In 1845, members at a regional convention being held in Augusta, Georgia created the SBC, following a split from northern Baptists over the issue of forbidding churches in slaveholding states from sending missionaries to spread the gospel. (religion.blogs.cnn.com)
They pointed out that slavery was practiced by the people of Israel and regulated by God, and that Jesus never said a word against slaveholding. (rachelheldevans.com)
(Consider also, if you want, how quickly the Cherokees transformed themselves into good [slaveholding sometimes], agrarian Americans, with their really deep traditions both adapting and sometimes disappearing.) (firstthings.com)