Thoughts on the Religious Instruction of the Negroes of This Country

Published in 1848 by Presbyterian minister William S. Plumer, this rigorously argued theological treatise makes the case for Christian education of enslaved Americans. Plumer draws on extensive missionary history, documenting the work of Moravian and Methodist missionaries who brought literacy and scripture to enslaved communities. But this is not an abolitionist text. Plumer explicitly argues that Christianizing the enslaved serves both their souls and the interests of slaveholding society, framing religious instruction as a tool for cultivating order, loyalty, and moral improvement within the plantation system. He addresses practical challenges missionaries faced, responds to objections from slaveholders who feared education might incite rebellion, and insists that compassionate masters have a Christian duty to instruct those they hold in bondage. The book stands as a vital historical document of antebellum religious thought, revealing how 19th-century Christians argued for limited humanitarian reforms within an institution they did not question. It is uncomfortable reading, but essential for understanding the moral arguments Americans made about slavery, faith, and power.