State Convention, 1913, p. 476 (link)
