Bound to Be Friends: Slavery and Friendship in the Lives and Thoughts of James P. Boyce and John A. Broadus

The years 1861-1865 were times of intense division. They saw not only the disunity of the United States, as the South broke from the North, but these years saw divisions between religious denominations as well. Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists all divided over the issues surrounding the War Between the States. Among Baptists the division affected everything from seminary education to mission work. The split between Northern and Southern Baptists was not the only dividing line over the issue of slavery, for there were distinct positions held within Southern Baptists as well, even among the faculty of their leading seminary. Yet it is significant that the differing views held by the faculty did not spell disaster for the fledgling seminary. John Albert Broadus and James Petigru Boyce disagreed on the virtue of slavery, and yet their friendship remained firm to the end of their lives.

In 1858 a nomination committee of The Southern Baptist Convention had appointed Boyce and Broadus, along with Basil Manly Jr. and E.T. Winkler, to serve as professors for the new seminary. Both Winkler and Manly declined, however, and Boyce and Broadus stood alone to serve the Seminary. Their affections for one another could have only increased upon this event. They had much in common to solidify their friendship. Both were scholars and theologians, as well as preachers.[1] Both were Southerners through and through, and even when the tensions increased between the states both Boyce and Broadus remained loyal to the South. Neither was either man in favor of the cessation. Writing to is brother-in-law Boyce said:

I have been all along in favor of resistance, by demanding first new guarantees, and if these were not granted, then forming a Southern Confederacy…I know I am cautious about taking any step without arranging for the consequences.[2]

Likewise Broadus writes to Miss Cornelia Taliaferro saying:

Very many people here are as much opposed to a dissolution of the Union as you or I, but there can be little doubt that a majority of the voters in the State would be in favor of seceding with any other state.[3]

Both men were concerned about rash moves from their fellow Southerners. Yet the nature of their resistance was quite distinct. Without any qualms Boyce declared to his sister, “It is as a pro-slavery man that I would preserve the Union.”[4] Broadus on the other hand expresses no sympathies for slavery; rather he joins the secession because he believes it is his duty as a citizen of Virginia.[5] He writes:

I may be believed, perhaps, when it is understood that I was most earnestly opposed to the action of the state in seceding, and deeply regret it now. I have at this hour no sympathy with secession, though of course it would be worse than idle to speak against it now, and though, equally of course, I mean to do my duty as a citizen here.[6]

Boyce’s advocacy for slavery can be seen not only in his expressed sentiment that he was an “ultra pro-slavery man,”[7] but also in his identification with the faults of the institution itself. Writing to His brother-in-law and friend H.A. Tupper, Boyce states:

I believe I see in all this the end of slavery. I believe we are cutting its throat, curtailing its domain. And I have been, and am, an ultra pro-slavery man. Yet I bow to what God will do. I feel that our sins as to this institution have cursed us, - that the Negroes have not been cared for in their marital and religious relations as they should be; and I fear God is going to sweep it away, after having left it thus long to show us how great we might be, were we to act as we ought in this matter.[8]

Boyce had been a long time advocate of Christian love and charity towards slaves. Tom Nettles points out, “When J.P. Boyce served as pastor at Columbia, South Carolina, he faithfully instructed the slaves of the community in Christian truth and ‘fundamental duties of a Christian life’.”[9] In his biography of the man Broadus recalls, “A wealthy and highly educated young minister was fitly employed in such labor for the benefit of the slaves.”[10] Many Southerners had raised concerns for the slaves. P.H. Mell, J.L. Dagg, and E.T. Winkler had a vision for ministry among Southern slaves, including both evangelism and social needs. The “sins” which Boyce identified in the institution, however, appear so minuscule in the larger picture that they mar his genuine care. That care for their marriages, and encouragement in spiritual matters was sufficient ministry among the slaves only affirms the “ultra pro-slavery” character of the theologian. Broadus did not always do a better job of affirming the full humanity of Negroes. He had, on one occasion, referred to them as “lesser human beings.” His post-war sentiments, however, bear the fullest description of his position. In a funeral sermon preached for the Confederate dead Broadus said:

I verily believe that it is worth all our dreadful financial losses, all the sufferings of the long and frightful conflict, yea, and the blood of our precious dead, to have [the questions concerning slavery] behind us forever.[11]

To preach to a Confederate crowd about the loss of their sons, husbands, and brothers saying that their deaths were worth the price to see the end of slavery convinces one of the convictions of the preacher.

Both men were true Southerners, but while Dr. Boyce tended to romanticize the institution, his colleague bore no sentimentality toward it. Broadus was, in this respect, much like that great Southern General Robert E. Lee, who though he had slaves longed for the day when he did not. The letter of Broadus’ own servant to him bears some of the marks of the relationship they shared. We read:

My Dear Master:
As I feel like writing a few lines, and to show you that I think of you very often, I take the present opportunity of doing so. I am quite well now, thank the Lord, and we are all so far as I know, and I hope when these lines reach you that you and yours may be quite well. I heard from Mr. Saint Clair’s yesterday- all well. My dear master, I hear much of the coming election. I hope that Mr. Lincoln or no such man may ever take his seat in the presidential chair. I do most sincerely hope that the Union may be preserved.[12]

The end of the letter records that the servant, “Uncle Dick” as he was known, was “wanting to go up to see” his wife but was unable, but hoped “to go soon to visit her”, and even to “live nearer her.” These lines lead us to consider the amount of freedom Broadus permitted his slaves. The ability to freely[13] choose to go visit and even live nearer his wife was unique to Uncle Dick.

