John Witherspoon and Slavery: Ideology versus Praxis

This article reassesses the life and legacy of John Knox Witherspoon on the basis of his relationship to slavery. It argues that Witherspoon's ideological commitment to Presbyterianism came into constant tension with the realities of slavery both in his native Scotland and in the burgeoning Ame...

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Главный автор: Redmond, Lesa (Автор)
Формат: Электронный ресурс Статья
Язык:Английский
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Опубликовано: Sage Publ. 2024
В: Theology today
Год: 2024, Том: 80, Выпуск: 4, Страницы: 383-394
Индексация IxTheo:KAH Новое время
KBF Британские острова
KBQ Северная Америка
KDD Евангелическая церковь
NBE Антропология
NCA Этика
Другие ключевые слова:B African American history
B Slavery
B colonial America
B Higher Education
B Scotland
B Christianity
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Описание
Итог:This article reassesses the life and legacy of John Knox Witherspoon on the basis of his relationship to slavery. It argues that Witherspoon's ideological commitment to Presbyterianism came into constant tension with the realities of slavery both in his native Scotland and in the burgeoning American colony he eventually called home. Three snapshots in Witherspoon's life encapsulate this tension: his interaction with Jamie Montgomery, an enslaved man whom Witherspoon baptized in Scotland; his contributions to the scheme to train two free African Americans—John Quamine and Bristol Yamma—for their mission to Africa; and his tutoring of John Chavis, a free Black man from Virginia, at the same time he held property in slaves. Most accounts of Witherspoon's life fail to interrogate these snapshots and so fail to grasp a nuanced portrait of the imminent figure. This article parses through his unequal treatment of the African Americans he taught and the African Americans he enslaved to deliver a new reading of Witherspoon. This reading, in turn, maps onto a broader reconsideration of the founding principles of the early United States.
ISSN:2044-2556
Второстепенные работы:Enthalten in: Theology today
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/00405736231207552