On the occasion of this first official Juneteenth holiday celebrating the end of slavery, I thought it might be interesting to discuss briefly the role of evangelical Christians in efforts to abolish slavery in the U.S., focusing on the 19th century As it turns out, just like their role in contemporary American politics, the role of evangelicals in the 19th century abolitionist movement was quite controversial.
We often hear about how white Christians (at least some of whom could have been considered evangelicals in terms of their theology) in the American South supported the institution of slavery. Some Southern whites went so far as to claim the Bible legitimized slavery. However, what they failed to recognize (or acknowledge) was that slavery in ancient Israel and the Greco-Roman world was rather different from the chattel slavery practiced in North America in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. For one thing, slavery in biblical times was never based on race, and was often not a life-long condition. Moreover, the Old Testament (see Exodus 21:16) actually called for the execution of anyone who kidnapped another person in order to keep him or sell him as a slave. And yet, the American slave trade essentially began with the kidnapping of Africans with the purpose of enslaving them! Thus, the notion that the Bible somehow justified American slavery was never well-founded.
One of the most prominent abolitionists in the 19th century was William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879). Garrison launched the anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator, and his uncompromising call for the immediate abolition of slavery enraged slaveholders in the South and even some whites in the North. According to David Emory Shi and George Brown Tindall in America: A Narrative History (Vol. 1), evangelicals played an important role in providing support for Garrison and the wider abolitionist movement:
...Two wealthy New York City evangelical merchants, Arthur and Lewis Tappan, provided financial support for Garrison and The Liberator. In 1833, they joined with Garrison and a group of Quaker reformers, free blacks, and evangelicals to organize the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS). (p. 449)
Then, in 1835, "the Tappans hired revivalist George G. Finney to head the anti-slavery faculty at Oberlin, a new college in northern Ohio that would be the first to admit black students" (p. 449). Moreover, as Shi and Tindall inform us:
The American Anti-Slavery Society, financed by the Tappans, created a national network of newspapers, offices, and 300 chapters, almost all of which were affiliated with a local Christian church. By 1840, some 160,000 people belonged to the AASS, which stressed that "slaveholding is a heinous crime in the sight of God, and the duty, safety, and best interests of all concerned require its immediate abandonment." The AASS even argued that blacks should have full social and civil rights. (p. 449)
The AASS went on to flood "the South with anti-slavery pamphlets and newspapers." As a result, "a Louisiana community offered a $50,000 reward for the capture of the 'notorious abolitionist, Arthur Tappan, of New York'" (pp. 449-450).
Eventually however, despite their initial financial backing of The Liberator, Arthur Tappan and his brother would split with Garrison due to differences over religion and the direction of the abolitionist movement. Nevertheless, the Tappan brothers and other evangelicals would continue to play an important role in the abolitionist movement until slavery in the U.S. finally came to an end at the conclusion of the Civil War.
Thus, while it is true that some 19th century American evangelicals condoned or even supported slavery (to their shame, I would add), many of their co-religionists were fervently determined to see its end. Given the controversary over the role of evangelicals in modern U.S. political life, it seems appropriate to remember the important and positive role many evangelical Christians played in bringing an end to slavery.
Image of William Lloyd Garrison from Wikimedia Commons