author
Ariel
1799–1883
Known by the pen name Ariel, this 19th-century American clergyman and publisher left a troubling mark through a notorious pamphlet that tried to give religious cover to racist ideas. His work drew attention in its day and continued to be cited by later white supremacist writers.
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About the author
Born in 1799, Buckner H. Payne was an American clergyman, publisher, and pamphleteer. He also wrote under the pseudonym Ariel, the name attached to his best-known work.
In 1867 he published Ariel: or the Ethnological Origin of the Negro, a pamphlet that argued for deeply racist and dehumanizing ideas. The tract stirred debate soon after publication, and other writers responded to challenge it. Although some contemporaries described him as a powerful debater, his reputation today rests largely on the harmful arguments he promoted.
Later accounts say Payne spent time in an asylum in Davidson County, Tennessee, and he died in 1883. Because reliable pages reviewed here did not provide a usable portrait image, no profile image is included.