The American Missionary

In Short

This volume is a compilation of the periodical The American Missionary, published by the American Missionary Association in the late 1880s. It functions as a report to the faithful, blending administrative updates, financial tallies, and impassioned editorials regarding domestic mission work. Through its pages, readers encounter the organizational push to expand educational opportunities for Black students in the South and to evangelize Chinese immigrants in California. It has lasted as a primary source, capturing the era’s intersection of reformist zeal, sectarian infrastructure, and the deep, unresolved tensions of the post-Reconstruction United States.

The Story

The narrative arc of this periodical is defined by a relentless sense of crisis and opportunity. The opening sections establish the fundamental duty of the church: to pursue the "unsaved" with vigor, particularly by focusing on the "dark lands" through the children of marginalized groups already present on American soil. This focus shifts geographically, first to the American South and then to the Pacific Coast.

In the South, the argument centers on the necessity of education as a tool of moral and social uplift. The text frames the existence of institutions like the Le Moyne Institute and Atlanta University as critical, yet perpetually threatened, bulwarks against systemic injustice. The editors document the legislative hostility of the "New South," focusing specifically on the "Glenn Bill" in Georgia—a proposed law that sought to criminalize the instruction of Black students by white teachers. The tone here is one of defiant indignation, as the Association characterizes such legislation as a regression into barbarism that undermines the progress made since the Civil War. Interspersed with these high-minded appeals are graphic reports on the horrors of the convict lease system in Georgia, which the text uses to illustrate the persistent brutality facing the Black population.

The focus then pivots to California, presented as the strategic "battle-ground" for the conversion of the Chinese people. The Association posits that if the church can influence the Chinese laborers in America, these individuals will eventually return to their homeland as a "regenerating leaven." The narrative here acknowledges the harsh reality of xenophobia and political opportunism, detailing how Chinese immigrants were trapped between economic exploitation and the demands of politicians courting the "sand-lot" vote.

The book concludes by grounding these grand ambitions in the mundane realities of institutional survival. The final sections are heavy with lists of donations from various states, reflecting the dependence of these missions on the consistent, modest contributions of individual church members. These lists, followed by advertisements for organs, steel pens, and corsets, ground the high-flown moral rhetoric in the tangible, commercial world of the reader. The story does not end with a resolution of the problems it details; rather, it closes with a formal invitation to the upcoming Annual Meeting in Portland, Maine, signaling that the work is an ongoing, never-ending labor requiring constant financial and spiritual replenishment.

How It Unfolds

The divine mandate The text opens by asserting that the church must prioritize its efforts where they can reach the greatest number of people. It argues that the most efficient way to influence "greatest masses" is to educate the children of minority populations currently living within American borders.

The Southern front The focus shifts to the struggle for Black education in Georgia, highlighting the misappropriation of national land-grant funds. The editors argue that state authorities have systematically underfunded and obstructed the work of mission schools like Atlanta University.

The legislative threat The narrative intensifies with a detailed outcry against the Glenn Bill. Editors from various newspapers are quoted to show the breadth of the outrage, framing the bill as a "barbarous" attempt to enforce racial separation and punish white missionaries.

The California strategy The scene moves to the West Coast, where California is identified as the natural base for influencing China. The authors argue that economic exploitation of Chinese labor must be replaced by a missionary effort to capture the "Empire of China" through its workers.

The call for support The final movement shifts from ideological argument to logistical necessity. The text presents detailed receipts of donations and announcements for the annual meeting, emphasizing that the survival of these programs depends entirely on the continued generosity of the congregation.

The People

The figures appearing in these pages are often cast as archetypes rather than individuals. The "Missionary" is the central hero, depicted as a brave, self-sacrificing soul—often a white teacher at a Southern university—who faces social ostracism and the threat of the "chain-gang" to provide education to Black students. They are framed as the vanguard of a higher civilization.

In contrast, the "New South politician"—represented by figures like Governor Gordon and the "silver-tongued" Henry Grady—is the antagonist. They are portrayed as deceptive and regressive, hiding barbaric impulses behind a facade of progress. The "Chinese immigrant" is viewed through a lens of potential; they are the objects of a grand religious strategy, described as people who are inherently hardworking but currently exploited by political demagogues and the "Six Companies." Finally, the "Congregational donor" is the silent engine of the movement. Whether a small-town church member in Massachusetts or a legacy-leaver in a large city, they are the individuals upon whom the entire organizational structure depends, and the book constantly addresses them as the essential partners in the "duty laid upon the church."

In Its Own Voice

The editorial board emphasizes the global scope of their work, viewing the American West as a stepping stone to the East.

The capture of the thousands of her children in this land means the capture of the Empire of China.

The frustration regarding the Southern legal system is palpable in the commentary on the treatment of teachers.

The wheels of progress are stopped and justice is appalled while the New South brands the missionary a felon and persecutes God’s noble men and women for daring to do right.

The text does not shy away from the harsh, often brutal realities of the labor conditions it observes in the American South.

The convicts of Georgia, numbering about sixteen hundred, the negroes largely predominating over the whites, are confined in no regular penitentiary.

What It's Really About

At its core, this book is an inquiry into the limits of American moral progress. It asks whether a nation can truly reform its institutions while maintaining a system of racial subjugation. The text argues that the "New South" is a myth, a rhetorical mask covering a refusal to abandon the habits of a slaveholding society. Beneath the surface, there is a recurring anxiety about the influence of "Paganism" and the fear that the United States might lose its spiritual standing if it fails to act as a global moral leader. It is a work preoccupied with the intersection of national identity, religious duty, and the question of whether a democratic republic can survive if it treats a large portion of its population as "mere animals."

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in the history of American religious institutions, social reform, or the complexities of the post-Civil War era will find this book invaluable. It is not an easy read; the prose is dense with the formal, high-minded moralizing of the period, and the dialect and attitudes toward race are products of a specific, often painful, nineteenth-century viewpoint. The book does not attempt to be balanced in the modern sense; it is a partisan publication written to inspire and mobilize a specific community.

However, the reward for the reader is a visceral, unfiltered look at how these missions understood their world. It provides a rare, immediate sense of the tension between the North and South, and the intense religious fervor that drove individuals to establish schools, provide for the poor, and attempt to navigate the complex politics of race and immigration. You are left with a powerful, if challenging, portrait of a country in the midst of a profound identity crisis. The lists of donations and the advertisements for organs and pens act as a sobering reminder that even the most high-minded humanitarian efforts are always bound to the material realities of their time. For anyone who wishes to understand the foundations of the American missionary movement, this volume is an essential, if difficult, primary document.