The Negro in Tennessee, 1790-1865

by C. Perry Patterson

The Episcopal Church in Tennessee was practically synonymous with Bishop Otey, who directed and controlled its policy. He owned a plantation out from Memphis and a number of slaves. He was a typical Southern, Christian slaveholder. He believed that patriarchal slavery was a great institution for the negro. He felt that the North misunderstood the institution, and was in its agitation doing irreparable damage to the nation and the South. Writing to the Northern clergymen, May 17, 1861, he said:

As to your coming South, let me just here state, for all, that you wholly misapprehend the spirit of our people. We ask not one thing of the North which has not been secured to us by the Constitution and laws since they were established and enacted, and which has been granted to us until within a few years past. We demand no sacrifice nor the surrender of Northern rights and privileges. The party that elected Mr. Lincoln proclaimed uncompromising hostility to the institution of slavery—an institution which existed here, and has done so from its beginning, in its patriarchal character. We feel ourselves under the most solemn obligations to take care of, and to provide for, these people who cannot provide for themselves. Nearly every free-soil state has prohibited them from settling in their territory. Where are they to go?

Here the bishop is seen as a defender of Southern institutions and ideals, yet he was loyal to the Union as an old Whig just as long as he could be. He wrote letters to members of the cabinet, begging caution and consideration. But when he felt that the South had been unnecessarily attacked, he fully identified himself and the Tennessee Episcopalians with the cause of the South. Writing to his daughter, May 24, 1861, he said, “And now, my dear child, you ask me if I think the cause of the South just, and that God will favor us and defends us. I answer, in very deed, I do.”[170]

When his slaves were set free in 1862, he called them into his parlor and gave them a father’s advice. He said: “I do not regret the departure of my servants, except Lavinia and Nora (children of eight and seven years of age); I pity them—I have endeavored to treat them always humanely. They had as comfortable rooms, and as many necessary comforts as myself. If they can do better by leaving me, they are free to do so.”[171]

It is undoubtedly true that the general spirit of frontier life was against slavery. It was always opposed to convention and privilege. In the early period of Tennessee politics when the anti-slavery feeling was strongest, frontier conditions prevailed. These pioneers, in the period from 1790 to 1834, were fighting for the suffrage, representation, and the right to hold office. These privileges were enjoyed only by property holders. Under such conditions, opposition to slaveholders, who primarily stood for privilege, was inevitable. The anti-slavery attitude of the churches was partly a result of these conditions as well as of religious sentiment. These people could express themselves through churches and independent societies more freely than through politics, which was generally dominated by slaveholders.

In estimating the work of the churches as a whole, one is compelled to acknowledge the value of their services to the negro. Practically all of the outstanding anti-slavery leaders were prominent churchmen. The anti-slavery literature of the early period was published under the inspiration of the church. The churches constantly advocated manumission to the masters, and sought easier terms from the legislature for emancipation. They preached against the slave traffic and the inhuman practice of separating families. Their influence also softened the character of the slave code in both its make-up and administration. In the later forties and fifties when the negroes came into the churches in increased numbers, their field of service was increased. There was almost as large a percentage of slaves belonging to the churches in 1860 as there is of negroes in the church today.[172]

The church was given a freer hand with the slaves, missions were established, church houses were built, and many of the slaves learned to read under the guidance of the church. Their characters were improved. The influence of the churches was always directed toward better living conditions, better food and clothing, and better treatment generally. Their influences were felt directly by the negroes as well as indirectly through Christian masters.

The individual churches in Tennessee differed considerably in their attitude toward slavery in the early period. In the order of their degree of hostility to slavery, the Friends should have first place, the Methodists second, Cumberland Presbyterians third, Baptists fourth, Presbyterians fifth, and Episcopalians sixth. From point of service, the Methodists should rank first, and the Baptists second. These two churches represented the masses of the slaveholders and contained the majority of the slaves that belonged to the church. It is difficult to estimate the work of the Baptists because there are no records of their local associations or their individual congregations. Through biographies and actions of Tennessee delegations to the Southern Convention after 1845, one can find convincing evidence that Tennessee Baptists did a valuable work for the negro. The sources for the study of the Methodists are much more abundant. It appears, therefore, that their work assumed larger proportions than that of any other denomination. “High and low alike,” says Harrison, “entered into this noble work. There was no phase of it too humble, no duty connected with it too unpleasant to deter the most earnest and painstaking effort. Bishop McTyeire, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, declared that during a long ministerial life there was nothing connected with it in which he took more pride and satisfaction than the remembrance of the more than three hundred services he had preached to negro congregations.”[173]