African Colonization vs. Abolition

The first Spring 2023 Fred & Elizabeth Boyajian Lectures “Lest We Forget”: The Colonization vs Abolition Debate: Two Considerations in the Struggle to End Chattel Slavery Prior to the US Civil War. Lecturers – Dr. Andrew Gardner, Baylor University and Lawrence Anglin, Ph.D. Student, Princeton Theological Seminary.

The Colonization and Abolitionist Movements: Center Church was at the crossroads of these two perspectives and theologically informed movements in the middle of the 19th century. The Rev. Thomas Gallaudet, a decades-long member of Center Church, was the Secretary of the Connecticut Colonization Society and a fierce champion of African Colonization. The Rev. Joel Hawes, Center Church’s pastor between 1818 – 1864, was an abolitionist and a member of the Connecticut Anti-Slavery Society. One can assume their respective opinions and commitments to these causes may have come into conflict while both were associated with the church.

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