or their own church
membership. Had they followed a course of action and policy more in
keeping with their own constituents they might have accomplished much
good, whereas, as it was, they only stirred up the feeling within
their own denomination to such an extent that thereafter little
progress was made towards a policy of even gradual emancipation of the
slave.

Throughout the slavery era, however, the Baptists in the State were
divided into the "regular" and the "separatists," the former being in
favor of non-interference with the question and the latter
representing the advocates of emancipation in one form or another.
Both agreed that slavery was an evil, but the regular group was
unwilling to make it the cause of the expulsion of a slaveholder from
the church. In May, 1845, a "Southern Baptist Convention" was held at
Augusta, Georgia. The meeting had been hastily called and
representatives were present only from Maryland, South Carolina,
North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, and the
District of Columbia. Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee and Florida
were represented only by letters. The convention had been summoned as
a protest against the action of the "Acting Board" of the church in
the country in refusing to consent to the appointment of a slaveholder
to any field of foreign missionary labors.[411] In June of the same
year the Kentucky Baptists for the most part withdrew from the
northern organization and pledged themselves to this newly formed
southern convention. The creed was not changed. It was simply a matter
of rebuke toward the northern section's attitude on the slavery
question.[412]

The Methodists had also struggled to find a peaceful solution of the
problem of harmonizing Christianity with slavery. At the meeting of
the General Conference of the Methodist Church in 1845, several days
were taken up in the debate over the status of Bishop James Osgood
Andrew, of Kentucky. By inheritance and marriage he was a slaveholder.
Finally he was requested by a vote of 110 to 68 "to desist from the
exercise of the office of Bishop while this impediment remained." The
southerners in the convention became unusually indignant, declaring
that the infliction of such a stigma upon Bishop Andrew would make it
impossible for them to maintain the influence of Methodism in the
South.[413] So they withdrew from the convention and in May, 1845,
held a convention of the Methodist churches of the Southern St