Beaufort, South Carolina has now been under the control of occupying Union forces for six months. Union soldiers hold regular worship services in the local Baptist meeting house, where Rev. Brown, chaplain of the 76th New York (nicknamed the “Highlanders”) often preaches. The 100th Pennsylvania is also part of the occupying force, and today–Sunday–a soldier…
This month, Southern Baptist’s lone seminary closes its doors in response to war-time pressures. Commencement is canceled at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Greenville, South Carolina, as many students have already joined the Confederate Army. Seminary faculty in the weeks and months ahead engage the Southern war effort in various ways. President James P.…
Southern slave holders long ago staked out the public position that their African slaves are happy and fulfilled in their lives of bondage. Africans’ inherent intelligence, so the reasoning goes, is suitable–at its best– for a life of enslavement consisting of social and racial isolation, hard work, meager rations, primitive housing, no familial bonds, and…