How Did Black Churches Function During the Antebellum Period?

essay How did non-white churches function during the antebellum period? Frederick Douglas, perhaps, said it best when he mentioned that the AME Mother Bethel Church in Philadelphia, obviously cosmos a glum church, was the largest church in the Union, with up to 3,000 worshipers e genuinely Sunday. This fact, along with swarthy churches being the most influential institution in the antislavery movement (even more so than black conventions and newspapers) gave the religious aspect of the movement a powerful advantage.With very few exceptions, most leading black abolitionists were ministers. A few black ministers, such as Amos N. Freeman of Brooklyn, New York, even served white antislavery congregations. swart Churches also provided forums for abolitionist speakers and confluence places for predominantly white antislavery organizations, which frequently could non meet in white churches. Black church buildings were community centers. They housed schools and meeting places for othe r organizations. Antislavery societies often met in churches, and the churches harbored fugitive slaves.All of this went hand in hand with the community leadershiphip black ministers provided. They began schools and various voluntary associations. They round against slavery, racial oppression, and what they considered weaknesses among African Americans. However, black ministers never spoke with one voice. end-to-end the antebellum decades, many followed Jupiter Hammon in admonishing their congregations that preparing ones mortal for heaven was more meaning(a) than gaining equal rights on earth.Most black Baptist, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Episcopal, and Roman Catholic congregations remained affiliated with white denominations, although they were rarely represented in regional and national church councils. For example, the Episcopal Diocese of New York in 1819 excluded black ministers from its annual conventions, mentioning that African Americans are socially degraded, an d are non regarded as proper associates for the class of persons who attend our convention. Not until 1853 was white abolitionist William Jay able to convince New York Episcopalians to admit representatives.Under the influence of a wave of religious revivalism, evangelicals carried Christian morality into politics during the 1830s. Religion, of course, had always been important in America. During the antebellum period, a new, emotional revivalism began. Known as the punt Great Awakening, it lasted through the 1830s. It led laymen to replace established clergy as leaders and seek to impose moral order on a pissed society. In conclusion, clergy used their pulpits to attack slavery, racial discrimination, proslavery white churches, and the American resolution Society (ACS).