Emphasizing education, the First Baptist congregation also created one of the earliest local schools for black children in the nation. From its beginning, the congregation was led by black pastors. In the wake of Nat Turner's slave rebellion in 1831, however, planters became so alarmed about the potential for religious messages to cause other revolts that they passed legislation in 1832 requiring that all black churches be led by white pastors. The planters believed they could ensure control of the message that whites would deliver. During this time, Thomas G. Keen was one of the ministers at First Baptist. After the Civil War, blacks took back control of their church and left the Southern Baptist Convention.