The distinction between the men’s views on slavery is often hard to pick out. Both men served the Confederacy with preaching throughout the war. Boyce was a chaplain for the 16th South Carolina Infantry, and Broadus preached for various Generals, including General Lee and General Jackson, and rode along with several infantries for an extended period of time.[14] Boyce was a former student of the great Northern Baptist statesman Francis Wayland, who was strongly opposed to the institution of slavery.[15] Boyce had, always, a great affection for his mentor and he must have been influenced some by the man’s opinions on the incompatibility of Christianity and slavery. Boyce’s concerns about the “sins” of slavery may suggest the influence of his mentor in the face of such a prejudiced culture. But it is difficult for a 21st century observer to comprehend just how much pressure Southern culture applied to a man to convince him that God had ordained slavery.[16]

Broadus too was influenced by the Southern slave-owner culture. His comments that Negroes were “a lesser degree of human being” reveal as much. But a post-war article in the Louisville Courier Journal evidence one of the most insightful remarks about Africans (though still somewhat tarnished with prejudice). Broadus writes:

We must not forget that the Negroes differ widely among themselves, having come from different races in Africa, and having had very different relations to the white people while held in slavery, many of them are greatly superior to others in character, but the great mass of them belong to a very low grade of humanity. We have to deal with them as best we can, while a large number of other white people stand off at a distance and scold us. Not a few of our fellow-citizens at the north feel and act very nobly about the matter; but the number is sadly great who do nothing and seem to care nothing but to find fault.[17]

In Broadus’ mind the Negroes were not to be treated simply as a race, a collection of people, but as individuals with distinct personalities and from distinct backgrounds.

Determining Broadus’ precise opinion on the institution of slavery is not simple,[18] and becomes complicated when one recognizes the general context of Broadus’ writings. He writes as a Christian among a highly polite and refined Southern culture. Southern Christian thought on slavery was often critical of the violence and torture done by Southern slave-owners, while at the same time being fully in favor of the institution (Boyce being evidence). But it is particularly in his post-war comments and writings that one finds support for Broadus as an anti-slavery Southerner. In both the funeral sermon for the Confederate dead and the Courier Journal article from1893 we find such clues. More support is uncovered in the biography of James Petigru Boyce that Broadus penned in that same year. Speaking of Dr. Boyce’s, and other Christian’s, involvement in evangelizing the slaves Broadus states:

While events were rapidly moving towards the great and awful conflict of ten years later, numerous ministers throughout the South, chiefly Baptist and Methodist, were faithfully laboring to convert and instruct the vast multitude of colored people among whom they found themselves called to the work of the ministry. By no means all was done that ought to have been done; when and where has this been the case about anything? But thousands and ten thousands of Christian men and women did feel the burden of these lowly souls laid upon themselves, did toil faithfully and often with great sacrifice to bring them to the Saviour, and lovingly to guide their weak and ignorant steps in the paths of Christian life.[19]

And now that the long conflict is long past, and we are facing the most remarkable problem that any civilized nation was ever called to attempt, - the problem of slowly and patiently lifting these people up to all they can reach, - it were well if mutual misjudgments could be laid aside, if the faithful work of many Christians in those trying years could be on all sides appreciated, and the whole undertaking before us could be estimated in part by its best results, and not simply by its worst difficulties.[20]

Recognizing the obvious condescension of the author and setting that temporarily aside readers can also identify a complete submission to the dissolution of slavery and a desire to move on freely to the new relationships resulting from it. Broadus willingly confessed that these were not “black demons, as some who hated them then and now would have us believe.” No these “were and are simply black men.”[21]

The support only builds as one reads Broadus’ reflections on the then popular book Uncle Tom’s Cabin; a book which the preacher says was “deeply impressed with the real and supposed evils of slavery,”[22] and a book that was “exceedingly well written, having some passages of rarely equaled power, and being altogether, as a far as I can judge, a very remarkable book.”[23]

The differences are evident in their writings and personal thoughts if not clearly stated by both parties. Boyce’s clear vocalization of ultra pro-slavery and the complete absence of favorable comments on the institution by Broadus are significant when accompanied with the weight of the latter’s other comments. The most amazing thing about this exploration in Southern Baptist studies, however, is that their differences did not dissolve their friendship. Speaking of the legacy that Broadus left behind as a friend, historian Tom Nettles writes:
Broadus also gained great admiration for the sincere attention he gave to friendships. Throughout his life, even from childhood, he believed friendship to be the most cherished human gift to be given or received. Broadus loved and appreciated all sorts of people.[24]

