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.ÿþwith evidence.65 Factored into any explanation must also be the activity ofsome Anglican parsons and laity.Were they reflecting heightened sensitivityat mid-century to the spiritual plight of the enslaved, or to the proselytiz-ing imperative of the faith? To what extent were they responding to the realor imagined challenges from evangelical Presbyterians and Baptists, or to theconcerns expressed by Anglican authorities or agencies across the Atlantic?Again, these are questions that, given the unsatisfactory state of the evidence,admit of no answers.66Whatever accounted for it, this late colonial concern for the spiritual well-being of the slave was the work of a few in the face of prevalent racism andthe suspicions, if not outright hostility, of many Virginia slaveowners.Noth-ing in the evidence signals any general transformation of racial attitudes oralterations in the living conditions and treatment of slaves.Nor was any sig-nificant protest mounted against the institution of slavery itself.67 Anglicanparsons and lay persons who were serious about reaching out to black slavesdid so professing that their efforts would make them better slaves more re-spectful, orderly, honest, and loyal.68 These clergymen had been forced bythe circumstance of racial slavery in America, Winthrop Jordan writes, intopropagating the Gospel by presenting it as an attractive device for slave con-trol. 69 The institution of slavery and the racist assumptions that undergirdedit were accepted as givens.Lorena Walsh is correct in concluding that thereis no way retrospectively of ascertaining or measuring the church s spiritualimpact upon baptized slaves, much less the content of their newfound faith,but one thing is clear: black Anglicans by their adherence to the church foundno certain or inviting gateway to freedom in this life.70.272 parishioners
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