It's crazy how much of this thread has been about 19th-century U.S. history!
I actually would take issue with that statement, though. It's true that there were churches in the south that used piety as the basis for racial inequality. But the abolitionists were perhaps the least secular, most zealous and most evangelical (if I can use a 20th century term to describe 19th-century Christians) Christians around. They were true believers, and whereas slavery was tacitly supported by some churches, abolitionism was organized and channeled through the church.
I only bring it up because whenever I'm asked "what good has Christianity ever done," my response is usually that Christianity probably ended slavery in the U.S.
|