The repugnance of slavery (1847)--an open letter

  The civil war was preceded by a schism among Northern and Southern Baptists over the institution of slavery.  The recent rediscovery of an original document puts that story in the news.

The NYT has the story:

Discovery of 178-Year-Old Baptist Antislavery Document Elates Faith Leaders.  The handwritten resolution, signed by 116 Baptist ministers from Massachusetts who called slavery “repugnant,” was thought to have been lost.  By Aishvarya Kavi

"The scroll was handwritten in 1847, just two years after Baptists in the United States split, with the Southern congregations breaking off over their Northern counterparts’ condemnation of slavery.

"Using forceful language, 116 Baptist ministers in Massachusetts had signed their name to what they called “A Resolution and Protest Against Slavery,” condemning the system as “entirely repugnant.”

...

"At the time, the increasingly forceful stance by the Baptist ministers in Massachusetts against slavery reflected the widening divide between the North and South

...
"That national breach would become so wide that, 14 years after the document’s signing, it would lead to the Civil War."

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This offers a ray of hope to those of us who today sometimes sign open letters.