ABSTRACT
Thomas Bacon (c. 1700-1768), an Anglican clergyman who arrived in Maryland in 1745, became identified with Christian education and the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (S.P.C.K.). A slave-holder who was keen to give slaves religious instruction, he was equally concerned both to remind the owners of their duties to their bondsmen and women and to reassure them that black Christians made better slaves. His discourses to slaves were intended as models for sermons by other clergymen while several of his sermons on the duties of masters and mistresses were distributed by the S.P.C.K.
