FORDHAM UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL ^ J ;5........1950 This dissertation prepared under my direction by ...........................................Rev*, filth y . ........................ entitled T H R . C A T m U G ^ ^ .............. .....................XMI3!ED-..STATES...PRIQR...T0....THS....C.IV'IL.. .WAR................... has been accepted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of..............Do c tor of ..philosophy.................. Dr# A* Paul Levaek...................... (Faculty Adviser) THE CATHOLIC CHURCH MB THE NEGRO IN THE UNITED STATES PKEOR TO THE CIVIL WAR BY REV. TIMOTHY J. HOLLAND, S .S .J. B.A ., S t. Mary*s Seminary M.A., C atholic U niversity DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AT FQHDHAM UNIVERSITY NEW YOHEC 1950 ProQuest Number: 10993018 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10993018 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 iii r i TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page FEEFACB............................................................................................. iv I . THE COLONIAL HERITAGE......................................................... 1 IX. THE YOUNG REPUBLIC'S FIRST CATHOLIC BISHOP.... 26 IIT . CARROLL' S SUCCESSORS, l8 l6 -l8 2 9 .................................... 56 IV. ORGANIZED EFFORTS IN BEHALF OF THE NEGRO, 1830-1860........... . ........................................................................ 79 CONCLUSION.................................................................................. 118 APPENDIX.......................................................... 121 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................. 139 L -1 iv r •] PflBFAGB Those who are in terested in the sp iritu a l w elfare of the Negroes in the United S tates are agreed th at the Colored are a deeply relig io u s people. The frequency of the rev iv als and the unnumbered v ariety of th eir churches are evidence th at the vast m ajority of the th irtee n m illion Blacks desire a ffilia tio n with some denom inational group. Four m illion are associated with some one of the five branches of the B ap tists, alm ost two m illion are members of the nine divisions of the M ethodists, while the rem aining seven m illion are scattered among sm aller relig io u s bodies, not the le a st of which is the C atholic Church. There are approx­ im ately 300,000 in communion w ith the Church of Borne; how­ ever, because of the num erical disproportion between these and the to ta l Colored population, the assumption has been made th a t Catholicism has been in d ifferen t to th e ir sp iritu a l needs, While there is no doubt about the position of the C atholic Church concerning the Negroes since the Second Plenary Council of Baltim ore in 1866, there is a question as to how extensive in th eir behalf Catholic e ffo rts were p rio r to the C ivil War. The present study was undertaken to answer th is question. C ertainly, there were Colored C atholics in the New World long before the B evolutionary War— and they were cared fo r by other C atholics. As th e ir number increased w ith the passing of decades, the bishops, p rie sts and la ity of L _J V r 1 the Church of Home realized th a t something should be done for these people* I t was im possible to undertake a form al program of Christianization, but this did not deter zealous clergymen and individual owners from exercising th eir zeal* A dearth of p rie s ts , lim ited sources and a tremendous influx of C atholic immigrants from Europe handicapped any propsect of concentrating special a tten tio n on the B lacks, although the C atholics of Maryland and Louisiana were m indful of th e ir C hristian duty. I t was mainly through th e ir e ffo rts th at by i860, Negro membership in the Church of Rome reached a mark of 100,000. I t is to be reg retted th at d e ta ils are lacking and th at documentary evidence is inadequate fo r form ing a complete p ictu re; however, available data o ffers positive proof th a t the C atholic Church was not only aware of the relig io u s situ atio n in ante-bellum days, but was activ ely concerned about helping the Colored* In gathering the necessary m aterial, the w riter has been in communication with a ll the dioceses established in the United S tates p rio r to i860. Some were v isite d in person, e .g ., B altim ore, P hiladelphia, New York, Albany, Brooklyn, Boston, Newark, Charleston and New O rleans; in o th ers,relian ce was placed upon the testim ony of arch iv ists or other competent diocesan au th o rities* U nfortunately, the findings were fa r short of what had been expected. In v estig atio n was carried fu rth er in priv ate and printed co llectio n s, diocesan h isto rie s, parish records, and a llie d Lsecondary works* On th is basis of the inform ation secured j an exposition was made of the colonial background as to the statu s of both the Colored and C atholics in Anglo-America, of early in te re st in the Negroes during the post-B evolu- tionary period and of the development of as-, relig io u s program which eventually resu lted in the establishm ent of a community of Colored S iste rs a t Baltim ore. The fin a l th irty years preceding the outbreak of the War, when a great number of new dioceses were created, were treated as a single period. L j[ THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE NEGRO IN THE UNITED STATES PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR 1 r CHAPTER I THE COLONIAL HBETTAGB When John C arroll became the f ir s t Bishop of Baltim ore in 1790 the C atholic Church could look back over more than 9 a century and a h a lf of contact w ith the Negro in America. The asso ciatio n had been lim ited , to be sure, to a few scattered areas and to com paratively sm all groups of Colored, but a t the time of the establishm ent of the American hierarchy, the Church of Rome and the Negroes in the New World were by no means strangers to each o th er• When the f ir s t twenty A fricans, brought to Anglo- America by a Dutch merchantman, arrived a t Jamestown, V irginia in l6l9> they became p art of a decidedly P rot­ estan t environment where there was s li^ a t p o ssib ility of th e ir ever hearing a resp ectfu l mention of the Catholic Church.1 I f they received any relig io u s train in g — not a t a ll a certain ty — they were bound to accept the same b e lie fs as were held by the white P rotestants who resided in the colony. F ifteen years la te r, the E nglish founded another 1. Matthew P. Andrews, H istory of Maryland, Province and S tate, New York, Doubleday, Doran & Co., 19^9» P« 192 avers th at these Negroes were im ported as indentured servants. 11 Slaves were not introduced in to V irginia w ith the advent of the f ir s t Negroes. In 1619* slavery was not recognized in E nglish Law nor in the laws and customs of V irginia L