Religion in the American South

Religion in the American South
Author: Beth Barton Schweiger
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2005-10-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 080787597X

This collection of essays examines religion in the American South across three centuries--from the beginning of the eighteenth century to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The first collection published on the subject in fifteen years, Religion in the American South builds upon a new generation of scholarship to push scholarly conversation about the field to a new level of sophistication by complicating "southern religion" geographically, chronologically, and thematically and by challenging the interpretive hegemony of the "Bible belt." Contributors demonstrate the importance of religion in the South not only to American religious history but also to the history of the nation as a whole. They show that religion touched every corner of society--from the nightclub to the lynching tree, from the church sanctuary to the kitchen hearth. These essays will stimulate discussions of a wide variety of subjects, including eighteenth-century religious history, conversion narratives, religion and violence, the cultural power of prayer, the importance of women in exploiting religious contexts in innovative ways, and the interracialism of southern religious history. Contributors: Kurt O. Berends, University of Notre Dame Emily Bingham, Louisville, Kentucky Anthea D. Butler, Loyola Marymount University Paul Harvey, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Jerma Jackson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lynn Lyerly, Boston College Donald G. Mathews, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Jon F. Sensbach, University of Florida Beth Barton Schweiger, University of Arkansas Daniel Woods, Ferrum College

Science, Race, and Religion in the American South

Science, Race, and Religion in the American South
Author: Lester D. Stephens
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2003-07-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 0807861197

In the decades before the Civil War, Charleston, South Carolina, enjoyed recognition as the center of scientific activity in the South. By 1850, only three other cities in the United States--Philadelphia, Boston, and New York--exceeded Charleston in natural history studies, and the city boasted an excellent museum of natural history. Examining the scientific activities and contributions of John Bachman, Edmund Ravenel, John Edwards Holbrook, Lewis R. Gibbes, Francis S. Holmes, and John McCrady, Lester Stephens uncovers the important achievements of Charleston's circle of naturalists in a region that has conventionally been dismissed as largely devoid of scientific interests. Stephens devotes particular attention to the special problems faced by the Charleston naturalists and to the ways in which their religious and racial beliefs interacted with and shaped their scientific pursuits. In the end, he shows, cultural commitments proved stronger than scientific principles. When the South seceded from the Union in 1861, the members of the Charleston circle placed regional patriotism above science and union and supported the Confederate cause. The ensuing war had a devastating impact on the Charleston naturalists--and on science in the South. The Charleston circle never fully recovered from the blow, and a century would elapse before the South took an equal role in the pursuit of mainstream scientific research.

Christianity and Race in the American South

Christianity and Race in the American South
Author: Paul Harvey
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2016-11-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 022641549X

The history of race and religion in the American South is infused with tragedy, survival, and water—from St. Augustine on the shores of Florida’s Atlantic Coast to the swampy mire of Jamestown to the floodwaters that nearly destroyed New Orleans. Determination, resistance, survival, even transcendence, shape the story of race and southern Christianities. In Christianity and Race in the American South, Paul Harvey gives us a narrative history of the South as it integrates into the story of religious history, fundamentally transforming our understanding of the importance of American Christianity and religious identity. Harvey chronicles the diversity and complexity in the intertwined histories of race and religion in the South, dating back to the first days of European settlement. He presents a history rife with strange alliances, unlikely parallels, and far too many tragedies, along the way illustrating that ideas about the role of churches in the South were critically shaped by conflicts over slavery and race that defined southern life more broadly. Race, violence, religion, and southern identity remain a volatile brew, and this book is the persuasive historical examination that is essential to making sense of it.

The South and the North in American Religion

The South and the North in American Religion
Author: Samuel S. Hill
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Total Pages: 174
Release: 2007-12-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0820331317

In this comparative history of religious life in the South and the North, Samuel Hill considers the religions of America from a unique angle. Tracing the religious history of both areas, this study dramatically shows how a common religion was altered by hostilities and then continued to develop as separate entities until recently. Coming almost full circle, both North and South now find their religions again to be highly similar. Two factors, Hill believes, were major influences in the diversification of the regional religions: the presence of Afro-Americans as an underclass of people with a distinctive role to play in the development of southern religious life, and the presence or absence of a large immigrant population. Hill's overall purpose is to answer the questions: How did there come to be a South (without which there would not have been a North)? Why is the South the heartland of Evangelical Protestantism and a kind of "Bible belt"? What historical developments dispatched the two regions on distinctive courses, religiously and otherwise? How much interaction has there been between the religious institutions of the two regions? How similar and divergent have the cultural patterns, styles, and values been in "the South" and "the North"?

