[donmeaker]

On the other hand, I think the African Methodist Episcoples had a different view. It was my understanting that the Southern Methodists did not join the Methodists and United Brethern to become the United Methodists.

I hope that we know now that the institution of African Slavery was a pernicious instituion, enabling rape, assualt, and murder as a matter of policy, and theft as a matter of course. Of course rapists will always justify their acts by saying the victim deserved it.

[rustbucket]

I had an ancestor who was Methodist Episcopal so I looked up the history of this church once. There was a northern and a southern branch that split over slavery in 1844-45. The Alabama church whose resolution I quoted would have belonged to the southern branch. As I understand it, the two branches reunited in 1939 forming the Methodist Church. The Methodist Church later joined with the United Bretheren to form the United Methodist Church.

The following sites address some of the history and predecessor denominations of today's United Methodist Church.

http://www.umc.org/genconf/history.html

http://www.gcah.org/Searching.htm