REVISED MANLY AND SLAVERY

I'd never heard of Mrs. J.L. Dagg until this past week. Had no idea Tuscaloosa had their own Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN) but this Dagg woman is at the top of the list when it comes to listing WAYS IN WHICH FEMALES STARTED THE CIVIL WAR. (maybe it's the same thing that Reverend Dr. Dagg attributed as the reason for his coming to T-town: DIVINE PROVIDENCE!)

The formation of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1844 and the formation of the Southern Rights political party were two of the most important factors in destroying the Union and putting the entire South on the path to a devastating war that nobody down here was prepared to fight. Both have their origins in Tuscaloosa. In fact, HILL'S CORNER, the 230 by 98 foot lot on the southeast corner of Queen City and University was adjoining the THE ALABAMA FEMALE ATHENEUM where a rumor was hatched which culminated in secession of the states.

from SLAVERY AND THE UNIVERSITY (2019):

In 1844 tensions rose in the Baptist Triennial Convention, a national organization designed to support missions. Northern Baptists argued that slavery was a sin, while southerners defended their peculiar institution. In the midst of this tension, Manly’s nomination to office in the convention was defeated by northerners who raised objections to him based on the story and other information that they claimed to have about him as a slave owner. His honor slighted, Manly wrote to a Northern Baptist who had objected to his nomination and learned that the wife of John L. Dagg, a renowned Southern Baptist theologian, minister, and president of Mercer University, had said that Manly would often “go out of a morning, take off his coat, and whip, severely, every negro about his premises, just for the sake of exercise.” Stunned, Manly carefully asked Dagg about it but was unable to receive satisfaction. He then turned to another means of restoring his honor: he challenged the right of Northern Baptists to question his rights as a slave owner. Manly wrote the “Alabama Resolutions,” which asked the Triennial Convention to state its official position on the question of slavery, demanding to know if the convention—now controlled by a northern majority on its board—would appoint slaveholders to be officers or missionaries. Although he insisted that he had “kept my private griefs to myself,” Manly’s honor had been insulted. When the Triennial Convention responded by saying that they could not appoint a slave owner, the southerners walked out and in May 1845 created the Southern Baptist Convention. Manly had defended his honor, and he had defended his right to punish and sell his slaves.