Abstract
This article examines the depictions of slavery and the Afro-Caribbean slave population in C.G.A. Oldendorp’s history of the Moravian mission to the Danish sugar islands S t T homas, S t John and S t Croix. Comparing the original manuscript with the heavily edited version authorized and published by the radical-pietistic Moravian church in 1777, it discusses Oldendorp’s theological and emotional ambivalences over the issue of slavery. S truggling to reconcile the socially conformist Moravian mission theology with his personal impressions from a voyage to the Caribbean in 1767–68 and close encounters with Afro-Caribbean Christian converts, Oldendorp presented an ambiguous critique of slavery. T he cuts, omissions and alterations to his manuscript made by the editor, Johann Jakob Bossart, point to significant tensions within the Moravian church over this issue in the 1760s–1770s.
| Original language | Undefined/Unknown |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Ports of Globalisation, Places of Creolisation Nordic Possessions in the Atlantic World during the Era of the Slave Trade |
| Editors | Holger Weiss |
| Publisher | Brill |
| Pages | 191–217 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-90-04-30278-5 |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 |
| MoE publication type | A3 Part of a book or another research book |
Keywords
- Afro-Caribbeans
- C.G.A. Oldendorp
- Danish West Indies
- Denmark--Colonies--History
- Johann Jakob Bossart
- Lutheranism
- Moravians
- Slavery-- Scandinavia--History
- Slavery--Denmark--History
- anti-slavery sentiment
- missionary work
- pietism
- slavery