In Union-occupied areas of Virginia, black Baptists are increasingly exercising their newfound freedom. George Corprew,a free black living in the Portsmouth area, this year donates land for what becomes the Divine Baptist Church in Princess Anne County. This month the church is established and Charles E. Hodges (1819-1910) is called as the congregation’s first pastor.…
Today’s edition of the South Carolina Confederate Baptist weighs in on two hot issues: slavery and church state separation. Of the former, most white Baptists of the South are largely in agreement that African slavery is God’s will and that blacks are intellectually incapable of handling freedom. The editor of the Confederate Baptist summarizes these…
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…