Opinion
By Judge John Marshall Meisburg, Jr.
11-20-23
Slavery was a practice for thousands of years around the globe before it came to America. The Jewish people were slaves in Egypt for 400 years before they were delivered by God and Moses. Slavery was allowed in the Old Testament by God as part of the spoils of war, but only for “strangers” and was not based on race and they still had rights. Leviticus 25:44-46. The Apostle Paul said slaves should obey their masters and do their best to please them. Ephesians 6:5-6. Masters were told to treat their slaves with kindness. Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1. But God never condoned slavery per se . The Bible says all men are created by God in His image. Genesis 1:27. And Jesus taught the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Matthew 7:12.
But tragically, from 1500 to 1800, some 12 million black slaves were brought to America from Africa. In 1776, slavery was common in the America colonies, especially in the south. Many of the founders of our country, like Thomas Jefferson, did own slaves. George Washington inherited slaves from his father, but knew that it was immoral. He was very troubled by this practice, and even proposed a law that would make slavery illegal. He knew that slavery would be a serious problem for the new nation of America, but he also knew that the issue could prevent the Colonies from uniting to form a Constitution and a nation. So the founders decided to table the issue for a later date. Washington, however, freed all of his slaves in his will on his death in 1799.
The American Declaration of Independence said “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The Founders of our country did see the inherent contradiction between slavery and the phrase “all men are created equal”. But they decided that this contentious issue must wait for a later time
The anti-slavery abolition movement began in America in the early 1800’s. Young people read in their history books about Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. They also read about the former slave and great black orator Frederick Douglas, the so-called “Underground Railroad” and John Brown’s raid. All of these made a major contribution to the abolition movement.
But how many know that the primary leaders of the Abolition movement in America were white, Protestant, evangelical Christian preachers and activists? It really all started with the Great Awakening in the 1700’s and the Second Great Awakening in the early 1800’s. These were two major Christian revivals that changed the church and the nation.
The most prominent leader of the Abolition movement was the Reverend Charles Finney. Finney was a Protestant Christian evangelist in New York who travelled around the country preaching to large crowds. Finney rejected predestination, and said that all people had “free will” that must be used to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and savior and find salvation. He also preached about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the need to seek perfection or maturity in spiritual life. Finney told the people that slavery was a sin, and that it was an obstacle to salvation for all persons involved. He said that slave owners should not be allowed to go to Christian communion or take part in Christian fellowship. He also said that social reform was part of Christianity: if you are saved you have a moral duty to go out and purify society. This was a radical view at the time, that caught the attention of the nation. Finney also helped to establish Oberlin College – the first college in America to admit blacks and women.
One of Finney’s converts, Theodore Weld wrote a book called “The Bible Argument Against Slavery” which stated that Old Testament slaves were not like American slaves as they had rights and were not considered property. Weld also toured the county and incited many mobs of people who did not like his abolition speeches.
The Quakers in Pennsylvania were also major Christian activists against slavery. They drew their name from the fact that judges “quaked” or trembled when the quoted the Bible during their trials for heresy in England. They said that all people have a “Divine spark” or presence of God, having been created in the image of God. And, they said that all people are equal in the eyes of God and cannot be owned like property. They said that slavery was brutal and sinful and should be abolished.
So in the early 1800’s the abolition movement began in earnest in America. The Christian church was a leader in this movement, and many sermons were preached on this subject in the north and in the south. The Baptists and Methodist preachers took the lead in this effort.
The Second Great Awakening actually began in the church in England. The English preacher Charles Spurgeon advocated the end to slavery in his sermons. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church also spoke out against slavery. The great William Wilberforce said that “God Almighty has set before me two great objects: the suppression of the slave trade and the reform of morals.” Because of their diligent efforts, slavery was totally outlawed in the British Empire world-wide in 1833.
In America, slavery was abolished by most of the northern states by 1804. But, the 11 southern states kept slavery as essential to their plantation economy and the need for low cost labor. The first abolition effort was geared to returning black slaves to Africa, and 12,000 had been returned by 1860.
But in 1820, the Missouri Compromise by Congress allowed slavery to move west into the free state of Missouri. This law galvanized the abolition movement. In 1833, the American Anti-Slavery Society was formed by Christian activists, and they urged the people to see slavery as sinful in a spirit of repentance. Another Christian, William Garrison started a newspaper called the Liberator which urged the end to slavery, and was read widely in the south.
