Charles Colcock Jones was a Presbyterian minister and plantation owner. He was born into a plantation family in Liberty County, Georgia.

He struggled with the morality (or immorality) of slavery, especially after spending time in the North away from his plantations. However, he reconciled himself to slavery by concluding that his only responsibility was the spiritual welfare of slaves—not their physical, civic, or temporal welfare.

Sure, Chuck, whatever helps you sleep at night.

This book is part history, part evangelical tract, and part how-to guide designed to influence white clergymen and slaveholders to provide Christian religious instruction to slaves. After Nat Turner's Revolt in 1831, education of slaves had fallen off, and Jones attempts to impress upon slave owners the idea that they're responsible for their slaves' spiritual lives, and thus their religious education.