Patrick Brewster and Henry Solly

Abstract

It was a common occurrence for American abolitionist ministers to experience sharp conflicts with their congregations or church hierarchies over their radicalism in advocating emancipation of the slaves. In Great Britain, where abolition was a much more respectable cause, there was far less likelihood of such confrontations, but, if an abolitionist clergyman began to equate the situation of the working poor with that of American slaves and boldly preached such a message from his pulpit, then he, too, had to be prepared to stand up to vocal opposition, church discipline, and even the possibility of losing his pastorate. Obviously such ministers touched a chord of guilt that produced a strong defensive reverberation among many British, just as American sermons expounding on the sinfulness of slavery provoked rationalisations of slavery.