1850 sermon; antebellum theological context
Religion and racial ideologySupplement
James Henley Thornwell defends slavery through religious doctrine
Charleston, South Carolina
In The Rights and Duties of Masters, Thornwell defended the master–slave relationship within a Christian framework. Such arguments helped protect slaveholders’ authority while treating enslaved people’s freedom as subordinate to religious instruction and obedience.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
The cited sermon was published in 1850, rather than the sheet’s combined 1851 label. The broader “spirituality of the church” doctrine developed across debates and writings; it was not a single statute passed that year.