📘 Lexicon Entry: Cotton Evangelicalism

A form of American evangelicalism that developed in the antebellum South to provide theological justification for slavery and racial hierarchy, integrating Christian language with the economic and social structures of the plantation system

Cotton Evangelicalism refers to the distinctive form of American evangelicalism that developed in the antebellum South to provide theological justification for slavery and racial hierarchy. This tradition integrated Christian language and biblical interpretation with the economic and social structures of the plantation system, creating a synthesis that portrayed slavery as divinely ordained and racially based hierarchy as consistent with Christian teaching. Cotton Evangelicalism employed selective biblical interpretation, emphasizing texts about obedience, submission, and divinely ordained social order while minimizing or reinterpreting passages about liberation, equality, and justice. This theological tradition provides the historical foundation for contemporary Cotton Hermeneutic, which continues to employ similar interpretive strategies to justify racial hierarchy and resist movements for racial justice. Cotton Evangelicalism demonstrates how Syncretism can create hybrid forms that maintain Christian language while fundamentally contradicting Christian principles. Its legacy continues to influence Providential Identitarianism and Dominative Christianism through theological frameworks that sacralize racial and cultural hierarchy.

Theological Genealogy

Cotton Evangelicalism, antebellum Christianity, slavery theology, racial hierarchy, Southern Christianity, plantation religion, biblical justification of slavery

Geevarghese-Uffman, Craig. “Cotton Evangelicalism.” *Political Theology Lexicon*. https://www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/lexicon. Accessed [date].

Emerges in the early 19th century as slavery becomes central to Southern economy

Develops in response to abolitionist theological arguments against slavery

Coincides with Second Great Awakening and expansion of evangelical Christianity

Shaped by economic dependence on enslaved labor and need for moral justification

Influenced by scientific racism and emerging racial ideology of the 19th century

Early colonial period: Gradual integration of Christianity with slave system (17th-18th centuries)

Post-Revolutionary development: Theological systematization of slavery justification (1780s-1820s)

Antebellum consolidation: Full theological framework supporting plantation system (1820s-1860s)

Civil War period: Theological defense of Confederate cause as divine mission (1860s)

Reconstruction resistance: Theological opposition to racial equality and federal intervention (1860s-1870s)

Post-Reconstruction legacy: Continuation through Jim Crow theology and white Christian nationalism (1880s-present)

Selective biblical interpretation emphasizing passages supporting social hierarchy

Doctrine of divinely ordained social order with fixed racial categories

Spiritualization of Christianity to avoid challenging social and economic structures

Emphasis on individual salvation while ignoring systemic injustice

Paternalistic theology portraying slavery as civilizing and Christianizing mission

Integration of scientific racism with theological anthropology

Southern Presbyterian theological development supporting slavery

Southern Baptist convention formation around slavery defense (1845)

Methodist Episcopal Church South split over slavery (1844)

Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States theological justifications

Post-Civil War Lost Cause mythology with theological elements

20th century resistance to civil rights through theological arguments

James Henley Thornwell: Presbyterian theologian and slavery defender

Robert Lewis Dabney: Presbyterian theologian and Confederate chaplain

Basil Manly Sr.: Baptist leader and slavery advocate

William A. Smith: Methodist theologian defending slavery

Benjamin Morgan Palmer: Presbyterian minister supporting Confederacy

Alexander Stephens: Confederate Vice President using theological arguments

Emphasis on Pauline household codes supporting submission and obedience

Literal interpretation of curse of Ham narrative to justify racial hierarchy

Selective use of Old Testament slavery regulations as divine endorsement

Spiritualization of liberation themes to avoid challenging social order

Emphasis on Romans 13 submission to governing authorities

Minimization of prophetic texts calling for justice and liberation

Cotton Hermeneutic continuing interpretive strategies of Cotton Evangelicalism

Providential Identitarianism drawing on theological frameworks justifying racial hierarchy

Dominative Christianism employing similar theological strategies for contemporary power structures

Christian Nationalism incorporating Lost Cause mythology and white supremacist theology

Binary Apocalypticism dividing world into categories inherited from racial theology

Contemporary resistance to racial justice movements using similar theological arguments

Historical studies by Eugene Genovese on slaveholder Christianity and paternalism

Analysis by Albert Raboteau of African American Christianity under slavery

Research by Mark Noll on theological crisis of Civil War and slavery

Studies by Willie James Jennings on theological whiteness and racial formation

Work by J. Kameron Carter on race as theological problem

Contemporary analysis by Anthea Butler on white evangelical political theology

Related Primary Concepts: Providential Identitarianism, Dominative Christianism, Christianism

Key Mutations: Cotton Hermeneutic, Primitive Biblicism, Binary Apocalypticism

Contemporary Movements: Christian Nationalism, Identity Synthesis

Theological Alternatives: Prophetic Patriotism, Counter-Imperial, Being With

Historical Context: [Plantation Capitalism](placeholder-url), Covenant Theology, Syncretism

May 22, 2025

*This entry is part of the Political Theology Lexicon, accessible exclusively to subscribers. View the complete lexicon to explore related concepts and the full theoretical framework.*