The Mennonites and Tunkers of Virginia both took stances against slavery long before the Civil War, and continued to hold these positions throughout the duration of the war. The two denominations believed slavery was wrong according to the teachings of Christ, and banished it from their churches. The Brethren accomplished this feat as early as 1782, and possibly before, but no minutes exist of their annual meetings before 1782 to prove such a claim. Concerning the Mennonites, it can only be safely determined that slavery was abolished in their denomination sometime before 1860. Peter Hartman claimed slavery was banned long before this date, but little other corroborating evidence exists on the subject. The Tunkers of Virginia showed an amazing sympathy for the plight of African Americans which was not commonly found among other whites of the South. The Tunkers showed this sympathy by banning slavery in their church and requiring slave-owners to educate their slave children before emancipation, and then to provide the freedman with new clothes and travel money. The Mennonites also showed they had a sympathy for the plight of blacks. They too had banned slavery within their denomination before the Civil War. Mennonites did not, however, totally prohibit the hiring of slaves provided they pay them, which may indicate they were not as staunchly opposed to the institution as the Tunkers were. For both denominations, members must have labored under extreme difficulty to end slavery within their churches in a slave state. The odds were stacked against the Mennonites and Tunkers succeeding, and yet both churches attempted to do so before the Civil War. One thing which can be determined about both groups, however, is they both maintained quiet stances in their opposition to slavery. The denominations felt it was too risky to take vocal stances against slavery in the South, so they simply kept their opposition to slavery within their own churches.