"The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government."
Thomas Jefferson to the Citizens of Washington County, Maryland, March 3rd, 1809.

 

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Rev. Andrew Bryan

"Andrew Bryan (1737-1812) was born in slavery and grew up as a slave on a plantation in South Carolina. In 1782, Andrew and his wife Hannah became Christians under the preaching of the Rev. George Liele (1752 - 1828), an African American born into slavery who ministered the Gospel to other slaves. (Liele was the first African-American ordained as a Baptist preacher.)

Only nine months after his conversion, Andrew – still a slave – was preaching to both black and white congregations."

He evangelized slaves on neighboring plantations and erected a crude wooden church; his congregation grew rapidly, attended by both blacks and whites. On January 20, 1788, Bryan was ordained as a Baptist minister.