Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, II (September 28, 1821 – August 14, 1874) was an American Presbyterian minister who served as Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction of Florida, and, along with U.S.

Though not much is known about the details of his early life, Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs grew up in a Philadelphia, where anti-black riots and violence were quite common.

[2] Following the death of his father in April 1831, Gibbs and his brother left the Free School to aid their ailing mother and earn a living.

Gibbs so impressed the Presbyterian assembly that it provided financial backing for him to attend Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire.

Notwithstanding Lord's views regarding slavery, which stemmed in large part from his belief that the institution was predicated on sin, he permitted several African Americans to attend the college.

Hodge, a Presbyterian minister, espoused the belief that "slavery as such was not condemned by Scripture but that the way it was practiced in the South perpetuated great evil."

[10] Gibbs, by now a young minister, married Anna Amelia Harris, the daughter of a well-to-do black New York merchant and his wife.

"[15] Following President Abraham Lincoln's announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, Gibbs delivered a sermon titled "Freedom's Joyful Day," emphasizing that whites should crush their prejudices and that blacks should be allowed to fight in the Civil War.

The question they are asking is simply this: Have white men of the North the same moral courage, the pluck, the grit, to lay down their foolish prejudice against the colored man and place him in a position where he can bear his full share of the toils and dangers of this war?

[17]Along with William Still, Gibbs fought for equal accommodations and transportation in Philadelphia, decrying segregation of the city's rail cars.

Nevertheless, thrice the number that have been thus raised for the defence of the country are daily and hourly compelled to endure all the outrages and inconveniences consequent upon rules so severe and inexorable as those which have hitherto governed the roads of Philadelphia.

He described postwar conditions: "The destitution and suffering of this people extended my wildest dream; old men and women bending to the ground, heads white with the frosts and hardships of many winters, as well as the innocent babe of a few weeks, contribute to make up this scene of misery.

"[22] Gibbs eventually settled in Charleston, South Carolina, where he became established in a local church and opened a school for the children of freedmen in 1865, Wallingford Academy.

The Report stated, "The condition of the freedmen, their native peculiarities, and the various influences to which they are subjected, have much to do in determining the success of missions, and the plan of the church's operation for their benefit.

"[23] This same report also illuminated the perspective of Northern missionaries in dealing with the situation, saying that newly freed blacks are passing through 'a howling wilderness' of social, political, and religious problems, as striking and peculiar as those found by the Israelites in their journey from the 'house of bondage' to the land of their fathers.

Assuming, for the most part, that the slaves had emerged from an experience of degradation and cultural barbarism, they expected to teach essential lessons in the proper conduct of faith, family, health, and livelihood as well as in the rudiments of reading and writing.

In a letter to his old friend, Charles Barrett of Vermont, Gibbs proudly stated that he "had one school that daily average in Charleston, 1000, children, and some 20 teachers.

Gibbs participated in a meeting of black delegates who drafted a petition demanding that the educated of both races be allowed to vote, suggesting that he may have had some elitism.

Another prominent black officeholder, Charles H. Pearce, remarked that "A man in this State, cannot do his whole duty as a minister except he looks out for the political interests of his people.

[31] Canter Brown, Jr. wrote of the resulting constitution that: While it established the state's most liberal charter to that date, it incorporated important restrictions on black political power.

Ultimately, the Mule Team coalition fractured in the wake of the successful election of a moderate Republican administration and Congressional approval of the 1868 Constitution.

Though Gibbs did not win the election to Congress, he was appointed Florida's Secretary of State, serving from 1868 to 1872, by Massachusetts-born Republican governor, Harrison Reed.

His son, Thomas Gibbs, was responsible for introducing legislation creating the State Normal College for Colored Students in 1885, forerunner of Florida A&M University.

Gibbs died on August 14, 1874, in Tallahassee, Florida, reportedly of apoplexy (stroke), "ostensibly from eating too heavy a dinner.