Faith and Slavery in the Presbyterian Diaspora considers how, in areas as diverse as the New Hebrides, Scotland, the United States, and East Central Africa, men's and women's shared Presbyterian faith conditioned their interpretations of and interactions with the institution of chattel slavery. The chapters highlight how Presbyterians' reactions to slavery -which ranged from abolitionism, to indifference, to support-reflected their considered application of the principles of the Reformed Tradition to the institution. Consequently, this collection reveals how the particular ways in which Presbyterians framed the Reformed Tradition made slavery an especially problematic and fraught issue for adherents to the faith. Faith and Slavery, by situating slavery at the nexus of Presbyterian theology and practice, offers a fresh perspective on the relationship between religion and slavery. It reverses the all too common assumption that religion primarily served to buttress existing views on slavery, by illustrating how groups' and individuals reactions to slavery emerged from their understanding of the Presbyterian faith. The collection's geographic reach-encompassing the experiences of people from Europe, Africa, America, and the Pacific-filtered through the lens of Presbyterianism also highlights the global dimensions of slavery and the debates surrounding it. The institution and the challenges it presented, Faith and Slavery stresses, reflected less the peculiar conditions of a particular place and time, than the broader human condition as people attempt to understand and shape their world.

During the seventeenth century its larger and more imposing neighbour, Derry, often overshadowed Strabane, in the west of Ulster. Yet the story of Strabane in the later seventeenth century is more typical of the urban experience of plantation Ulster generally. This study follows the history of Strabane over the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, a period of social development which is usually little written about in most histories. It explores the role of the landlord, the earls of Abercorn, and the corporation in the development of the town and traces the history of the settlement and economy that emerged as a result of their efforts. It also charts the evolution of local social structures, forged to meet the needs of the fledging town. This includes the emergence of the various confessional communities in Strabane and the relations between them. A pioneering piece of work on one of the small towns of Ireland.