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The Role of Pietistic and Mystical Thought Among the Anglican Elite in the Eighteenth Century Lowcountry South

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The Role of Pietistic and Mystical Thought Among the Anglican Elite in the Eighteenth Century Lowcountry South "Through the Eye of a Needle": The Role of Pietistic and Mystical Thought Among the Anglican Elite in the Eighteenth Century Lowcountry South by Samuel Clayton Smith Bachelor of Arts Bob Jones University, 1981 Master of Arts Bob Jones University, 1984 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History University of South Carolina 1999 Committee Member Dean of the Graduate School © Copyright by Samuel C. Smith, 1999 AIl Rights Reserved. ii For Becky, Kendra, Logan, and Kayla iii Acknowledgements Of all the lessons learned during the writing of a dissertation, possibly the greatest is how dependent you are upon others. I am particularly grateful to Dr. Jessica Kross who directed the dissertation. For the past two years she has listened to me ramble hours­ on-end about the importance of pietistic and mystical religion to the thought of certain eighteenth century lowcountry elites. Her comments and suggestions throughout the research and writing stages were invaluable to the success of the project. Every carefully marked-up chapter she returned to me for revision demonstrated the dedication she has for historical accuracy and relevance. Her kind patience, scholarly guidance, and unfailing encouragement will always be appreciated. Dr. Robert Weir has been a great help to me as a seminar professor, academic advisor, and committee member. His excellent and thought provoking works on the eighteenth century South were largely responsible for my decision to follow that field of concentration. Dr. Kevin Lewis kindly allowed me to do two independent studies with him, giving me the opportunity to delve into an array of religious works that would later prove cogent to the dissertation. The weekly conversations we had on the nuances of pietistic thought were some of the most intellectually stimulating experiences I have had as a student. At our first acquaintance Dr. Paul E. Johnson agreed to read my dissertation and serve on the committee. He has been very helpful both in scholarly advice and friendly encouragement. Dr. Kenneth IV Perkins kindly agreed with late notice to serve as chairman of the committee. To all these I offer my sincere thanks. Others, though not directly involved with the dissertation, have nonetheless helped me get to this point. From the start Dr. Clyde N. Wilson has been a great inspiration. His American Historiography class not only gave me a greater excitement for the profession, it provided sound methodological direction in a discipline that seems increasingly preoccupied with everything except what actually happened. Outside the classroom he has been a special source of encouragement, and for that I am gratefuL Other professors at the University of South Carolina-Dr. Owen Connelly, Dr. Lawrence Glickman, Dr. Walter Edgar, Dr. Kendrick Clements, Dr. Lacy K. Ford, Dr. John Basil, and Dr. John Scott Wilson-have all been a help and encouragement in more ways than they know. Thanks is due to the custodians of documents who make the historical task possible and pleasant. The librarians of Thomas Cooper, South Caroliniana, South Carolina Historical Society, Georgia Historical Society, Lutheran Theological Seminary, and Columbia International University were always helpfuL A special thanks to Dr. C. James Taylor, Ms. Peggy Clark, and Mr. Tom Downey of The Papers of Henry Laurens at the University of South Carolina for all their assistance. I am grateful to the USC Department of History for the generous financial support over the past years. Without the instructional, teaching, and research assistantships, and travel grants, I would not have been able to complete this work. I am deeply indebted to family and friends for their kind support. My parents, George Clayton and Annie Ruth Smith, have always been a source of unending strength. v Without their generous bestowal of love and financial assistance I would never have been able to start, much less finish my program of study. I am thankful for my brothers and sister-Danny, Philip, and Rebecca-who have also helped me in many ways. rvfy in­ laws, Milton and Pat Brown, have been an encouragement and support from the beginning. While serving as an adjunct at Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia, I received encouragement from Professors Max White and AI Pleysier to enter a doctoral program. Two of my closest friends, Curtis Wade and Samuel Bechar, have been a strong source of encouragement and support as well. I would also like to thank my extended family, the congregations of Broad River Baptist Church in Baldwin, Georgia, and the Alliance Community Church in Irmo, South Carolina. Their fellowship has been a bedrock of strength for my family. My three children, Kendra, Logan, and Kayla, have taught me a most valuable lesson in priorities. To be their father is my greatest calling. They are the joy of my life. My closest friend and companion is my wife Becky. Many times, with finances dwindling and no seeming relief on