As best that this author can tell the correspondence between Boyce and Broadus never touched on the issue of slavery. Perhaps this was out of consideration for their friendship, or perhaps their focus was entirely devoted to the “life work” which they were doing in the establishment of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In either case they remained friends until death. Upon deciding to join the faculty of the Seminary Broadus wrote to his friend:

Do not fear that I shall change my mind and, my dear Boyce, suffer me to say, that few personal considerations about the matter are so attractive to me as the prospect of being associated in a great work with you. I rejoice in a warm and mutual friendship now, and I trust we shall ere long learn to love each other as brothers. Pardon me for just saying what I feel…[25]
Their friendship was left untainted by the slavery issue, while the world around them, so it seemed, was marred by it. If John Broadus felt that he was both “prayed for” and “cursed”[26] by Northerners after the war, then he must have delighted to know that in the heart of his friend he was a “dear.” At the closing of his memorial for Boyce Broadus writes:

O brother beloved, true yokefellow through years of toil, best and dearest friend, sweet shall be thy memory till we meet again.[27]

The Battle Between the States rent the nation in twain, divided Baptists in two, and yet, by the grace of God, never did such for the faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. So that even after the war they could jointly affirm that they were committed to die themselves before the seminary did. Though James P. Boyce and John A. Broadus viewed slavery through different lenses, they were, in the end, bound to be friends.


[1]Though history tells us that Broadus far exceeded his friend in preaching.

[2]John A. Broadus, “Memoirs of James Pettigru Boyce.” Selected Works of John A. Broadus. 4. (Cape Coral: Founders, 2001). 184-185.

[3]A.T. Robertson, Life and Letters of John A. Broadus. (Philadelphia: American Baptist Society, 1901). 177.

[4]Broadus, 185.

[5]For further reading on Broadus’ devotion and loyalty to the South see Tom Nettles, Baptists: Beginnings in America. (Ross-Shire: Christian Focus, 2005). 299.

[6]Robertson, 181.
[7]Quoted in John Wesley Brinsfield Jr., The Spirit Divided: Memoirs of Civil War Chaplains. (Macon: Mercer UP, 2005). 13.

[8]Broadus, 185.

[9]Nettles, 345.

[10]Quoted in Nettles, 345.

[11]Ibid. 299-300.
[12]Robertson, 177.

[13]Many slaves were permitted only to visit their wives on special occasions, as long as they were not too far apart. The freedom of Uncle Dick to simply go when he had time, and even greater to move nearer her, is almost unheard of, even among those slaves who belonged to good men.

[14]Many men urged Broadus to become a full chaplain in the Confederacy, but the preacher’s health did not permit him to make such a commitment. “Stonewall” Jackson wrote to a friend of Broadus’ saying, “Write to him by all means and beg him to come. Tell him that he never had a better opportunity of preaching the gospel than he would have right now in these camps.” Upon hearing that Broadus was to come Jackson is quoted as saying, “That is good; very good. I am so glad of that. And when Doctor Broadus comes you must bring him to see me. I want him to preach at my headquarters, and I wish to help him in his work all I can.” Quoted in Robertson, 199.

[15]See Francis Wayland, Elements of Moral Science.

[16]See John L. Dagg, The Elements of Moral Science. (Charleston: Southern Baptist Publication Society, 1859); and P.H. Mell, Slavery: A Treatise, Showing that Slavery is Neither a Moral, Political, nor Social Evil. (Penfield: Printed by Benj. Brantley, 1844).
[17]Quoted from “A Sermon on Lynch, Law, and Raping: Preached by Rev. E.K. Love, D.D. at1st. African Baptist Church, Savannah, Ga., of which he is pastor, November 5th, 1893.” (Augusta: Georgia Baptist Print, 1894). 11.

[18]Some would suggest entirely impossible. To such critics I acquiesce that complete certainty is impossible, but, I argue, that a historian may, with humility, infer that Broadus was anti-slavery from his post-war statements about both the War and former slaves.

[19]Broadus, 91.

[20]Ibid. 92. Tome Nettles speaking of this quote from Broadus says, “With all of its errors (and even with the continuing paternalism and implicit condescension of Broadus’ statement), the relationship [between slaves and masters] nevertheless did produce some positive results for eternal good.” (Nettles, 348).
[21]Quoted in Nettles, 349. The full quote, like many others, does carry the tint of prejudice, but it is important to let the egalitarianism of it be as equally evident, so I have here only quoted those parts which point to Broadus’ affirmation of the humanity of the slaves.

[22]Broadus, 91.

[23]Clyde E. Fant, and William Pinson. 20 Centuries of Great Preaching. 5. (Waco: Word Books, 1976). 47.

[24]Nettles, 317.

[25]Robertson, 159.

[26]Paul Harvey, “Yankee Faith and Southern Redemption: White Southern Baptist Ministers, 1850-90” in Religion and the American Civil War. eds. Randall Miller, Harry Stout, Charles Reagan Wilson. (New York: Oxford, 1998). 176.

[27]Quoted in Nettles, 319.