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The Southern Aid Society and the Slavery Controversy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Victor B. Howard
Victor B. Howard
Affiliation:
Professor of history in the Morehead State University, Kentucky
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Extract

During the 1830s American society was swept by a reform movement that had as its goal the improvement and uplift of humanity and human institutions in all facets of personal and associated conduct. The antislavery cause was one of the most dynamic areas of reform, and by the 1840s the movement against human bondage became almost entirely a campaign of the northern advocates against the peculiar institution of the South. One of the basic sources of this antislavery sentiment was religious in its orientation, and the crusade against slavery secured its enduring strength from the revivalism of the Presbyterian, Congregational and Baptist churches, from the perfectionism which reinforced it among the Methodist and independent Congregationalists, and from the radicalism of the Unitarians and Quakers. After the Mexican War, the questions revolving around the sectional controversy became the all-absorbing preoccupation of a concerned nation, but while the slavery controversy was only one of the questions involved in the political arena, the morality of slavery was the total issue within religious circles and the churches.

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , June 1972 , pp. 208 - 224
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1900

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References

1. Barnes, Gilbert, The Anti-Slavery Impulse, 1830–1844 (New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1933), 3–37Google Scholar; Bodo, John R., The Protestant Clergy and Public Issues, 1812–1848 (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1954), 112–114Google Scholar; Cole, Charles, The Social Ideas of the Northern Evangelists, 1826–1860 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1954),Google Scholar Chapter 7; Smith, Timothy L., Revivalism and Social Reform (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1957)Google Scholar, Chapters 12 and 13.

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4. A. C. Dickerson to Milton Badger, Bowling Green, Kentucky, November 20, 1844; Milton Badger to A. C. Dickerson, January 2, 1845, No. 991, Letter Book, 1844–1845, Volume R; Samuel Reeve to Milton Badger, Richmond, Virginia, June 10, 1845; Milton Badger to Jacob Mitchell, June 27, 1845, No. 228; Milton Badger to Samuel Reeve, July 15, 1845, No. 318, Letter Book, 1845–1846, Volume S.; American Home Missionary Society Correspondence (Manuscript: Dillard University). Hereafter: AHMS Correspondence.

5. American Home Missionary Society Annual Reports (1841), 4–5; (1842), 4–5; (1845), 4–5; (1846), 4–5 (New York: Clayton and Van Norden). The two northerners who represented the South in 1846 were Artemas Bullard (Missouri) and Eliphalet W. Gilbert (Delaware). Two southerners, Frederick A. Ross and Benjamin M. Palmer, were slave–holders. The abolitionists, Gerrit Smith and Arthur Tappan, were on the board of directors in the early 1840s.

6. Records of the Presbytery of Grand River, Ohio, (1836–1849), II, 20, 46, 273, 278–279, 280, 282, 290 (Manuscript: Western Reserve Historical Society); Goss, Charles F., Cincinnati: The Queen City, 1788–1912, 4 Vols. (Cincinnati: S. J. Clark, 1912)Google Scholar, I, 485: Flaval Bascon to Secretary, Chicago, February 15, 1847, AHMS Correspondence. Records of the Presbytery of Chicago (1847–1870), (Manuscript: McGraw Library, McCormick Theological Seminary), 49–50, 72–76. Presbytery Reporter, II, No. 1 (May, 1951), 44–46Google Scholar; Edwin D. Seward to Milton Badger, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, June 7, 1847; Alexander Montgomery to Badger, July 3, 1847; Badger to E. D. Seward, July 12, 1847, No. 467, Letter Book, 1847–1848, Volume U; Stephen Peet to Milton Badger, July 5, 1847, AHMS Correspondence. Watchman of the Valley, June 3, 1847.

7. Watchman of the Valley, August 5, October 28, 1847. See Howard, op. cit., 119.

8. Proceedings of the Second Convention For Bible Missions, Held in Albany, September 2 and 3, 1846 (New York: J. H. Tabitt, 1846), 4, 13; Annual Report, American Missionary Association, (1848), 6. “Constitution,” No. 78519, 78522, American Missionary Association Correspondence (Manuscript Dillard University). Hereafter cited as AMA Correspondence. History of the American Missionary Association (New York: S. W. Green, 1874), 3–4; Lewis Tappan, The Life of Arthur Tappan (New York: Hard and Houghton, 1870), 317–321. See Johnson, Clifton, “The American Missionary Association, 1846–1861: A Study of Christian Abolition” (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Carolina, 1958).Google Scholar

9. Minutes of the General Assembly (New School Presbyterian Church), 1850, 326.

10. S. D. Helm to J. C. Holbrook, Cottonville, Illinois, March 6, 1851; Albert Hale to Milton Badger, Springfield, Illinois, March 13, 1851, AHMS Correspondence; Jonathan Blanchard to J. P. Williston, Brooklyn, New York, September 6, 1851, Samuel Williston Correspondence (Typescript: Williston Academy, Easthampton, Massachusetts).

