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  2. Soul Liberty: The Evolution of Black Religious Politics in Postemancipation Virginia

Soul Liberty: The Evolution of Black Religious Politics in Postemancipation Virginia

Nicole Myers Turner
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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.

  • Title Page
  • Copyright
  • Dedication
  • Contents
  • List of Figures, Graphs, Maps, and Tables
  • Note from the Author about the Digital Humanities and This Book
  • Acknowledgments
  • Abbreviations in the Text
  • Introduction
  • Chapter One: Making a New Religious Freedom
  • Chapter Two: Independent Black Church Conventions, 1866–1868
  • Chapter Three: Religion, Race, and Gender at the Congregational Level
  • Chapter Four: Theological Education, Race Relations, and Gender, 1875–1882
  • Chapter Five: Politics of Engagement
  • Conclusion
  • Appendix I. Black Politicians and Religious Affiliations, 1865–1890
  • Appendix II. Baptist Association Membership and Churches
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Index
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Published: 2020
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
ISBN(s)
  • 978-1-4696-5525-3 (open access)

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Image of John Mercer Langston seated.

Professor John Mercer Langston, Howard University

From Chapter 5

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.

Sketch of large hall with three tiers in the background and several men in the foreground.

The Readjuster State Convention at Richmond

From Chapter 5

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.

Image of James M. Gregory

James M. Gregory

From Chapter 5

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.

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