The Baptist Schism must be understood in the light of its history. Three things seem to stand out that led to the schism in 1845: The different ideas which existed as to organization; controversy in the field of home missions; and the positions taken on the slavery issue. The conflicts existing because of the first two things mentioned were going on when the slavery issue came into focus, but the slavery issue seemed to bring these others to a head and definitely point the schism to a North-South division instead of an East-West division which latter could have taken place had the slavery question not become a part of the issue.
These three are distinct issues, but they overlap each other in time and in substance. The method of organization, for example, is seen reflecting itself in the controversy on Home Missions, just as slavery is seen reflecting itself into the Home Mission controversy
