George Whitefield’s Contradictory Legacy
The famous Great Awakening preacher George Whitefield preached spiritual equality while owning slaves at his Georgia orphanage. He even lobbied for slavery’s legalization in Georgia in 1751. His revivalist sermons inspired both enslaved converts and abolitionists alike. His failure to condemn slavery disappointed admirers like poet Phillis Wheatley, showing how even renowned religious figures struggled with the contradictions between faith and practice.
