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  John Leland: Evolving Views of Slavery, 1789-1839
 As published in the Baptist History and Heritage Journal

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(Part 4 of 7)
THE SILENT LELAND: 1803-1830

Leland's 1802 dichotomy of physical and spiritual enslavement appears to be reflective of a larger shift in his views, as he largely ignored the issue of slavery from 1803 to 1830. (32) His silence regarding slavery took place at a time in which the issue became increasingly prominent in American life. During these years, Leland the Baptist gradually gave way to Leland the Jeffersonian politician, as the weight of his writings and speeches grew more political and less religious, although religious liberty remained his favored subject. (33)

THE AMBIVALENT LELAND: 1831-1836

Leland once again took up the subject of slavery in a speech delivered at North Adams, Massachusetts, in March 1831. By this point, slavery had become a prominent, and troubling, political issue in American life. Whereas in 1802 Leland had referred to African American bondage as "personal slavery," in 1831 he framed slavery in the context of "The Negro Question." (34) Freedom for slaves was still uppermost in Leland's mind. Some antislavery forces were working to establish a free colony for former slaves in Africa. (35) In 1831, he labeled colonization as "sacrilegious," for "America is the country they [slaves] know." (36) Many abolitionists and free blacks agreed with Leland. (37)

Leland endorsed a political plan for emancipation that called for the United States government to form states for freed slaves, in which freemen would sustain and educate themselves, (38) Yet, Leland realized that slave owners would have little financial incentive to relinquish voluntarily their slaves, and he called upon a restless generation of youth to rally around the cause of emancipation. "If any of the slave-holders will neither give nor sell their slaves, here will be a great door opened for missionary labors. The pious youth, who are waiting for a gap, will now have a loud call to go and preach to the hard-hearted masters, and flatter them to give, and threaten them if they will not." (39)

Five years later, in the midst of growing political turmoil, Leland again addressed the slavery issue, this time at great length. His words signaled ambivalence toward slavery, including the first indication of hostility toward abolitionists:

   The abolitionists of late have come forward, and seem to demand the

   unconditional manumission of all of them [slaves], without

   prescribing any rational mode for their future subsistence. If

   these prophets can prove their commission, like Moses, or have any

   reason to believe that God will feed the liberated slaves with

   manna, it is hoped that the slaveholders will obey, and not harden

   their hearts: otherwise their exertions seem calculated to alienate

   the slave-holding states from the others, and make the condition of

   the slaves more miserable.., the measures of the abolitionists are

   reprobated by every friend to his country. (40)

Although Leland continued to advocate freedom for slaves, his enthusiasm for emancipating African Americans was more tempered than in earlier years. (41) Gone were the harsh words for slave owners and his previous view that most slave owners treated slaves brutally. Instead, he portrayed slave owners as rational, ordinary, and compassionate individuals who were victims of unpatriotic abolitionists. Many slaveholders, Leland was convinced, "in heart are opposed to slavery, and would gladly set their slaves free, if they could be provided for." (42)

In 1831, Leland had advocated abolitionist activities. In 1836, he denounced abolitionists as troublemakers. Leland long had insisted that the slavery issue, albeit complicated, should be resolved immediately for the good of the country. In 1836, he chided as foolish immediate efforts to end slavery. Decades earlier, he had spoken pointedly of the brutality of slave owners. In 1836, Leland cast slave owners as hapless victims of the seditious activities of abolitionists.

Continue to The Anti-Abolitionist Leland