The Slaves of Liberty by Dale Edwyna Smith

Author:Dale Edwyna Smith [Smith, Dale Edwyna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Modern, 19th Century
ISBN: 9780815330820
Google: uqz-IVIhJSEC
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 1999-01-15T03:35:14+00:00

The Mississippi River Baptist Association emphasized that it had received the Tract Society's assurances it would publish nothing that could possibly “meet with the disapproval of the South.” A Southern-authored title, “Duties of Masters” had been submitted to the Society earlier and granted tentative approval, but even that work had since been dropped from consideration because of the perceived likelihood that it would offend Southern churchmen. The Association, however, found that step in itself insufficient and demanded “further assurance” by the American Tract Society that it would offer no further comment on that “matter which lies wholly beyond its province”—slavery.8

At least two “colored” churches also belonged to the Mississippi River Baptist Association: the Second Colored Church and the Fourth African Church, both in New Orleans, Louisiana. The pulpits of both of these churches were occupied by black ministers (James Davenport at Second Colored Church and R. H. Steptoe at Fourth African), but both were under the “tutelage” of white ministers. There is a notation that the Fourth African congregation met in a substantial brick “church edifice” worth about $9,000, which suggests either a bookkeeping or transcription error, or both. The Association apparently continued to meet throughout the war years, although there was little actual mention of the war in its minutes. In 1863, there was a notation in the minutes that called for ministers to urge their local memberships to fast and pray “to bring about an early settlement of our national difficulties,” but only an occasional, veiled reference otherwise. In 1864, the entry was simply, “Nothing pertinent.”9

At first glance, it is possible to conclude that, within the walls of certain churches of Amite County, Mississippi, “the Word” was colorblind. In the East Fork Baptist Church, for example, black and white alike, female and male, were brought before the church body or a committee appointed for the purpose, to explain conduct deemed “immoral.” Although exactly what such conduct actually consisted of was presented in vague terms, East Fork's Articles of Faith professed belief in “the fall of Adam; the imputation of sin to all posterity; the total depravity of human nature and in man's inability to restore himself to the favor of God” and, thus, a conclusion that “immoral” conduct might include the specifically described “sins” of “fiddling and frolicking” by a slave or a white “brother” betting on a horse race is not farfetched. The Rules of the Church included in its definition of “disorderly” conduct, a member talking while another member was speaking; the Rules preferred that all members “keep profound silence” during the time that another congregant had the floor. At least one historian has suggested that the discrepancy between the number of times a male—once—versus a female church member—three times— might “fail to attend” worship services before being called to account was most likely based upon the presumption that the attendance of male members, especially at conference meetings, was simply more important to the doings of the church than that of female members. However, it seems

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