John Newton (1725-1807) Author of Amazing Grace Service To Liberty (Letter XIII) John Newton wrote: ‘During the time I was engaged in the slave trade I never had the least scruple as to its lawfulness. I
John Newton (1725-1807) Author of Amazing Grace Service To Liberty (Letter XIII) John Newton wrote: ‘During the time I was engaged in the slave trade I never had the least scruple as to its lawfulness. I was upon the whole satisfied with it as the appointment Providence had marked out for me. Yet it was in many respects far from suitable. It is indeed accounted a genteel employment (suitable for the upper classes), and is usually very profitable, though to me it did not prove so, the Lord seeing that a large increase of wealth would not be good for me. However, I considered myself as a sort of jailer or turnkey, and I was sometimes shocked with an employment that was perpetually conversant with chains, bolts, and shackles.’
Where did the slaves come from? The Africans who came to be slaves were often kidnapped but some were criminals or prisoners of war. The rest were those handed over as tribute to a more powerful overlord. Kidnapped – Gangs captured them as they walked through the forest and took them to the slave ships where they were sold. Prisoners – those who had committed serious crimes or had been captured in tribal wars were often sold as slaves. Tribute – A village or community would be threatened with war unless payment in the form of slaves was made.
George Whitefield did not oppose slavery. He employed slaves in Bethesda orphanage. The countess of Huntingdon increased the number of slaves after Whitefields death. Was it right to employ slaves? The slaves who were bought for work at Bethesda were well treated. The importation of slaves was evil, immoral but not illegal. It was the law that needed to be changed – Wilberforce gave his life to that! Did the purchase of the slaves by Christians increase the slave trade? N