University of Michigan needs your feedback to better understand how readers are using openly available ebooks. You can help by taking a short, privacy-friendly survey.
Soul Liberty: The Evolution of Black Religious Politics in Postemancipation Virginia
That churches are one of the most important cornerstones of black political organization is a commonplace. In this history of African American Protestantism and American politics at the end of the Civil War, Nicole Myers Turner challenges the idea of black churches as having always been politically engaged. Using local archives, church and convention minutes, and innovative Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping, Turner reveals how freedpeople in Virginia adapted strategies for pursuing the freedom of their souls to worship as they saw fit—and to participate in society completely in the evolving landscape of emancipation.
Freedpeople, for both evangelical and electoral reasons, were well aware of the significance of the physical territory they occupied, and they sought to organize the geographies that they could in favor of their religious and political agendas at the outset of Reconstruction. As emancipation included opportunities to purchase properties, establish black families, and reconfigure gender roles, the ministry became predominantly male, a development that affected not only discourses around family life but also the political project of crafting, defining, and teaching freedom. After freedmen obtained the right to vote, an array of black-controlled institutions increasingly became centers for political organizing on the basis of networks that mirrored those established earlier by church associations.
GRAPH 3.1 Roles of Gilfield members in church records. Of the 131 members whose names were found in the census, 43 (33 percent) were just members listed in Henry Williams Record Book; the remainder (88 or 67 percent) were involved in discipline cases in some capacity. Source: Gilfield Baptist Church Record Book, 1868–71.
GRAPH 3.2 Occupations of select Gilfield members. Of the sixty-eight individuals whose occupations could be identified, about two-thirds were unskilled laborers, and many (twelve) worked in the tobacco factory. Sources: Gilfield Record Book, Henry Williams Record Book, and 1860, 1870, and 1880 U.S. Census.
GRAPH 3.3 Gilfield restorations, 1861–1862. As this graphic makes clear, men had an easy walk toward restoration, but women did not. Source: Gilfield Baptist Church Record Book, 1868–1871.
FIGURE 5.1 Professor John Mercer Langston, Howard University. Langston’s wealth and social status allowed him to secure political support from black voters in Virginia’s Fourth Congressional District. Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-cwpbh-00690.
FIGURE 5.2 “Virginia—the Readjuster State Convention at Richmond—Mr. Massey Moving to Make Unanimous Nomination of Col. Wm. E. Cameron for Governor June 3d—From Sketch by Walter Golfer—See Page 287.” Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 25 June 1881. The illustrator depicted the attendees as better dressed and of higher status than the newspaper accounts indicated. Courtesy of the Library of Virginia.
FIGURE 5.3 James M. Gregory. Professor Gregory was a noted leader among black people. He was featured in the compendium Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive Rising by William J. Simmons. Courtesy of the New York Public Library.
MAP 5.2 Map of 1877 gubernatorial election results. The Virginia Baptist State Convention of 1877 (outlined in white) did not encompass many of the very few counties that went strongly for Republicans in the 1877 gubernatorial election. Republicans and Readjusters had their work cut out for them in turning more of the state toward their goals. An interactive version of this map can be found in the Fulcrum edition. Sources: ICPSR; United States Historical Election Returns, 1824–1968 [computer file]; Minutes of the Virginia Baptist State Convention, 1879.
MAP 5.3 Map of 1881 gubernatorial election results. An interactive version of this map can be found in the Fulcrum edition. Sources: ICPSR; United States Historical Election Returns, 1824–1968 [computer file]; church data gathered from convention minutes.
MAP 5.4 Map of 1885 gubernatorial election results. By 1885, when the Readjusters lost control of the legislature, most of the VBSC counties remained lukewarm supporters of the Republican-Readjuster ticket. An interactive version of this map can be found in the Fulcrum edition. Sources: ICPSR; United States Historical Election Returns, 1824–1968 [computer file]; Minutes of the Virginia Baptist State Convention, 1885.
MAP 5.3 Map of 1881 gubernatorial election results. An interactive version of this map can be found in the Fulcrum edition. Sources: ICPSR; United States Historical Election Returns, 1824–1968 [computer file]; church data gathered from convention minutes.
MAP 5.2 Map of 1877 gubernatorial election results. The Virginia Baptist State Convention of 1877 (outlined in white) did not encompass many of the very few counties that went strongly for Republicans in the 1877 gubernatorial election. Republicans and Readjusters had their work cut out for them in turning more of the state toward their goals. An interactive version of this map can be found in the Fulcrum edition. Sources: ICPSR; United States Historical Election Returns, 1824–1968 [computer file]; Minutes of the Virginia Baptist State Convention, 1879.
MAP 5.4 Map of 1885 gubernatorial election results. By 1885, when the Readjusters lost control of the legislature, most of the VBSC counties remained lukewarm supporters of the Republican-Readjuster ticket. An interactive version of this map can be found in the Fulcrum edition. Sources: ICPSR; United States Historical Election Returns, 1824–1968 [computer file]; Minutes of the Virginia Baptist State Convention, 1885.
x
This site requires cookies to function correctly.