Queens' and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
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In contrast to evangelicals like Isaac Milner who sought abolition, in part, as a means to preserve Britain from spiritual danger, Anglicans associated with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) were more accepting of enslavement. From its foundation in 1701, the society’s mission to propagate Anglican Christianity across British dominions occasioned a quest for scriptural explanations for racial differences, some of which had the effect of justifying enslavement. For example, the Book of Genesis tells the story of Noah’s three sons who, with their wives, became progenitors of all humanity. Strong doctrinal support for the belief that the descendants of Noah’s third son, Ham, had subsequently populated Africa was provided by the former Queens’ Fellow and SPG founder, Revd. Simon Patrick in his 'Commentary upon…Genesis'. For many, this story, together with the fact that the Bible later suggests that Ham’s progeny were cursed and destined to be ruled over, justified the enslavement of Africans. This idea proved useful to slave owners across the Americas, and to the SPG, which itself owned slave-farmed plantations in Barbados until the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.
Author: Simon Patrick
Title: A commentary upon the first book of Moses, called Genesis (London, 1695)
Shelfmark: F.6.1
