[Colofornian]

The period to which I referred to was pretty obviously that from the end of the civil war to the 50s and 60s. You care to provide some sort of evidence of conservatives playing a leading role in this struggle during that period? Many Christians were abolitionists. The leading groups involved were Congregationalists, Unitarians and Quakers, none of which were considered conservative at the time, and which have continued their leftward drift since. Abolitionists were NOT considered conservative by anybody at the time.

Allow me to ONLY focus on the Presbyterian reps (never mind the many others). And please note on these first two that Presbyterians in the 1830s to 1860s were NOT considered like the bleeding liberal Presbyterians like Pres-USA of today:

* Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati: Lane Theological (Presbyterian) Seminary: "Lane Seminary is known primarily for the "debates" held there in 1834 that influenced the nation's thinking about slavery."

Presbyterian abolitionist leaders then included:
* "Prominent New England pastor Lyman Beecher moved his family (including daughter Harriet and son Henry) from Boston to Cincinnati to become the first President of the Seminary in 1832. During this time, the family lived in what is now known as the Harriet Beecher Stowe House."
* John Rankin: John Rankin (abolitionist)
* Theodore Dwight Weld Theodore Dwight Weld

Weld was one of the leading architects of the American abolitionist movement during its formative years, from 1830 through 1844. Weld played a role as writer, editor, speaker, and organizer. He is best known for his co-authorship of the authoritative compendium, American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses, published in 1839. Harriet Beecher Stowe partly based Uncle Tom’s Cabin on Weld's text and it is regarded as second only to that work in its influence on the antislavery movement. Weld remained dedicated to the abolitionist movement until slavery was ended by the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865...Weld became the disciple of Charles Finney, the famous evangelist. He spent several years working with Finney as a member of his "holy band" before deciding to become a preacher...became a student at Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati in 1833. There he became the leader of the so-called "Lane Rebels," a group of students who determined to engage in free discussion, including the topic of slavery. They held a series of slavery debates over 18 days in 1834, resulting in a decision to support abolitionism. The group also pledged to help the 1500 free blacks in Cincinnati.

(That PBS show I referenced in an earlier post was quite helpful in outlining that it was the 1830s abolitionists -- and not only the Johnny-come-latelies -- who created many of the early key waves)

[Sherman Logan]

Interesting stuff.

But you’ll find it a pretty hard row to hoe claiming that abolitionists were political conservatives, no matter what denomination they to.

Now I agree that under today’s standards of conservatism abolitionism would be required. Proper understanding of the Founding requires it, IMO.

But it is just a fact that abolitionism from 1830 to 1860 was not a conservative position. In fact, since it by definition entailed enormous change and disruption of society (not to mention destruction of “property rights” and expansion of government power) it was by definition a non-conservative position.