Churches and slavery in the Southern United States

V Združenih državah Amerike se je institucija suženjstva obdržala skoraj četrt stoletja in je bistveno zaznamovala razvoj in zgodovino te države. Čeprav je cerkev v ZDA ločena od države, so imele ameriške denominacije krščanske cerkve vedno močan vpliv na družbo in dogajanje. Namen tega diplomskega dela je predstaviti razvoj pomembnejših cerkev v ZDA pred in po uvedbi suženjstva, njihov odnos do sužnjev in institucije suženjstva ter njihovo vpletenost v boj za ohranitev ali ukinitev tega zloglasnega gospodarskega in družbenega sistema. V zgodnji dobi suženjstva na področju ZDA je Društvo prijateljev (kvekerji) predstavljalo glavnega pobudnika protisužnjelastniških prizadevanj. Kvekerji so proti suženjstvu ostro protestirali že v 80. letih 17. stoletja, ko so se vse ostale denominacije krščanske cerkve ukvarjale predvsem s pokristjanjevanjem sužnjev. Cerkve so odigrale pomembno vlogo pri osvoboditvi sužnjev na severu države, a na jugu niso bile uspešne, kar pa je bila predvsem posledica notranjih nesoglasij in krepitve prosužnjelastniške mislenosti znotraj tamkajšnjih cerkev. Diplomsko delo opredeli tudi vpliv suženjstva na delovanje in organizacijo cerkev. Ker so bile do 30. let 19. stoletja v izvajanje institucije suženjstva vpletene skoraj vse cerkve, je posledično vprašanje suženjstva razklalo večino uveljavljenih protestantskih denominacij. Ob izbruhu državljanske vojne so cerkve sledile političnim in družbenim razmeram: južne predstavnice so se postavile na stran Konfederativnih držav Amerike in severne na stran Unije. V tem primeru so se še posebej izkazale severne cerkve, saj jim je, skupaj z ostalimi abolicionisti, uspelo takratne oblasti prepričati, da vojno za ohranitev Unije izrabijo tudi kot vojno za odpravo suženjstva.The United States of America had maintained the institution of slavery for almost a quarter of a century, which had an effect on the development and history of this country. Although the Church is separated from the State, the denominations of the Christian Church in the USA have always had a major influence on the society and events. The aim of this Diploma assignment is to present the development of major Churches in the USA before and after the introduction of slavery, their attitude towards the slaves and the institution of slavery, and their involvement in the fight for the preservation or abolishment of this infamous economic and social system. In the early period of slavery in the USA, the Society of Friends (Quakers) were the main initiator of anti-slavery efforts. The Quakers protested against slavery as early as in the 1780\u27s, when all other Christian denominations were engaged primarily in converting slaves to Christianity. The Churches played an important role in the emancipation of slaves in the North of the USA. However, they were less successful in the South, which was mainly a consequence of internal conflicts and the strengthening of pro-slavery thought in the Churches located there. To continue, the following Diploma assignment also defines the influence of slavery on the operations and organisation of Churches. By the 1930\u27s almost all Churches had been involved in the institution of slavery, and consequently the issue of slavery split the majority of the established protestant denominations. At the outbreak of the Civil War, the Churches followed the political and social state of affairs: the southern representatives sided with the Confederate States of America, and the northern Churches supported the Union. In this case, the efforts of the northern Churches proved to be of particular help, as they, together with other abolitionists, managed to convince the then authorities to also use the war for the preservation of the Union to end slavery