From its first meeting in 1619 the Virginia General Assembly passed laws
governing religion in Virginia. Having written the establishment of the
Church of England in Virginia into law in 1624 with the words "That
there be an uniformity in our church as neere as may be to the canons in
England," throughout the colonial period burgesses set ministers
salaries, drew parish lines, required church attendance, legislated
against vice, and so on. These matters were enforced in the county
courts since there were no ecclesiastical courts in Virginia.
Churchwardens, two members of the parish vestry, presented information
on the offenders to the county court grand jury. If the churchwarden's
evidence was solid, the case went before the county court justices who
decided the case. If guilty of non-attendance at church, for example,
the court imposed a fine turned over to the parish vestry for support of
the poor. Church and state in lock step.
In general the name "Episcopal Church" dates from the 1780s, when the
Church of England (Anglican church) was incorporated in Virginia as the
Episcopal Church. Occasionally, "Episcopal" or "Episcopalian" turns up
in colonial Virginia sources, but very rarely.
None of this compromises Anita's point that the Anglican church in
Virginia did not question slavery and cast its lot with slave owners.
Individual parish ministers sometimes worked diligently to improve
conditions within slavery in the eighteenth century. I agree that
Baptists and other dissenters preached that all were equal in the sight
of God and sometimes questioned slave ownership among their members, at
least before the Revolution. By 1800 if not earlier, Baptists had
entered the mainstream and fell largely silent about the incompatibility
of Christianity and slavery.
I also highly recommend Nelsen's book for a comprehensive treatment of
church and state in colonial Virginia.
Linda H. Rowe
Historical Research
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
757-220-7443
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Anita Wills
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 2:55 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Genealogy and racial integrity
I found documents in which those who did not attend church were jailed,
was
that the Virginia Assembly? This document is dated 1710, when Colonial
Virginia was under the Rule of the Anglican and Episcopalian Church. So
why
would the General Assembly command people to go to church? Before there
was
a General Assembly, the Anglican and Episcopalian Churches were the law
in
Virginia. Sorry, that is the way it was. Slavery could not have
flourshed
without the approval of the church. Church law was then adopted by the
General Assembly, and became the law of the land. Most historians know
that
Henings Statutes at Law were a codification of Church law for the
General
Assembly.
Anita
AMAZON.COM PURCHASE SITE - NOTES AND DOCUMENTS OF FREE PERSONS OF COLOR
:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1411603338/qid=1097778584/
sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-8775456-1855815?v=glance&s=books
BOWDENS' OF POPES CREEK WEBSITE:
http://www.orgsites.com/ca/mpbwdnfnd/index.html
"The ruin of a nation begins in the homes of its
people" African Proverb.
----Original Message Follows----
From: EDWARD BOND <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
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