Moravian slaves

Last updated

The Moravian Slaves, a popular narrative about Christian Missions concerning Johann Leonhard Dober and David Nitschmann, describes how these two young Moravian Brethren from Herrnhut, Germany, were called in 1732 to minister to the African slaves on the islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix in the Danish West Indies. Allegedly, when they were told that they would not be allowed to do such a thing, Dober and Nitschmann sold themselves to a slave owner and boarded a ship bound for the West Indies. As the ship pulled away from the docks, it is said that they called out to their loved ones on shore, "May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!" [1] [2]

Mission to St. Thomas and St. Croix

The missionaries did assert that they were willing to become slaves if it was the only way to reach the slaves. [3] Many sources claim that they actually followed through, sold themselves, boarded a ship, and were never heard from again. In fact, after being sent out by Count Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, the two traveled from Herrnhut to Copenhagen, Denmark, where their plan initially met with strong opposition. [4] When asked by a court official how they would support themselves, Nitschmann replied,

“We shall work as slaves among the slaves."

“But,” said the official, “that is impossible. It will not be allowed. No white man ever works as a slave.”

“Very well,” replied Nitschmann, “I am a carpenter, and will ply my trade.” [5]

After some difficulty, the missionaries found support from the Danish Queen and her court, and although the Danish West Indian Company refused to grant them passage, a ship was eventually procured. Leaving Copenhagen on Oct 8, 1732, they arrived in St. Thomas two months later on December 13. While in the St. Thomas, they lived frugally and preached to the slaves, and they had a certain amount of success. [6] By 1734 they had both returned to Germany, but other Moravian missionaries continued the work, establishing churches on St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John's, Jamaica, Antigua, Barbados, and St. Kitts. Moravian missionaries baptized 13,000 converts before any other missionaries arrived on the scene. [7]

After returning from the West Indies, both men continued to serve in the Moravian church, and both were ordained as bishops. Dober remained in Europe, but Nitschmann traveled with John Wesley and helped to found the mission at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danish West Indies</span> Former Danish colony in the Caribbean

The Danish West Indies or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with 32 square miles (83 km2); Saint John with 19 square miles (49 km2); and Saint Croix with 84 square miles (220 km2). The islands have belonged to the United States since they were purchased in 1917. Water Island was part of the Danish West Indies until 1905, when the Danish state sold it to the East Asiatic Company, a private shipping company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danish colonization of the Americas</span> Danish colonies in the Americas

Denmark and the former real union of Denmark–Norway had a colonial empire from the 17th through the 20th centuries, large portions of which were found in the Americas. Denmark and Norway in one form or another also maintained land claims in Greenland since the 13th century, the former up through the twenty-first century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicolaus Zinzendorf</span> German protestant religious and social reformer, bishop of the Moravian Church

Nikolaus Ludwig, Reichsgraf von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf was a German religious and social reformer, bishop of the Moravian Church, founder of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, Christian mission pioneer and a major figure of 18th-century Protestantism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands</span> One of the main islands of the United States Virgin Islands

Saint Thomas is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, one of the three largest of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Along with surrounding minor islands, it is one of three county-equivalents in the USVI. Together with Saint John, it forms one of the districts of the USVI. The territorial capital and port of Charlotte Amalie is located on the island. As of the 2020 census, the population of Saint Thomas was 42,261, about 48.5% of the total population of the United States Virgin Islands. The island has a land area of 32 square miles (83 km2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herrnhut</span> Town in Saxony, Germany

Herrnhut(listen) is an Upper Lusatian town in the Görlitz district in Saxony, Germany, known for the community of the Moravian Church established by Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf in 1722.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moravian Church</span> Protestant Christian denomination dating back to the 15th century

The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren, formally the Unitas Fratrum, is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the Unity of the Brethren founded in the Kingdom of Bohemia, sixty years before Luther's Reformation.