11. Prairie Herald (Chicago), March 2, 1852.

12. New York Observer, October 14, 1852; Independent (New York), October 14, 1852; Congregational Year Book, (1852), 344.

13. Home Missionary, XXV, No. 11 (March, 1853), 269.

14. Milton Badger to David Smith, January 25, 1853, No. 2130, Letter Book, 1852–1853, Volume II, AHMS Correspondence. Howard, op. cit., 234, Minutes, General Assembly, 1853, (New School), 333. Prairie Herald, July 1, 1851.

15. New York Observer, July 28, 1853. Christian Observer, July 5, 1853.

16. Journal of Commerce, July 26, 1853, New York Observer, July 28, 1853.

17. Cited by the New York Evangelist, July 14, 1853.

18. Journal of Commerce, July 21, 1853.

19. Christian Observer, July 23, 1853.

20. Journal of Commerce, August 11, 1853.

21. Home Missionary, XXV, No. 11 (March, 1853), 266. Robert Gray to Milton Badger, Rocky Mount, Virginia, July 5, 1852; C. A. Marvin to Gray, July 22, 1852, No. 660, Letter Book, 1852–1853, Volume I; Gray to Badger, October 9, 1852; Gray to Badger, January 3, 1853, AHMS Correspondence.

22. Journal of Commerce, August 20, 1853.

23. New York Evangelist, July 14, 1853. Journal of Commerce, August 20, 1853.

24. Journal of Commerce, August 24, 1853.

25. Ibid., September 28, 1853, citing Congregational Journal (Concord, New Hampshiro), and Presbyterian Witness (Knoxville, Tennessee).

26. Journal of Commerce, October 1, 1853.

27. Southern Aid Society: Its Constitution and Address to the Christian Public (New York: D. Fanshaw, 1854), 8–9.

28. Journal of Commerce, November 1, 1853. New York Observer, November 10, 1853.

29. Journal of Commerce, November 1, 1853.

30. Southern Aid Society: Its Constitution and Address, op. cit., 12.

31. Christian Observer, October 8, 1853.

32. Cited by Christian Observer, October 29, 1853.

33. Ibid.

34. Southern Aid Society: Its Constitution and Address, op. cit., 23.

35. Presbyterian Herald, November 10, 1853.

36. Oberlin Evangelist, XI, No. 24 (November 22, 1854), 190.

37. New York Daily Tribune, July 15, 1854.

38. Southern Aid Society: Its Constitution and Address, op. cit., 24.

39. Ibid., 4.

40. New York Observer, May 31, 1855. See “General Assembly Debate.” C. P. Wing to Secretary, Huntsville, Alabama, June 7, 1847; C. P. Wing to Milton Badger, Huntsville, Alabama, September 17, 1847; Charles Hall to C. P. Wing, October 4, 1847, No. 850, Letter Book, 1847–1848, Volume U; C. P. Wing to Milton Badger, Huntsville, Alabama, October 18, 28, 1847, AHMS Correspondence.

41. First Annual Report of the Southern Aid Society (New York: D. Fanshaw, 1854), 18.

42. New York Observer, December 8, 1853. American Missionary (January, 1854), 22.

43. New York Observer, December 15, 1853.

44. Presbytery Reporter, IV, No. 4 (November 1, 1853), 99–100.

45. Christian Observer, October 22, 1853.

46. Presbyterian Witness, May 17, 1854.

47. Flavel Bascom to Milton Badger, Galesburg, Illinois, March 9, 1854, Letter No. 2308, Letter Book, 1857, Volume III, AHMS Correspondence.

