In 1850, what was the view of Presbyterian pastors on the origin of the various ethnicities, particularly European and African? George Howe, professor at Columbia Theological Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina, from 1831-1883, gives the representative view, and the view he certainly taught his students at Columbia:
"It certainly is the teaching of the Bible, that all men are from one original stock. He hath made of one blood all nations of men. By one man sin entered into the world and death by sin, and so death hath passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Adam is represented as the root and federal head of the human race. And the doctrine of original sin, transmitted by ordinary generation to every member of the race from the first man, and the plan of salvation through the second Adam, alike imply the identity and common origin of men."
-- From Howe's article, "The Unity of the Race," Southern Presbyterian Review Volume 3, Number 1, 124ff.
These are much-needed words in our day, as they help us to view one another rightly, and shed light on our Presbyterian forefathers in the American South.