April 29, 1840: the American Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention held its first session in New York. Until then, the Baptists had maintained a strained peace by carefully avoiding discussion of the topic of slavery. But in 1840, an American Baptist Anti-Slavery Convention brought the issue into the open. The Baptist Foreign Mission Board denied a request by the Alabama Convention that slave owners be eligible to become missionaries. Finally, a Baptist Free Mission Society was formed and refused Southern money. The southern members withdrew and formed the Southern Baptist Convention. The split was completed in 1845. ABHS has the original minutes of the Foreign Mission Board which details the discussion of the Alabama request.
