Page 57 - History of UB Church by A. Funkhouser Ver 1
P. 57
CHAPTER XV
CONCERNING SLAVERY AND INTOXICANTS
Slavery existed in all the colonies when the United Brethren Church was in course of formation.
In Pennsylvania the institution never had more than a slight hold, and after American independence
came was soon abolished. The Western States, into which the church spread, were free territory by
virtue of the famous Ordinance of 1787. Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee were slave states until
after the war of 1861 had begun. Therefore, the ground covered by our church was, until the last-
named event, partly free and partly slave.
Yet from the first the sentiment of the church was distinctly against the institution of slavery.
This was partly because the Germans of America were very generally averse to holding slaves. It
was partly because some of their sects had religious scruples that stood in the way. But
fundamentally the objection of these people to slavery had an economic source. The United
Brethren were not generally large land owners but small farmers. Such men had no place for
slavery. Without exception, all the counties in which our church arose were overwhelmingly white in
population, and consequently the actual number of slaveholders in them was very small.
The General Conference of 1817 was held in Pennsylvania and adopted a rule on slavery which
is stated in very explicit and energetic language. It resolved that "all slavery, in every sense of the
word, be totally prohibited and in no way tolerated in our community." Members of the church who
were holding slaves at the time were required to set them free, or to ask the quarterly conference
to determine how long a slave might be held in order that the owner might thus be compensated
by labor for his purchase-money, or the cost of raising the negro. And in no case should a member
sell a slave. A reprimand was to follow any violation of this rule, and if the reprimand were not
observed, expulsion was to follow. It is to be noted that this rule was adopted just after the
enactment of the Missouri Compromise, and therefore at a time when the line between free and
slave territory was sharply drawn.
The rule of 1817 remained in force and was closely observed. It was enforced by Bishop
Glossbrenner against his own father-in-law. Some persons thought the rule should not have been
so drastic, and in certain circumstances, as when slave property was inherited, it worked some
hardship. There was, indeed, in the Virginia Conference an element that disapproved of the rule on
slavery as well as on secret societies. Nevertheless, the position taken by the leaders of the church
was so well sustained that there was no schism, such as occurred in the Methodist Episcopal
Church.
When the United Brethren Church was taken root in the Valley of Virginia, slavery had relatively
a much weaker hold in that district than in 1860. And as white labor was there still general at the
latter date, the church was able to hold its ground. But the slave power was politically dominant
throughout the South, and any sect holding a pronounced anti-slavery attitude was certain to be
under suspicion as an ally of the abolition sentiment in the North. Thus, until 1860, the United
Brethren were never able to spread much beyond that area in Virginia which was covered by them
in 1800. Nowhere else in the South did they gain a foothold, save in the valley of East Tennessee.
Now that slavery is gone, there is outwardly no reason why the United Brethren should not win new
territory in the South. Yet their lack of harmony with the prevailing sentiment of the South
continues to render that section a closed field. The church has been shut out of the South by its
stand on slavery, and out of the cities by its stand on secret fraternities.
"Forty years before the civil war the General Conference made slavery a test of membership. No
man who owned slaves and would not arrange to free them, could remain a member of the church.
This rule was never modified, but its enforcement was the more demanded as the abolition
sentiment in the country grew in force and intensity. This, of course, kept the church out of the
South, except in the north of Virginia, where the church had been carried by the German settlers
before the question of slavery attracted public attention. The Germans worked with their hands,
and did not own or employ slaves, except in rare cases where a house woman or a farm hand was
owned as the most available way of securing needed help in a community where slave labor was
the rule. This was winked at only during the civil war, when other labor could not be had.
Chapter XV 57 Concerning Slavery and
Intoxicants
CONCERNING SLAVERY AND INTOXICANTS
Slavery existed in all the colonies when the United Brethren Church was in course of formation.
In Pennsylvania the institution never had more than a slight hold, and after American independence
came was soon abolished. The Western States, into which the church spread, were free territory by
virtue of the famous Ordinance of 1787. Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee were slave states until
after the war of 1861 had begun. Therefore, the ground covered by our church was, until the last-
named event, partly free and partly slave.
Yet from the first the sentiment of the church was distinctly against the institution of slavery.
This was partly because the Germans of America were very generally averse to holding slaves. It
was partly because some of their sects had religious scruples that stood in the way. But
fundamentally the objection of these people to slavery had an economic source. The United
Brethren were not generally large land owners but small farmers. Such men had no place for
slavery. Without exception, all the counties in which our church arose were overwhelmingly white in
population, and consequently the actual number of slaveholders in them was very small.
The General Conference of 1817 was held in Pennsylvania and adopted a rule on slavery which
is stated in very explicit and energetic language. It resolved that "all slavery, in every sense of the
word, be totally prohibited and in no way tolerated in our community." Members of the church who
were holding slaves at the time were required to set them free, or to ask the quarterly conference
to determine how long a slave might be held in order that the owner might thus be compensated
by labor for his purchase-money, or the cost of raising the negro. And in no case should a member
sell a slave. A reprimand was to follow any violation of this rule, and if the reprimand were not
observed, expulsion was to follow. It is to be noted that this rule was adopted just after the
enactment of the Missouri Compromise, and therefore at a time when the line between free and
slave territory was sharply drawn.
The rule of 1817 remained in force and was closely observed. It was enforced by Bishop
Glossbrenner against his own father-in-law. Some persons thought the rule should not have been
so drastic, and in certain circumstances, as when slave property was inherited, it worked some
hardship. There was, indeed, in the Virginia Conference an element that disapproved of the rule on
slavery as well as on secret societies. Nevertheless, the position taken by the leaders of the church
was so well sustained that there was no schism, such as occurred in the Methodist Episcopal
Church.
When the United Brethren Church was taken root in the Valley of Virginia, slavery had relatively
a much weaker hold in that district than in 1860. And as white labor was there still general at the
latter date, the church was able to hold its ground. But the slave power was politically dominant
throughout the South, and any sect holding a pronounced anti-slavery attitude was certain to be
under suspicion as an ally of the abolition sentiment in the North. Thus, until 1860, the United
Brethren were never able to spread much beyond that area in Virginia which was covered by them
in 1800. Nowhere else in the South did they gain a foothold, save in the valley of East Tennessee.
Now that slavery is gone, there is outwardly no reason why the United Brethren should not win new
territory in the South. Yet their lack of harmony with the prevailing sentiment of the South
continues to render that section a closed field. The church has been shut out of the South by its
stand on slavery, and out of the cities by its stand on secret fraternities.
"Forty years before the civil war the General Conference made slavery a test of membership. No
man who owned slaves and would not arrange to free them, could remain a member of the church.
This rule was never modified, but its enforcement was the more demanded as the abolition
sentiment in the country grew in force and intensity. This, of course, kept the church out of the
South, except in the north of Virginia, where the church had been carried by the German settlers
before the question of slavery attracted public attention. The Germans worked with their hands,
and did not own or employ slaves, except in rare cases where a house woman or a farm hand was
owned as the most available way of securing needed help in a community where slave labor was
the rule. This was winked at only during the civil war, when other labor could not be had.
Chapter XV 57 Concerning Slavery and
Intoxicants
