The conference of 1819 witnessed a determined contest between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces, caused by an accusation made by Peter Cartwright,[44] that a number of ministers in the state were “living in constant violation of the discipline of the church.”[45] Felix Grundy and Andrew Jackson represented the two factions. “The discussion of the subject of slavery,” said Peter Cartwright, “worked up some bad feeling, and as we had at this conference to elect our delegates to the general conference which was to hold its session in Baltimore in May, 1820, these slaveholding preachers determined to form a ticket to exclude every one of us who were for the Methodist Discipline as it was, and is to this day. As soon as we found out their plans we formed an opposite ticket, excluding all advocates of slavery, and we elected every man on the ticket.”[46] Sixteen local preachers filed the following protest against the action of the conference in refusing to admit slaveholders to the office of deacon or elder: We deprecate the course taken as oppressively severe in itself and ruinous in its consequences, and we disapprove of the principle as contrary to and in violation of the order and discipline of our church. We, therefore, do most solemnly, and in the fear of God, as members of this conference, enter our protest against the proceedings of the conference as it related to the above-mentioned course and principle.[47] This protest was supported by the slaveholders, and laid before the general conference in 1820, but no definite action was ever taken on it.[48] The period from 1819 to 1824 was a transition period to some extent. There was no important action by any of the conferences during this period. Rev. John Johnson in 1820 proposed that the church recognize slavery as a municipal institution and try to humanize it.[49] This was the position that most of the churches had already taken on slavery. The struggle over slavery in Missouri revealed the earnestness of the forces on both sides. Anti-slavery leaders began to leave the state. Among the Methodists were Wesley Harrison, an influential layman, who went to Ohio; James Axley, a presiding elder; and Enoch Moore, a strong anti-slavery preacher.[50] It was in this period, says McFerrin, that “the church came to a standstill, and was in a measure paralyzed and powerless for good. As a means of averting greater evils, and saving the church if possible, colonization and emancipation societies were formed, and it was believed by many that such organizations did a great deal to prevent a serious rupture in the church till the storm passed over.”[51]