the words and doctrines of the Bible. Historian Claude Clegg writes that at the time of the Second Great Awakening, there was a movement to create a narrative of a mutually beneficial relationship between slaves and masters. This was increasingly tied to the doctrine of the Church as a means of justifying the system of slavery. In 1837, southerners in the Presbyterian denomination joined forces with conservative northerners to drive the antislavery New School Presbyterians out of the denomination. In 1844, the Methodist Episcopal Church split into northern and southern wings over the issue of slavery. In 1845, the Baptists in the South formed the Southern Baptist Convention due to disputes with Northern Baptists over slavery and missions. Some members of fringe Christian groups like the Christian Identity movement, the Ku Klux Klan (an organization which is dedicated to the "empowerment of the white race"), and Aryan Nations still argue that slavery is justified by Christian doctrine. Slavery in the Americas The Christianisation of Europe in the Early Middle Ages saw the traditional slavery disappearing in Europe and being replaced with feudalism. But this consensus was broken in the slave states of the United States, where the justification switched from religion (the slaves are heathens) to race (Africans are the descendants of Ham); indeed, in 1667, the Virginian assembly enacted a bill declaring that baptism did not grant freedom to slaves. In 1680, the Spanish colonial government in Florida offered freedom to escaped slaves who made it into the colony and converted to Catholicism. This offer was repeated multiple times. The opposition to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century was founded in part on the same religious ideas that had been used to justify slavery in the 19th century. Slavery was by no means relegated to the continental United States, as in addition to vast numbers of Native Americans slaves, it is estimated that for every slave who went to North America, South America imported nearly twelve slaves, with the West Indies importing over ten. By 1570 56,000 inhabitants were of African origin in the Caribbean. The introduction of Catholic Spanish colonies to the Americas resulted in, indentured servitude and even slavery to the indigenous peoples. Some Portuguese and Spanish explorers were quick to enslave the indigenous peoples encountered in the New World. The Papacy was firmly against this practice. In 1435 Pope Eugene IV issued an