48. S. S. Jocelyn to Milton Badger, July 31, 1854, No. 81768, AMA Correspondence. S. S. Jocelyn to Milton Badger, New York, August 1, 1854; D. B. Coe to S. S. Jocelyn, New York, August 3, 1854, No. 81781, Letter Book, 1854, AHMS Correspondence. Austin Putnam (Scribe) to S. S. Jocelyn, Whitneyville, Connecticut, August 5, 1854, No. 5714, AMA Correspondence. Minutes of the General Association of Connecticut (New Haven: The Association, June, 1854), 10–11.

49. Journal of Commerce, November 1, 1853.

50. Presbyterian Magasine, cited by Independent (New York), December 1, 1853.

51. These included William Adams, Joel Parker, Anson G. Phelps, Samuel H. Cox; Thomas H. Skinner, Christopher R. Roberst—all Presbyterians of New York; Thomas Brainerd, Henry Rowland, Ambrose White and William Jessup—all Presbyterians of Pennsylvania; and Ansel D. Eddy, a New Jersey Presbyterian; William T. Dwight, Maine, Nathaniel W. Taylor, Connecticut, and Aristarchus Champion, New York—who were Congregationalists. Champion was in the process of moving from the Presbyterian to the Congregational Church. See Southern Aid Society: Constitution and Address, op. cit., 4–5.

52. Fourth Annual Report: Southern Aid Society (New York: George F. Nesbitt, 1857), 43.

53. Minutes, General Assembly, (1853), 327, 332, 334–335, 338.

54. New York Observer, September 8, 1859.

55. Christian Observer, June 12, 1846. New York Observer, June 13, 1846.

56. Henry A. Rowland, The Church and Slavery: Or the Belations of the Churches to Slavery Under the Constitution (New York: M. W. Dodd, 1854), 20, 41, 44.

57. New York Evangelist, February 18, 1875.

58. New York Observer, June 9, 1853.

59. Thirtieth Annual Report, American Colonization Society, 1847, 31. Newark Daily Advertiser, August 4, 1854.

60. A. D. Eddy to Stephen A. Douglas, December 29, 1856, Stephen A. Douglas Papers (Manuscript: University of Chicago).

61. New York Observer, June 5, 1847.

62. Ibid., June 9, 1853.

63. Samuel H. Cox to Joseph Stiles, Brooklyn, New York, December 1, 1853, Southern Aid Society: Its Constitution and Address, op. cit., 19.

64. New York Observer, November 2, 1854.

65. The First Report of the Southern Aid Society (New York: D. Fanshaw, 1854), 55.

66. Ibid., 45.

67. Thirty–Second Annual Report, American Colonization Society, 1849, 53.

68. National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, X, 492. Adams, John Q., A History of Auburn Theological Seminary (Auburn, New York: Auburn Seminary Press, 1918), 129.Google Scholar

69. National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, XIII, 592. Rochester Union and Advertiser, September 19, 20, 1871. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, September 19, 1871. Franklin B. Dexter, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Tale College (New York: Henry Holt, 1885–1912), VI, 97. John A. Murray to Milton Badger, Geneva, New York, March 10, 1843, April 3, 1846, May 3, 1854; Aristarchus Champion to J. A. Murray, March 25, 1854; Champion to Charles Hall, Rochester, New York, January 29, 1849; Hall to Champion, February 19, 1949, No. 1638, Letter Book, 1848–1849, Volume 5, AHMS Correspondence; H. C. Bowen to Aristarchus Champion, July 10, 1855; Charles Seabody to Champion, January 23, 1855, Aristarchus Champion Papers (Manuscript: Rochester, New York, Public Library). See J. B. Richardson to A. Champion, March 26, 1856, Champion Papers, for his benevolent contributions among the homes missionaries and the American Bible Society.

70. New York Times, January 26, 1866. Journal of Commerce, January 26, 1866. Thirty–Fifth Report of the American Colonization Society, 1852, 54.

71. New York Times, January 5, 7, 1866. New York Tribune, January 5, 1866. Journal of Commerce, January 6, 1866.

72. New York Tribune, October 31, 1854.

73. Gerard Hallock, History of the South Congregational Church, New Haven (New York: Tuttle, Morehouse and Taylor, 1865), 19, 44, 47. N. L. Rice, Lectures on Slavery Delivered in the North Presbyterian Church, Chicago (Chicago: Goodman and Cushing, 1860), 43. New York Observer, October 1, 1863. See New Haven Daily Register, June 2, 1856; New Haven Daily Palladium, May 31, June 9, 14, 1856, for controversy involving slavery and the South Church.