Negerhollands ('Negro-Dutch') was a Dutch-based creole language that was spoken in the Danish West Indies, now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands. Dutch was its superstrate language with Danish, English, French, Spanish, and African elements incorporated. Notwithstanding its name, Negerhollands drew primarily from the Zeelandic rather than the Hollandic dialect of Dutch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Protten</span> Caribbean Moravian missionary

Rebecca Freundlich Protten, also Shelly (1718–1780) was a Caribbean Moravian evangelist and pioneer missionary who propagated the Gospel to slaves on the island of Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands. A "mulatress" and a former slave in Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda, she pioneered Christian missions in the Atlantic World in the 1700s. Scholars have described her as the "Mother of Modern Missions" as her life's work bridged Christianity in the West Indies, in Europe and in West Africa, all geographic regions she lived in.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Nitschmann</span> Moravian Brethren missionary and poet

Anna Caritas Nitschmann, Countess von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf, was a Moravian Brethren missionary (Missionarin), lyrical poet, and the second wife of Count Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf. By virtue of her marriage, she became a member of the House of Zinzendorf, one of the most prominent noble families in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Nitschmann der Bischof</span>

David Nitschmann der Bischof was with Johann Leonhard Dober one of the two first missionaries of the Moravian Brethren in the West Indies in 1732, and the first Bishop of the Renewed Unitas Fratrum, the Moravian Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Nitschmann der Wagner</span>

David Nitschmann der Wagner, or David "Father" Nitschmann Sr., was a Czech-born Moravian missionary and carpenter.

David Nitschmann der Syndikus was a Czech-born Moravian missionary.

This article covers the period from the origin of the Moravian Church, as well as the related Hussite Church and Unity of the Brethren, in the early fourteenth century to the beginning of mission work in 1732. Further expanding the article, attention will also be paid to the early Moravian settlement at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, following their first arrival in Nazareth, Pennsylvania in 1740.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gertrud Rask</span> Norwegian missionary to Greenland

Gertrud Rask was the first wife of the Danish-Norwegian missionary to Greenland Hans Egede and was the mother of the missionary and translator Paul Egede.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Nuuk</span>

Old Nuuk may refer to several neighborhoods of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johann Leonhard Dober</span>

Johann Leonhard Dober was, along with David Nitschmann, one of the two first missionaries of the Moravian Brethren in the West Indies in 1732.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Herrnhut Moravian Church</span> United States historic place

New Herrnhut Moravian Church is a historic Moravian church in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The Moravians, a Protestant religious group based in the town of Herrnhut in Saxony, began missionary work in 1732 in St. Thomas and were the first Protestants to begin missionary work among slaves and free Blacks in the Danish West Indies. Missionary work on St. Thomas was initially opposed by planters who didn't want slaves to receive education or religious instruction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moravian missions in Greenland</span>

The Moravian missions in Greenland were established by the Moravian Church or United Brethren and operated between 1733 and 1900. They were operated under the auspices of the Royal Danish College of Missions until its dissolution in 1859 and were finally surrendered to the Lutheran Church of Denmark in 1900. Missionaries were allocated to the region and sometimes even sent wives who had been chosen for them and approved by the drawing of lots, a form of Cleromancy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Jacob Protten</span> Gold Coast Moravian missionary and educator

Christian Jacob Protten also Christian Jakobus Africanus Protten or Uldrich was a Euro-African Moravian missionary pioneer, linguist, translator and educationalist-administrator in Christiansborg on the Danish Gold Coast in the eighteenth century. The first recorded grammatical treatise in the Ga and Fante languages was written by Protten and published in Copenhagen in 1764.

References

  1. ↑ Dreaming Beneath the Spires: John Leonard Dober and David Nitschman
  2. ↑ Emancipation of the Freed: John Leonard Dober and David Nitschman
  3. ↑ History of the Moravian Church, Chapter VI, The Foreign Missions and Their Influence
  4. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-11-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) A Brief Survey of the First Moravian Mission, by Donald C S Johnson, Grace Baptist Church of Victoria
  5. ↑ History of the Moravian Church, Chapter VI, The Foreign Missions and Their Influence
  6. ↑ The Missions of the Church of the United Brethren, pages 241-246.
  7. ↑ History of the Moravian Church, Chapter VI, The Foreign Missions and Their Influence
  8. ↑ The Missions of the Church of the United Brethren, pages 241-246.
  9. ↑ Memoir of David Nitschmann, Sr.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.