Actions and attitudes of Southern Baptists toward blacks, 1845--1895

The Southern Baptist Convention began in 1845 as a result of tensions between Baptists in the North and in the South. Several issues were factors in the division, including differing views on organization and denominational structure. Baptists in the North preferred the societal system of operation, while Baptists in the South preferred the associational structure. But these were not the only factors that contributed to the schism among Baptists. One issue that was at the heart of the division was slavery.;While slavery was involved in the formation of the denomination, what were the attitudes of Southern Baptists toward blacks in the South? The most effective way to determine with any degree of certainty how Southern Baptists viewed blacks was to examine what the white Baptists wrote and how they acted toward blacks. This dissertation examines church and denominational minutes and records, as well as the writings of Southern Baptists from this era to discover the underlying feelings of the white Baptists toward blacks. The dissertation explores the factors leading up to the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention, examines the writings and records from the slave years, then explores how Southern Baptists treated blacks during the years after the Civil War. The study concludes with the formation of the National Baptist Convention and the role Southern Baptists played in the formation of that denomination.;Baptists in the South shifted in their views over the peculiar institution from the late eighteenth century through the first three decades of the nineteenth century. In the South, slavery was first railed against, then accepted, and then later defended by Baptists. The appointment of slave owners as missionaries and the assignment of missionaries to work among slave owners were major factors when Baptists in the South made the decision to form their own denomination.