White southerners outside of South Carolina harbor mixed feelings about the recent secession of South Carolina from the Union. Planters support the action. Many poor white common folks, on the other hand, although largely in agreement regarding black slavery, see no benefit to themselves of their states separating from the United States. But in the…
If you find this site useful, please consider making a donation to the Baptist History & Heritage Society. The BH&HS communicates the story of Baptists through print and digital media, publications, and conferences. Your donation will help further the important work of the Society. Thank you! Bruce Gourley Producer, “Baptists and the American Civil War:…
The Secession Convention of the State of South Carolina convenes in Columbia’s First Baptist Church, attended almost exclusively by slaveholders determined to defend slavery against the newly-elected president Lincoln, whom they perceived as a threat against the southern institution of slavery. A smallpox epidemic in Columbia would force the convention to move to Charleston, where…