Samuel Davies was a leader of the Presbyterian revivals in rural Virginia in the 1750s. Like many other revivalists, Davies was interested in bringing African slaves to Christ, along with their white masters. In 1757 and 1761 he and some other likeminded ministers published a series of letters in London describing their efforts with America's slave population with an eye to encouraging English aid. Davies supported his efforts, noting that African Americans seemed to want the benefits of the revival experience. "Many of them," he wrote; "only seem to desire to be, they know not what: they feel themselves uneasy in their present condition, and therefore desire a change." Change did come to some. "There is a general alteration among them for the better. The sacred hours of the Sabbath, that used to be spent in frolicking, dancing, and other profane courses...