Graduation Year
2018
Date of Submission
4-2018
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
History
Reader 1
Lisa Cody
Reader 2
Gary Hamburg
Abstract
This thesis interrogated the relationship between abolition and the evangelical revival in Britain through the life of John Newton. Newton, though not representative of every abolitionist, was a vital figure in the movement. His influence on Hannah More and William Wilberforce along with his contributions to the Parliamentary hearings made him a key aspect of its success. How he came to fulfill that role was a long and complex journey, both in terms of his religion and his understanding of slavery. He began his life under the spiritual direction of his pious, Dissenting mother, became an atheist by nineteen, and then an influential, evangelical minister in the Church of England in his later adulthood. In the midst of that journey, Newton was impressed, joined the crew of a slave ship, was himself enslaved, became a slave ship captain, and then, eventually, a fervent abolitionist. Though it was far from straightforward, Newton's evangelical Calvinistic theology seems to have driven him to ultimately condemn the slave trade. Understanding the relationship between Newton’s two conversions—to evangelical Christianity and abolitionism—gives modern readers’ insight into the intellectual roots of the abolitionist movement more broadly, the dynamics between Christianity and politics, as well as how individual moral choice can affect history.
Recommended Citation
Keller, Megan, "The Two Conversions of John Newton: Politics & Christianity in the British Abolitionist Movement" (2018). CMC Senior Theses. 1873.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1873
Included in
Cultural History Commons, European History Commons, History of Religion Commons, Intellectual History Commons, Political History Commons
