U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, influenced in his youth by the anti-slavery Primitive Baptist church of his upbringing, is moving ever closer to officially making emancipation a goal of the war against the Southern Confederacy. Today Lincoln meets with a delegation of Progressive Friends (a Quaker organization working with other anti-slavery advocates), who urge him to…
The First Baptist Church of Dandridge, Tennessee, a notable congregation within the state, struggles to navigate the war years. Founded in 1786 (seven years prior to the formation of the town of Dandridge, named after Martha Dandridge Washington, wife of George Washington), the Jefferson County congregation is no stranger to difficult times. In July 1845,…
In 1846, one year after Baptists North and South had divided over the issue of African slavery, white and black Baptists in Stonington, Connecticut reached a mutual decision regarding their respective but related future. African members of the First Baptist Church petitioned their white brethren: Beloved Brethren: Believing that the time has come when the…