the horizon, I seriously contemplated setting aside the books and becoming gainfully employed. She never allowed me to give in to that temptation. She worked as a part time teacher and a full time mom, freeing me to pursue my work. To her belongs the credit for the successful completion of this dissertation. She is the love of my life. Finally, and most important, I am eternally thankful to God incarnate, Jesus Christ, whose entrance into history gives it meaning beyond the reach of empirical investigation. vi Table of Contents Introduction p. 1 Chapter One: The Origin and Transmission of Pietistic Fonns p. 9 Chapter Two: Confronting the "Papists": John Wesley, George Whitefield, and Their Lowcountry Detractors p. 63 Chapter Three: Whence the Hannony?: Pietistic Transcendence as a Co-Facilitator of Consensus in South Carolina p. 130 Chapter Four: Evangelical Anglicization and the End of the World: Elite Pietists and the Changing Face of Establishment p.167 Chapter Five: "An Inconsiderable Evil": Evangelical Pietism and the Sanctification of Slavery p.223 Chapter Six: "Mine Eyes have Seen Thy Salvation": Pietistic Secularization and the American Revolution p.283 Conclusion p. 329 Bibliography p. 335 vii Introduction This dissertation examines the transmission and eventual manifestation of Christian pietistic and mystical thought into the Colonial and Revolutionary lowcountry South. The facilitators of this transmission include the Continental Pietists, who were themselves heavily influenced by the mystics, and British Evangelicals such as John Wesley and George Whitefield, who, even in their public denials of mysticism, nevertheless demonstrated its strong influence in their ministries. Mystical and pietistic expressions impacted the religious, social, and political life of the lowcountry more than has been previously recognized. Evangelical Pietism's mid-eighteenth century infusion prompted some to correctly recognize its subjective (i.e. inwardly focused and feelings oriented) roots in medieval Catholic mysticism. Such association led them to wrongly conclude, however, that Evangelicals were secret emissaries of Rome sent to disrupt social and religious stability in the region. "Enthusiastic" religion did not play the disruptive role that many feared it would. Granted, misguided notions led to early concerns in the lowcountry, but in the end, Evangelical Pietism's transcendent and flexible qualities contributed to the fonnation of political and social consensus, provided a new means to obtain significance in the larger British world, helped transfonn the image of slavery into a uniquely Christian institution, and supplied impulse for unified action during the Revolutionary Era. 1 Historians have paid little attention to subjective religion's overall impact in the Colonial South. One reason may be that, in comparison to colonies such as Pennsylvania, where various continental pietistic sects settled in large numbers, the South did not have as dominating a presence from such groups. There were pockets of influence to be sure, such as in the North Carolina Moravian communities and the Georgia Salzburger settlements along the Savannah River basin. Individual studies of these and other groups have added much to our understanding their important influence. 1 As valuable as these studies are, however, they do not deal with the often overlooked transmission of pietistic and mystical spirituality through Anglicanism itself, and naturally they do not address the manifest influence that such religious principles could have in and through influential Anglican elites. A brief excursus is in order to explain what this dissertation's focus will not be. Although there were more obvious practitioners of inwardly oriented religion in the eighteenth century lowcountry, their tendency for religious seclusion (whether volitional or otherwise) and their consequent lack of mainstream political leadership, exclude them from in-depth examination in this dissertation. The Quakers in Charleston, for example, though comparatively small in number, had a felt presence in the city. There was a sizable number of Quaker treatises in the Charleston library which no doubt caught the eye of 1 For two excellent studies see Daniel Thorp, The Moravian Community in Colonial North Carolina: Pluralism on the Southern Frontier (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1989); George Fenwick Jones, The Salzburger Saga: Religious Exiles and Other Germans along the Savannah (Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press, 1984). 2 more than a few readers. 2 Yet Quaker "inner light" principles, though in some ways similar to those held by Pietists, did not have as comparable an influence on lowcountry culture as the subjective forms that came through the 1740s Great Awakening under Anglican evangelist George Whitefield or through later Anglican Pietists, such as St. Philip's rector Richard Clarke. The Lutheran Salzburgers played a vital role in the settlement of Georgia. Notwithstanding their sometimes amiable relationship with Whitefield and their vital role in the economic life of Georgia, they, for much the same reason as given for the Quakers, will playa peripheral status in this study.
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