Thread by @dukekwondc

Jonathan Edwards owned several slaves, including a woman named Leah (purchased in 1736) and Titus (a "negro boy" listed in his estate inventory in 1758). Here's his bill of sale for "a Negro Girle named Venus…age Fourteen years or thereabouts" purchased for £80 on June 7, 1731.

Edwards grew up in a slave-owning home; his father Rev. Timothy Edwards owned at least one slave, a man named Ansars. It was common in Northampton for social elites to own one or two slaves, a woman for domestic chores and a man for work in the fields.

Edwards condoned the purchase and ownership of slaves as long as they were purchased legally, treated humanely, and converted/Christianized. He upheld the popular view that a child’s condition was determined by that of its mother (slavery defined both legally and procreativity).

However, Edward vociferously opposed the slave trade and any further incursions into Africa for new slaves. He also condemned the slave trade believing that it created resentment against European Christians, thus hindering world evangelization.

His eschatological views contributed to his opposition to the slave trade. He "anticipated the contribution of non-European peoples to the [global] spread of the gospel during the millennium" (Minkema), during which, JE preached, "many of the Negroes and Indians will be divines."

Like many in his day, Edwards affirmed a spiritual egalitarianism among slaves and masters. In his preaching, he typically called both "black and white" to respond to Christ, who "condescends to take notice of servants and people of all nations … condescends to poor negroes."

He counted black slaves among those who were "truly born again" during revivals and described them as having been "vindicated into the glorious liberty of the children of God." Of course, this referred not to political, physical, or material liberty, but spiritual liberty.

Interestingly, historian Kenneth Minkema suggests there may be evidence of a gradual "shift in Edwards' thinking on slavery and the slave trade," particularly during awakenings of the early 1740s. For instance...

Edwards evidently had no qualms about the African slave trade in 1731 when he purchased Venus (above), yet by 1741 he strongly condemned international trade. He, together with his wife also oversaw the manumissions of slaves, even serving as their guarantors of financial support.

Nevertheless, as far as we know, Jonathan Edwards owned slaves until the day he died.

Sources: Kenneth P. Minkema, "Jonathan Edwards on Slavery & the Slave Trade," William & Mary Quart 54 (Oct 1997), 823-34; "Jonathan Edwards' Defense of Slavery," Mass Hist Rev 4 (2002), 23-59

Should have noted: We actually don’t have much on Edwards’ formal views on slavery. He didn’t write/preach on the topic. All we have are segments of one draft letter (notes) written in 1741 in which he touches on the subject—but even this requires some reading between the lines.