Abstract
The end of slavery in Texas and the South undercut more than just the economic, labor, and social foundations in Texas. It undercut doctrinal certainty for white Baptists and Methodists and called into question two of their most valued beliefs: the biblical legitimacy of slavery and the divine appointment of white (and male) supremacy. This thesis asks and attempts to answer the question of how white Baptists and Methodists reacted when they were no longer able to practice slavery as a legally sanctioned religiously underpinned institution. By examining denominational documents, church minute books, writings by influential Baptist and Methodist figures, and late Nineteenth Century social examinations of freedmen, this project concludes that white Baptists and Methodists readjusted their beliefs to preserve inequality while further separating black from white society which laid the religious, social, and psychological foundations among whites for the foundation and perpetration of Jim Crow.
Degree Date
Summer 8-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
History
Advisor
Kate Carte
Second Advisor
Edward Countryman
Third Advisor
Ariel Ron
Subject Area
History, Humanities, Humanities, Religion
Number of Pages
96
Format
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Reynolds, Timothy "Ashton", "Broken Households: Black and White Baptists and Methodists in Transition in Post-Emancipation Texas" (2019). History Theses and Dissertations. 8.
https://scholar.smu.edu/hum_sci_history_etds/8
Included in
Christianity Commons, History of Christianity Commons, History of Gender Commons, History of Religion Commons, Social History Commons, United States History Commons
Notes
The end of slavery in Texas and the South undercut more than just the economic, labor, and social foundations in Texas. It undercut doctrinal certainty for white Baptists and Methodists and called into question two of their most valued beliefs: the biblical legitimacy of slavery and the divine appointment of white (and male) supremacy. This thesis asks and attempts to answer the question of how white Baptists and Methodists reacted when they were no longer able to practice slavery as a legally sanctioned religiously underpinned institution. By examining denominational documents, church minute books, writings by influential Baptist and Methodist figures, and late Nineteenth Century social examinations of freedmen, this project concludes that white Baptists and Methodists readjusted their beliefs to preserve inequality while further separating black from white society which laid the religious, social, and psychological foundations among whites for the foundation and perpetration of Jim Crow.