The Enslaved of Salem:
How Does the Home Church Justify Treating Its Own Congregants Like Chattel?
church elders, often following
the flock out of concern for how they might be viewed in the town.
However, Moravians in Pennsylvania did not own hundreds of men and women, nor did those in Europe. This suggest the the conclusion that wealth drove the church's decisions. The rush of economic prosperity through agriculture, craft goods, and manufacturing and pressure from business leaders was reason enough for the church, and soon private citizens to purchase increasing numbers of slaves.
Since the end of the War, emancipated slaves have been further separated from Salem, even though the local economy still depends on their labor.
How do we begin to rebuild our relationships with our African Brethren? How can the Church reconcile the enslavement of its own congregants? Now that the War has brought freedom for all and many formerly enslaved are finding success, the legacy of our past actions will continue to raise questions.
Above: A Walker Brothers tobacco advertisement, published in The People's Press in 1874.
Left: 1853 copper slave tag from Salem, NC.
(Images courtesy of North Carolina State Archives.)