John Leland: evolving views of slavery, 1789-1839: in 1789, the General Committee of Virginia Baptists turned to Massachusetts native John Leland to craft a statement concerning slavery

Leland endorsed a political plan for emancipation that called for the United States government to form states for freed slaves, in which freemen would sustain and educate themselves, (38) Yet, Leland realized that slave owners would have little financial incentive to relinquish voluntarily their slaves, and he called upon a restless generation of youth to rally around the cause of emancipation. "If any of the slave-holders will neither give nor sell their slaves, here will be a great door opened for missionary labors. The pious youth, who are waiting for a gap, will now have a loud call to go and preach to the hard-hearted masters, and flatter them to give, and threaten them if they will not." (39)

Five years later, in the midst of growing political turmoil, Leland again addressed the slavery issue, this time at great length. His words signaled ambivalence toward slavery, including the first indication of hostility toward abolitionists:

   The abolitionists of late have come forward, and seem to demand the
   unconditional manumission of all of them [slaves], without
   prescribing any rational mode for their future subsistence. If
   these prophets can prove their commission, like Moses, or have any
   reason to believe that God will feed the liberated slaves with
   manna, it is hoped that the slaveholders will obey, and not harden
   their hearts: otherwise their exertions seem calculated to alienate
   the slave-holding states from the others, and make the condition of
   the slaves more miserable.., the measures of the abolitionists are
   reprobated by every friend to his country. (40)

Although Leland continued to advocate freedom for slaves, his enthusiasm for emancipating African Americans was more tempered than in earlier years. (41) Gone were the harsh words for slave owners and his previous view that most slave owners treated slaves brutally. Instead, he portrayed slave owners as rational, ordinary, and compassionate individuals who were victims of unpatriotic abolitionists. Many slaveholders, Leland was convinced, "in heart are opposed to slavery, and would gladly set their slaves free, if they could be provided for." (42)

In 1831, Leland had advocated abolitionist activities. In 1836, he denounced abolitionists as troublemakers. Leland long had insisted that the slavery issue, albeit complicated, should be resolved immediately for the good of the country. In 1836, he chided as foolish immediate efforts to end slavery. Decades earlier, he had spoken pointedly of the brutality of slave owners. In 1836, Leland cast slave owners as hapless victims of the seditious activities of abolitionists.

The Anti-Abolitionist Leland: 1839

Leland's pen was mostly silent during the years 1837 and 1838, although he did address some religious matters. In 1837, following several years of federal budget surpluses, Wall Street crashed. A great depression swept the country and lasted until 1843. (43) Against this backdrop, Leland addressed the issue of slavery one final time. In a speech delivered on August 16, 1839, he spoke of two things: the need for an independent treasury and slavery. The speech is remarkably represented a complete about-face from his petition to Virginia Baptists in 1789. In addition to dismissing the increasingly vocal calls for emancipation of slaves, the aging preacher-politician downplayed the plight of slaves and offered kind words to slave owners. Furthermore, Leland insisted that the federal government had no responsibility, nor should take any action, in regards to slavery. Instead, the fate of slavery should properly be determined by slaveholders: