178-Year-Old Anti-Slavery Scroll Unearthed in Massachusetts Archive
2025-07-06
A retired teacher volunteering at the American Baptist archives in Groton, Massachusetts, stumbled upon a 178-year-old handwritten scroll, "A Resolution and Protest Against Slavery." Signed by 116 New England ministers in 1847, the 5-foot-long document had been presumed lost. Its discovery sheds light on the growing anti-slavery sentiment in the Northeast before the Civil War and highlights the Baptist church's internal divisions over the issue. The ministers' bold declaration, made at a time when many were hesitant to speak out, underscores their commitment to justice and freedom.