- Title: Channing’s Works – Volume 2
- Author: William E. Channing
- Publisher: James Munroe and Company
- Estimated year of printing: 1843
Notes:
William Ellery Channing (1780 – 1842) was an influential Unitarian preacher at the Federal Street Church in Boston, during a formative period of the Unitarian Church in America. His grandfather and namesake, William Ellery, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence for Rhode Island. Channing published many books and writings in his life, this book is the second volume of a collection of his publications.
The largest work in this volume is Slavery, a book first published in 1835 which argued against the institution of slavery from a biblical perspective. This was well before the Civil War in America, and opposition to slavery was still a controversial stance, even in the Northeast, so Channing was slow to publicly share these views, which he had formed during his youth in Virginia. Channing’s book affirmed the human rights of slaves and argued that slavery was a sin against God which was detrimental to both slaves and also slave owners. Despite his progressive (for the time) support for their freedom, Channing unfortunately still believed in the general inferiority of African people.
Besides slavery and abolitionism, this volume also includes writings on the annexation of Texas (which he opposed) and Catholicism (which he thought was too dogmatic and tied to the past).
Historical context:
When this book was printed in 1843, John Tyler was President of the United States, having succeeded William Henry Harrison who died after only a month in office. A year earlier in 1842, the Dorr Rebellion was a civil war in Rhode Island where residents fought for broader democracy and established a parallel governement, which eventually resulted in a rewriting of the state constitution. A few years later in 1845, Texas was annexed by the United States and became the 28th state.
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