Today is the Sabbath, and James W. Stovall, an Alabama slave born in 1837–the son of a white slaveowner and his house mistress–secures permission to attend a Baptist church that is now located behind federal lines in Union-occupied Decatur (at the time known as Cater), Alabama. Stovall, years later and living in Winona, Illinois, describes…
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s Baptist upbringing years ago imprinted upon him the moral and biblical wrongness of slavery. Following Lincoln’s presidential victory in 1860, white Southern Baptists and other Southern white religious and political leaders have made a habit of mocking Lincoln as the “black president,” so certain are they that his ultimate goal as…
For months, many Northern Baptists have been agitating the U.S. Congress to pass a confiscation act that will permanently free African slaves. Today, their wishes, as well as those of many Northern Christians at large, are granted, as Congress passes the Second Confiscation Act that is, in effect, an emancipation proclamation that grants permanent freedom…