The Methodist bishops had been meeting in their annual conference in Buffalo. The Committee on Slavery in its majority report recommended a rules change to make the very holding of slaves a crime in the church, not just their sale or traffic. Opponents objected, saying the issue would make Methodist in the South impossible at an "excited time." On a conference vote the new rule passed 138-74, less than the two thirds needed to adopt it. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
William D. Harris, Report of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Held in Buffalo, N.Y. 1860 (New York: Carlton and Porter, 1860), 244-246.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Slavery/Abolition