Book Review HIST 501
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Liberty University *
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501
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Arts Humanities
Date
Apr 3, 2024
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2
Uploaded by cgholl76
Book Review Daly, John Patrick. When Slavery Was Called Freedom Evangelicalism, Proslavery, and the Causes of the Civil War. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2002. Accessed June 11, 2021. https://www-jstor-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/stable/j.ctt130j3j9. I chose to complete my book review on the book When Slavery Was Called Freedom Evangelicalism, proslavery, and the Causes of the Civil War
by John Patrick Daly. This book was published in 2002, which is not within the 5 year requirement for the book review, however, I was not able to find a book that related to the two ministers I am doing my research on within the last 5 years. In beginning to read John Patrick Daly’s book, he discusses the religious and secular ideals that formed this country, and how those views were related to slavery. Noting slavery as the country’s most fierce moral debate, he stated it caused not only a sec
tional crisis, but the debate lead to the Civil War. What he intended his focus to be on was not the debate itself, but the idea that the North and South drew different conclusions from the same evangelical moral premises. Pointing out that many historians felt the south did not progress as the north did, he wished to show that the South did evolve with the rest of the country, however their proslavery ideology survived, despite their social progress. Daly does a great job with defending his argument that Southern evangelicals evolved with the rest of the country, yet continued to defend their position regarding slavery. Reminding readers that American regarded slaveholding as a moral sign of success prior to the Antebellum period, he cited Aristotle, Moses, and George Whitfield as those who saw slaveholding as a simple act of power. As reviewed in the Georgia Historical Quarterly
, Daly showed how the South continued to transform their defense of slavery
. He described the South’s transformation from hierarchy defense, to invoking evangelical culture as their basis. That transition was important, as it showed how the south evolved to incorporate their economic prosperity as an indication that slavery was the cause of their divine favor.
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The review in Journal of the Early Republic
has a very similar review of Daly’s explanation of the South’s evol
ution with the rest of the country. Stephen Whitman reviews that Daly’s book was solid and challenged many of the scholars that felt the South did not evolve with the rest of the country. Whitman also focuses on the idea of providence, stating that ministers would teach if becoming a Christian gives you Providence, and the wealth achieved by that allows one to won slaves, then slaveholding must be a part of God’s plan.
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He did also add one interesting point in his review, and that was that Southern preachers may have admitted slavery, from an abstract view, was evil, but they felt the abstractions were irrelevant. What was not noticed prior to reading additional reviews was the fact that Daly did 1
Berends, Kurt O. The Georgia Historical Quarterly
87, no. 3/4 (2003), 466 2
Whitman, T. Stephen. Journal of the Early Republic
23, no. 1 (2003), 142
not introduce the views of more abolitionists during this time period.
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John Rankin was a minister in the South who challenged slavery, moved North, participated in the Underground Railroad, and was a an inspiration for the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Why he, nor the book was not mentioned is an interesting point that was drawn from the review in the Journal of American Folklore. Debbie Hanson also pointed out in the review that no Southern members of churches were mentioned in his book. This is a valid point, as the majority of the population were not clergy, and their views on slavery were ultimately what would determine how the population felt and lived. Overall, Daly does a great job at arguing his point that the South did transform with the rest of America. Their moral outlook, along with the ideas on how to move the country forward were the same. Unfortunately, the idea of slavery was always a part of those plans, and is what caused great division, and ultimately the Civil War. BIBLIOGRAPHY Berends, Kurt O. The Georgia Historical Quarterly
87, no. 3/4 (2003): 465-67. Accessed June 14, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40584697. Hanson, Debbie A. The Journal of American Folklore
121, no. 481 (2008): 361-62. Accessed June 14, 2021. doi:10.2307/20487613. Whitman, T. Stephen. Journal of the Early Republic
23, no. 1 (2003): 142-44. Accessed June 14, 2021. doi:10.2307/3125003. 3
Hanson, Debbie A. The Journal of American Folklore
121, no. 481 (2008) 362
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