74. New York Observer, November 24, 1853. Journal of Commerce, October 26, 1854.

75. Congregational Herald, November 16, 1854, citing the New York Tribune.

76. American Missionary (December, 1854), 12. New York Observer, November 2, 1854, June 7, 1855. First Annual Report of the Southern Aid Society (New York: D. Fanshaw, 1854), 4.

77. Christian Observer, November. 25, 1854.

78. The African Repository, VIII, No. 8 (October, 1832), 248.

79. New York Observer, November 23, 1854.

80. New York Observer, November 2, 1864, June 7, 1855.

81. “Circular Letter of the Boston Branch, Southern Aid Society,” Southern Aid Society Constitution and Address (New York: Day Book, 1854).

82. Congregationalist cited by Springfield Daily Republican, April 11, 1857. Christian Intelligencer and Christian Observer, cited by Preslyterian Witness, May 26, 1857.

83. Congregationalist, May 29, 1857.

84. Presbyterian Witness, June 16, 1857. New York Tribune, May 28, 1857.

85. New York Tribune, October 31, 1857.

86. John E. Todd, John Todd: The Story of Bis Life Told Mainly oy Himself (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1876), 88–90. Springfield Republican, March 24, 1860. New York Tribune, May 28, 1857.

87. Fourth Annual Report of the Southern Aid Society, 1857 (New York: George F. Nesbitt, 1857), 11.

88. New Yorh Observer, November 5, 1857.

89. Ibid.

90. Ibid.

91. New York Tribune, October 31,.1857;

92. Thirty–Third Annual Report, 1850, 11, 25; Thirty–Sixth Annual Report, 1853, 3, 58; Thirty–Eighth Annual Report, 1855, 13, American Colonization Society. Southern Aid Society: Its Constitution and Address, op. cit., 4.

93. James McChain and Samuel Sawyer to Milton Badger, Abingdon, Virginia, June 24, 1856; E. P. Wells to Secretary, Jonesboro, Tennessee, July 8, 1856, AHMS Correspondence.

94. Samuel Sawyer and James McChain to Secretaries, Abingdon, Virginia June 24, 1856; W. B. Caldwell to Secretary, Cleveland, Tennessee, June 15, 1856; D. B. Coe to Samuel Sawyer, October 31, 1855, No. 1297, Letter Book, 1855–1856, Volume I; Samuel Sawyer to D. B. Coe, Bogersville, Tennessee, October 19, 1855; Timothy Hill to Milton Badger, Breman, Missouri, May 14, 1856; Hill to Coe, Breman, Missouri, September 16, 1856; Hill to Coe, Breman, Missouri, February 5, 1857; Coe to Hill February 26, 1857, Letter No. 2232, Letter Book, 1856–1857, Volume II, AHMS Correspondence.

95. J. J. Eobinson to David Coe, Maryville, Tennessee, January 20, 1855; John N. Blackburn to Secretary, Benton, Tennessee, August 27, 1856; Samuel Sawyer to David Coe, Eogersville, Tennessee, July 23, 1856, AHMS Correspondence.

96. Robert Callwell to Secretary, Pulaski, Tennessee, April 9, 1855, AHMS Correspondence.

97. Samuel Sawyer to Milton Badger, Eogersville, Tennessee, March 30, 1855, AHMS Correspondence.

98. Benjamin Mills to David Coe, Frankfort, Kentucky, May 21, 1857; J. J. Eobinson to David Coe, Marysville, Tennessee, January 20, 1855; A. H. H. Boyd to Secretary, Winchester, Virginia, September 25, 1855; Milton Badger to A. H. H. Boyd, October 6, 1855, Letter No. 1086, Letter Book, 1855–1856, Volume I; Timothy Hill to David Coe, St. Louis, February 5, 1857, AHMS Correspondence.

99. Milton Badger to B. P. Stone, January 31, 1854, No. 2051, Letter Book, 1853–54, Volume II, AHMS Correspondence.

100. Flaval Bascom to Milton Badger, Galesburg, Illinois, March 9, 1854, Letter No. 2308, Letter Book, 1857, AHMS Correspondence.

101. Congregational Herald, January 29, 1857. D. B. Coe to Lewis Tappan, February 6, 1857, No. 2042, Letter Book, 1856–1857, Volume II, AHMS Correspondence.

102. General Assembly Minutes, Presbyterian Church (New School), 1857, 403–406. Presbyterian Quarterly Review, VI, No. 22, (September, 1857), 246.