Southern Protestantism—1861 and After

W. Harrison Daniel is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Richmond. A graduate of Lynchburg College, Daniel took his master's at Vanderbilt and his doctorate at Duke. In preparing this article he received assistance from the Research Council of the Richmond Area University Center. Southern Protestantism 1861 and After W. HARRISON DANIEL the a?p, war which followed the formation of the Confederacy in 1861 was a matter of deep concern to Southern Protestants, for they did not want war. Denominational newspapers had expressed the hope that secession would be peaceful, like the separation of Abraham and Lot, and that the South would be permitted to preserve its own institutions and way of life unmolested.1 But when the hope for peace proved to be an illusion, all of the major denominations took the official position that the war was a just one and that Christians could participate in it without any qualms of conscience. Churchmen proclaimed that the war had been forced upon a peace-loving South. The Fort Sumter incident, they declared, was the first step by the Federal government in a war to exterminate the Confederacy, and was an unjust invasion of peaceful territory.2 Ecclesiastical groups passed resolutions, and denominational newspapers printed editorials blaming the North for the conflict.3 The 1 South Western Baptist (Tuskegee), November 29, 1860; Southern Presbyterian (Columbia), November 17, 1860; Tennessee Baptist (Nashville), November 24, 1860; Christian Index (Macon), January 30, 1861. Also see J. W. Tucker, God's ProvidenceInWar;A SermonDeliveredto hisCongregationin Fayetteville, North Carolina on Friday, May 16, 1862 (Fayetteville, 1862), p. 6. 2 Afmutes of the Baptist Convention of the State of Georgia, 1861. Held With the Baptist Church in Athens, April 26-29, 1861 ( Macon, 1861 ), p. 5; Minutes of die Synod of Soudi Carolina, Charleston, November 8, 1861 (MSS, Presbyterian Historical Foundation, Montreat, N.C.); North Carolina Christian Advocate (Raleigh ), April 29, 1861. 2 James A. Millard, Jr., ed., A Digest of the Acts and Prooceedings of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, 1861-1944 (Rich276 North was not only branded the transgressor but was also accused of having prepared for the diabohcal war for over thirty years.4 Men were urged to defend their rights and were told that Christians could enter into the war without compunction and with the faith that, though the batties might be bloody and rugged, the God of hosts would be with them.5 The religious press pointed out that the South had made every effort to avoid war. Peace overtures had been made to the North; peace commissioners had been sent to Washington in an effort to arrive at a compromise which would make for a peaceful separation, but all these efforts had been rebuffed.6 Since the North had forced the war, the South interpreted it as just in the eyes of God because it was one of self-defense7 and because it was a war for the preservation of constitutional liberties and home, family, and church against the assault of fanaticism , infidelity, and atheism.8 In such a struggle the people were implored to pray to God for deliverance and to observe certain days for fasting and praying. Divine blessings were invoked upon the Confedermond , 1945), p. 159; Southern Lutheran (Charleston), February 15, 1862; The Christian Sun (Suffolk, Va.), October 18, 1861; Minutes of the Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod. Held in St. John's Church, Lexington District, South Carolina, November 9-16, 1861 ( Greensborough, 1861), p. 12; Charles Gillette, A Few Historic Records of the Church in the Diocese of Texas, during the Rebellion . Together With A Correspondence between the Right Rev. Alexander Gregg, D.D. and the Rev. Charles Gillette, Rector of St. David's, Austin ( New York, 1865), p. 15; Edward McPherson, The Political History of the United States of America, during the Great Rébellion . . .(Washington: Solomons and Chapman, 1876), pp. 514, 515. * North Carolina Christian Advocate (Raleigh), April 29, 1861. 5 Memphis, Arkansas and Ouachita Christian Advocate (Memphis), July 11, 1861. 8 South Western Baptist (Tuskegee), April 18, 1861; Christian Intelligencer (Richmond ), May 16, 1861. 7 North Carolina Presbyterian (Fayetteville), April 27, 1861; Minutes of...