Churches and the first abolition movement

The past decade contained the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War.  Understandably, much scholarly and popular attention focused on the abolition of slavery and continuing debate about how central it was as a cause of the war.   The story of the abolition movement is wider, however, and the Civil War effort was not the only successful effort to end slavery in what would become the United States.  There was an earlier effort at abolition in the period of 1776-1833, which ended slavery in states above the Mason-Dixon line and only narrowly missed ending slavery in Virginia.  The Rev. Dr. Robert Prichard will speak about that effort and the role that religious and political figures on both sides of the Atlantic played in it.    Bob is a a professor emeritus in church history at the Virginia Theological Seminary, and a priest associate and a former assistant rector of St. George's (1974-77).