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ZEEB ROAD, ANN ARBOR, Ml 48106 18 BEDFORD ROW, LONDON WC1R 4EJ, ENGLAND 8009334 R eynolds, Todd Armstrong THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION’S ANTISLAVERY CAMPAIGN IN KENTUCKY, 1848 TO 1860 The Ohio State University Ph.D. 1979 University Microfilms I n te r n eti one!300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 18 Bedford Row, London WCIR 4EJ, England Copyright 1979 by Reynolds, Todd Armstrong All Rights Reserved THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION'S ANTISLAVERY CAMPAIGN IN KENTUCKY, 1848 TO 1860 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Todd Armstrong Reynolds, B.A., M.A. * * *** * * The Ohio S tate U niversity 1979 Reading Committee: Approved By Dr. Merton Dillon, Advisor Dr. Paul Bowers Dr. Warren Van Tine Advisor Department of History Dedicated to; Connie, Chris, and Nikki i i VITA November 11, 1943 .............................. Born - Columbus, Ohio 1965 ....................................................... B.A. Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky 1966-67 ................................................... Teaching Assistant, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky 1967 ....................................................... M.A. Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Mid-Nineteenth Century American History Studies in the Slavery Controversy, Civil War, and Reconstruction. Professor Merton Dillon Studies in Colonial America. P ro fesso r Paul Bowers Studies in the Early Republic. Professor Bradley Chapin Studies in Colonial Latin America. Professor Steven Stone i i i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION.......................................................................................................... i l VITA..................... i i i INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 Chapter I. Kentucky: Its Promise and Problems ........................... 5 II. The Early Years: Defining The Mission ............................. 42 III. Staffing The Early Mission: Extending Its Reach . 71 IV. A Change In Strategy: The Struggle Intensifies .... 101 V. Fee and Clay: Differing Opinions ............................... 137 VI. The Calm and The S t o r m ..................................................... 155 VII. Conclusion ............................................................................... 190 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................... 196 iv INTRODUCTION The American Missionary Association began its involvement in the State of Kentucky in 1848, It was the expressed intention of this organization to champion an antislavery cause in this slave state as a prelude to an expanded abolitionist initiative into the South. The principal agent in the Kentucky mission field was John Gregg Fee. Under h is lead ersh ip , the A.M.A. would employ a m ultitude of s tra te g ie s to engender an antislavery sentiment within the bluegrass population. For twelve years before the outbreak of the Civil War, A,M.A. missionaries distributed great volumes of Christian and antislavery lite r a tu r e in the s ta te . There was an equally great commitment to the establishment of free churches and schools. These Christian abolition­ ists also illustrated the debilitating effects of slavery on Kentucky's economic development and encouraged settlement in the state of freedom- loving people from the North and East. Within the state, A.M.A, opera­ tives offered a tenacious defense for their program through an anticaste in te rp re ta tio n of the B ib le . a commitment to the p rin c ip le of freedom of speech, and an appeal to the higher law doctine. A toehold for the campaign was secured in Lewis and Bracken Counties. These northern locations would remain the focal point of the A.M.A. crusade until 1854. In that year, the interior counties of Kentucky were successfully penetrated with the center of A.M.A, activity being identified at Berea, Kentucky, in Madison County. From that time until early in 1860, the association, through its ministerial staff, established a network of antislavery oases throughout many of the central and northern counties of the state. 1 2 The Kentucky mission was temporarily curtailed by February, 1860. Strong emotions were released in response to the John Brown Raid in Virginia, and latent frustrations created by the presence of anti­ slavery ministers and schoolteachers ultimately resulted in the expul­ sion of virtually all A.M.A. personnel from the state. Their return to Kentucky was delayed until after the guns of war had fallen silent. This work is primarily a study of the A.M.A.'s Kentucky mission and the activities associated with it in the period before the war. The association's home department expectations for a southern mission will be examined. In addition, the internal management of the Kentucky organization will be reviewed. The study will also focus on those aspects of the missionary experience which reflect its strengths and weaknesses as an antislavery force. Finally, attention will be paid to specific initiatives taken by the Kentucky agents to achieve their goals. Only in a limited sense will this work deal with the A.M.A.'s overall organization and program. Neither will it examine closely the western fields of the home department nor other southern missions. In assessing the association's efforts in Kentucky, five con­ clusions are apparent: 1) The missionary effort was influenced by Oberlin principles and ministers trained at that Ohio college. 2) The fundamental ob jectio n of the A.M.A. toward slavery was that it was a moral affront to Christian teachings. 3) The A.M.A.'s support of abolitionists principles was out of step with the prevailing antislavery attitude in Kentucky. Even those antislavery advocates within the state who were sympathetic to the association's objectives regarded representatives as radicals in their pronouncements on the slavery issue. This attitude was strongly felt by Cassius Clay and ultimately resulted in the with­ drawal of his support. 4) Their success worked against them. Many Kentuckians who were converted to the A.M.A. antislavery position found the recalcitrant proslavery forces in the state to be intolerable. Unfortunately for the association's interests, many of these individuals chose to leave Kentucky and thereby undercut the population base which the A.M.A. hoped to employ in its campaign. 5) During its years of involvement in Kentucky, the American Missionary Association advanced the antislavery cause more successfully than others who campaigned against slavery. In spite of the many adverse conditions it faced, the associa­ tion did conduct a successful antislavery campaign. Antislavery churches and schools were established. Christian and antislavery books and tracts were carried and distributed by A.M.A. colporteurs throughout many counties within the state. In the dozen years prior to the Civil War, these antislavery missionaries continued to present the slavery question as being a state, as well as a national concern. Their position was presented through the A.M.A.'s own publications, the national antislavery press, and the few Kentucky papers that supported their cause. From the pulpit and in the field, they expressed their deep conviction that slavery had no justifiable basis in Kentucky. Their arguments aroused great interest and sparked much debate. The ministers conducted an on­ going dialogue with the people of Kentucky and strongly opposed those 4 who