Legacy of Landmarkism : Its impact on racial struggles in the Southern Baptist Convention

Abstract

The American Civil War precipitated by the slavery question did little to change the attitudes of many of the southerners defeated in that struggle. This fact became clear in the civil rights battles of the mid-twentieth century. One of the new denominations that arose because of irresolvable differences over the slavery question preceding the War was the Southern Baptist Convention. A critical factor in shaping the practice and beliefs of the Convention was Landmarkism, a highly sectarian, exclusivist view of the Baptist Church and its history. Landmark adherents played a critical role in promoting slavery and fostering demeaning views of the Negroes freed from bondage after the War. The impact of Landmarkism in shaping these views has not been widely documented and their vituperative rhetoric published for decades has been treated as of little consequence in shaping Southern Baptist practice or attitudes. Such, however, is not the case.