Thomas Bacon (1711–1768), an Anglican minister, author, and slaveholder, argued in these sermons that slaveholders had a moral duty to convert enslaved Africans. Bacon was born in England and immigrated to Maryland, where he became one of a growing number of people who favored the religious education of enslaved peoples. Drawing from Bible verses such as Ephesians 6:5, he argued that religious instruction would make enslaved people more obedient. Bacon’s writings, which were originally published in 1743, were later reprinted by Southern ministers such as William Meade (1789–1862), founder of Virginia Theological Seminary, in the years prior to the Civil War.