Channels, Fall 2019

Page 32 Guidone • Liberty Further Extended bondage on a national level. Despite this sentiment, Haynes’ true legacy lies in faithful Christian service and eloquent publications in favor of Federalism. Instead of focusing mainly on antislavery topics, Haynes chose to reveal his various political leanings through a public preaching ministry amidst a rise of partisan politics. Haynes believed in full commitment to the vocational ministry coupled with an influential life in the public square. Haynes produced elegant social commentary alongside his numerous sermons, and subsequently left behind a legacy of original political thought on the current direction of the American government. As Haynes progressed in his preaching ministry while doing missionary work in Vermont, the state grew increasingly republican, open to democracy, and committed to theological diversity. 3 As a result, Haynes moved his family to Vermont territory and published numerous addresses on church and politics. Haynes delivered Civil Government and True Republicanism to landowners in 1798 and 1801 in Rutland, Vermont. Haynes exhorted all who were present to support the Federalist government in place, become acquainted with national laws, obey divine revelation, and rise in defense of the country. 4 Haynes grew in popularity as many Federalist politicians bargained and debated national and local issues valued by the Democratic-Republican opposition, including the topic of slave representation. Haynes never wavered in his support of a Federalist government, which eventually cost him his Rutland ministry in 1818. Following Washington, Adams held the Presidency from 1797-1801, and in March of 1801, Jefferson and the Republicans took control from the Federalists. Haynes spoke out against the Jefferson administration, and following the War of 1812, the West Rutland Congregation dismissed him for “having mixed politics with religion.” 5 By 1824, Haynes was seventy-one years old and had scaled back his ministry. That same year, the four men who ran for President all identified as Democratic- Republicans. The Democratic-Republicans succeeded in ousting America’s first political party. Upon an introduction of Haynes as the first person of color to become a licensed minister in the history of America, I will demonstrate Haynes’ Federalism by interpreting his conclusions about the role government in his 1798 and 1801 political publications, which I refer to as Civil Government and True Republicanism. Following , I demonstrate why Haynes sided with Federalist Founding Fathers, Washington and Adams, while naturally opposing Jefferson. Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence in 1776, which inspired Haynes to write “Liberty Further Extended”, but Haynes never endorsed Jefferson as a national leader despite the growing Democratic Republican movement in Vermont. Overall, Jefferson and Haynes agreed in principal on human freedom and natural rights. Still Haynes opposed Jefferson as a slave-holder and because of his views on God and the natural world. Slavery became a key issue for Haynes, although Northern 3 For an excellent discussion and social history of Vermont from 1776-1850, consult The Democratic Dilemma: Religion, Reform, and the Social Order in the Connecticut River Valley of Vermont, 1791-1850. Haynes migrated with a young family to Vermont in the early 1790’s to secure freedom and a future for his biracial children while appealing to a growing population with his brand of Calvinism, which still held political influence in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Vermont provided a haven for the Haynes family and a landing spot for his lengthy career in ministry. Better still, Haynes set out for Vermont with a spiritual brotherhood of pastors in Massachusetts and Connecticut cheering him on, including Timothy Dwight, president of Yale College. Dwight invited Haynes to speak to the student body at Yale in 1814. Like many evangelical clergy in America today, Haynes held a conservative ideology and a Calvinist belief system. 4 Haynes and Newman, Black Preacher to White America, 73-74. 5 Duffy, John J., Samuel B. Hand, and Ralph H. Orth. The Vermont encyclopedia. “Lemuel Haynes.” Hanover N.H: University Press of New England, 2003.