Next up in the guest series by my mom, Lori Ferguson, is a post about the Great Awakening preachers George Whitefield and Samuel Davies.

George Whitefield’s View of Slavery

George Whitefield (1714-1770) was a powerful preacher in the Church of England. Like other missionaries to America before him in the first decades of the 18^th century, he was shocked at the way southern planters cared nothing for the physical and spiritual welfare of their slaves. He preached against this attitude again and again in the strongest terms. In a 1743 publication, A Letter to the Negroes Lately Converted to Christ in America, he emphasized the necessity of evangelism among the black people. Yet rather than suggest their freedom, he could only recommend to them to endure their situation. He counselled:

“Give up the thought of seeking freedom from your masters. And though he [God] hath now called you into his own Family, to be his own Children and Servants; he doth not call you hereby from the Service of your Masters according to the Flesh; but to serve him in serving them, in obeying all their lawful Commands, and submitting to the Yoke his Providence has placed you under.”

One factor that contributed to Whitefield’s position, and to that of just about every other white person at the time, was the fear of slave revolt. In fact, slaves had arisen in frightening numbers in South Carolina in 1739 and in New York City in 1741. In Whitefield’s letters we read how he avoided black people on journeys in the night-time because of fear of violent ambush. He frequently preached to black audiences and prayed with them, but never quite trusted them.

Even more troubling is the fact that financial need caused Whitefield to promote the legalization of slavery in Georgia, and to become a slave-owner in South Carolina. Whitefield was director of an orphanage at Bethesda in Georgia, where slavery was for a short while not permitted. (Georgia was founded as a colony to rehabilitate English criminals by giving them a new start as farmers. Neither slaves nor alcohol were permitted there for the first twenty years or so.) Because Whitefield found the orphanage financially insupportable, he contrived a scheme to keep it afloat with the profits of a plantation in South Carolina. He wrote:

“The constitution of that colony [Georgia] is very bad, and it is impossible for the inhabitants to subsist without the use of slaves. But God has put it into the hearts of my South Carolina friends, to contribute liberally towards purchasing, in this province, a plantation and slaves, which I purpose to devote to the support of Bethesda. Blessed be God! The purchase is made. Last week, I bought, at a very cheap rate, a plantation of six hundred and forty acres of excellent ground ready cleared, fenced, and fit for rice, corn, and everything that will be necessary for provisions. One Negro has been given me. Some more I purpose to purchase this week.”

We can see by his Letter to the Negroes and by his actions, Whitefield contributed to the slave culture of the South. It’s interesting that the massive contradiction between his position and what seems so obviously right to us at a later date, did not seem an issue to anyone at the time.

Samuel Davies’ View of Slavery

Another famous Great Awakening preacher was Samuel Davies (1723-61), well known for his campaign for literacy among blacks in Virginia. He worked tirelessly to improve the lives of slaves, but did not challenge the existence of the system itself. By all accounts Davies loved the black people, poured his life into teaching them to read, but entirely skirted the issue of slavery. Likely he owned one or more slaves, as in the South it was frequently the custom of churches to present a slave to the pastor as part of his remuneration.

Neither Davies nor any of his associates recorded masters freeing their slaves as a result of the campaign to bring the gospel to black people. No minister actually asked them to do so in any literal as opposed to spiritual sense. They were taught to endure their providential lot, and freedom for them was simply not mentioned. As long as this was the case, the planter class tolerated Davies’ preaching to black people in most areas (but not all, especially in South Carolina). Even for those white people touched by the religious revival, their brotherly concern for their slaves was limited. It seemed that their contributions to the campaign for slave literacy made them feel that they were sufficiently doing God’s work. They gave no thought to the idea that slaves might appreciate being granted freedom.

Questions and comments are always welcome!