In 1850, the Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which required runaway slaves to be returned to their owners; this greatly angered the abolitionists. In 1857, the Supreme Court issued the Dred Scott decision which held that black slaves did not have legal citizenship rights. This decision may be the worst decision in the history of the Supreme Court, and was a further catalyst to the abolition movement. As a response to this decision, Abolition leader John Brown led a raid on a federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia to provoke a slave revolt. Brown also was a devout evangelical Christian who believed that he was an “instrument of God” to strike a “death blow to American slavery.” He said that ending slavery was essential due to the Golden Rule and the Declaration of Independence which said all men were created equal. He hoped to arm slaves with weapons from the arsenal, but the raid failed. Brown was arrested, and was later convicted of treason and hanged. He was the first person convicted of treason in the history of the United States. The song “John Brown’s Body” became famous as a result of this abolition protest. The song said “his soul goes marching on” and was sung in public school when I was in junior high in 1962. His raid became a precursor to the Civil War. The South was terrified that others would use violence to stop slavery like John Brown. How many young people today have ever heard of him? He was a great man, and hero of the Abolition movement.
Abraham Lincoln gave his “House Divided” speech in 1858 in which he said that the United States could not endure “half slave and half free.” Lincoln was then elected President in 1860. The South hated Lincoln and the Abolition movement, and seceded from the Union. In 1861, the Civil War began. Slavery was a key issue in the war. The states in the north had freed their slaves, but slavery remained strong in the south, in order to support the cotton industry and the economy. In the middle of the war, when victory was in doubt, President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in the south by Executive Order. This gave the Union Army an emotional boost and reason to fight even harder for the Union.
But the war raged on, and it was catastrophic. It was the deadliest of all American wars. More than 300,000 white men in the Union Army gave their lives to end the slavery of black people. At the time, this was 2% of the population of the country, and six times more American deaths than in World War II.
In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified; it abolished all forms of slavery in the United States. In 1868, the 14th Amendment was ratified; it gave equal rights to all people and citizenship to black slaves. And, in 1870, the 15th Amendment gave voting rights to black men.
The Christian abolitionists including Charles Finney were very dismayed that it took a civil war with terrible bloodshed to end slavery. They had hoped to reach that goal by persuading the country to repent by “moral suasion”. But in the end, they supported President Lincoln and the Union army. They saw the civil war as God’s judgment on America that resulted in freedom for the slaves.
The anti-slavery Abolition movement is a major part of the Christian heritage of America, and one of which we can all be very proud. America faced the issue of slavery and has moved on to the dream of equal protection of the laws for all men and women. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was another great step toward racial equality and I was honored to be part of that effort as a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Atlanta and Miami. I pray that the truth about the Abolition movement and slavery will be taught in our schools and in American history. Christians can be very proud that we ended slavery and moved America toward a just society, which is now the greatest country in the history of the world. But the words of Charles Finney echo down the years to us today: Christians have a moral duty to take a stand for Godly values and to purify society!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR- JUDGE JOHN MARSHALL MEISBURG JR.
Judge John Marshall Meisburg, Jr., was a U.S. Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration for 26 years in Jacksonville, Florida. He retired as a judge in 2021 and is now living in Fernandina Beach, Florida with his wife of 43 years, Dr. Denise Meisburg. They have six children and 11 grandchildren. Prior to being a judge, he was a lawyer with the Federal government for 23 years, serving in all three branches of the government, with the U.S. District Court, EEOC, Justice Department, Congress, FDIC and Office of Special Counsel (MSPB). He was in private law practice one year in Washington, D.C. and filed the lawsuit that became the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case on sexual harassment. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Kentucky, and a Juris Doctor law degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law. He is a lifelong Christian, being raised in the Baptist faith in Louisville, Kentucky. He was an Elder at New Life Christian Fellowship in Jacksonville where he taught Sunday School, the Jewish Roots of the Faith and the Christian Heritage of America. He was a leader of both the National Day of Prayer and the House of Prayer in Jacksonville for over ten years. He has published ten books relating to Christian and legal ssues. He is now a member of Living Waters World Outreach Center in Fernandina Beach, where he serves in the prayer and home group ministry, and is a member of the Board of Directors for Faith Christian Academy.
Christian Heritage Articles:
“Christopher Columbus – Man of Great Faith and Courage” – Citizens Journal Florida
The Christian Heritage of America (Installment 2) – Citizens Journal Florida
The Christian Heritage of America Installment 3 – The French Huguenots! – Citizens Journal Florida
The Christian Heritage of America Installment 5 -The Great Awakening – Citizens Journal Florida
The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal Florida.