Religion and the American Revolution

Religion and the American Revolution
Author: Katherine Carté
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2021-04-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 1469662655

For most of the eighteenth century, British protestantism was driven neither by the primacy of denominations nor by fundamental discord between them. Instead, it thrived as part of a complex transatlantic system that bound religious institutions to imperial politics. As Katherine Carte argues, British imperial protestantism proved remarkably effective in advancing both the interests of empire and the cause of religion until the war for American independence disrupted it. That Revolution forced a reassessment of the role of religion in public life on both sides of the Atlantic. Religious communities struggled to reorganize within and across new national borders. Religious leaders recalibrated their relationships to government. If these shifts were more pronounced in the United States than in Britain, the loss of a shared system nonetheless mattered to both nations. Sweeping and explicitly transatlantic, Religion and the American Revolution demonstrates that if religion helped set the terms through which Anglo-Americans encountered the imperial crisis and the violence of war, it likewise set the terms through which both nations could imagine the possibilities of a new world.

Religion and the American Civil War

Religion and the American Civil War
Author: Randall M. Miller
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 437
Release: 1998-11-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199923663

The sixteen essays in this volume, all previously unpublished, address the little considered question of the role played by religion in the American Civil War. The authors show that religion, understood in its broadest context as a culture and community of faith, was found wherever the war was found. Comprising essays by such scholars as Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Drew Gilpin Faust, Mark Noll, Reid Mitchell, Harry Stout, and Bertram Wyatt-Brown, and featuring an afterword by James McPherson, this collection marks the first step towards uncovering this crucial yet neglected aspect of American history.

The Politics of American Religious Identity

The Politics of American Religious Identity
Author: Kathleen Flake
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2004
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780807855010

Between 1901 and 1907, a coalition of Protestant churches sought to expel newly elected Reed Smoot from the Senate for being a Mormon. Here, Kathleen Flake shows how the subsequent investigative hearing ultimately mediated a compromise between Progressive Era Protestantism and Mormonism and resolved the nation's long-standing "Mormon Problem."

Religion in the Old South

Religion in the Old South
Author: Donald G. Mathews
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 295
Release: 1977
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0226510026

"A major study of American cultural history, a book distinguished both for its careful research and for its innovative interpretations. . . . Professor Mathews's book is an explanation of what religion meant in the everyday lives of southern whites and blacks. It is indispensable reading not just for those who want to know more about the Old South but for anyone who wants to understand the South today."—David Herbert Donald, Harvard University "A major achievement—a magnificently provocative contribution to the understanding of the history of religion in America."—William G. McLoughlin, Book Reviews "A meticulous and well-documented study . . . In the changing connotations of the word 'liberty' lie most of the dilemmas of Southern (and American) history, dilemmas Dr. Mathews analyses with considerable penetration."—Times Literary Supplement "The most compact and yet comprehensive view of the Old South in its religious dimension that is presently available. This is a pioneering work by one who is widely read in the sources and is creative enough to synthesize and introduce fresh themes. . . . He makes a unique contribution to southern historiography which will act as a corrective upon earlier works. . . . Boldly stated, every library that consults Choice should purchase this volume."—Choice "Mathews presents us with the findest and grandest history of old southern religion that one could imagine finding in so short a book on so large a topic. . . . Here stands in its own right a masterpiece of regional historiography of religion in America."—William A. Clebsch, Reviews in American History

Themes in Religion and American Culture

Themes in Religion and American Culture
Author: Philip Goff
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2005-10-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0807875821

Designed to serve as an introduction to American religion, this volume is distinctive in its approach: instead of following a traditional narrative, the book is arranged thematically. Eleven chapters by top scholars present, in carefully organized and accessible fashion, topics and perspectives fundamental to the understanding of religion in America. Some of the chapters treat aspects of faith typical to most religious groups, such as theology, proselytization, supernaturalism, and cosmology. Others deal with race, ethnicity, gender, the state, economy, science, diversity, and regionalism--facets of American culture that often interact with religion. Each topical essay is structured chronologically, divided into sections on pre-colonial, colonial, revolutionary and early republican, antebellum, postbellum and late nineteenth-century, early twentieth-century, and modern America. One can study the extended history of a certain theme, or read "across" the book for a study of all the themes during a specific period in history. This book's new approach offers a rich analysis of the genuine complexity of American religious life. With a helpful glossary of basic religious terms, movements, people, and groups, this book will become an essential tool for students and teachers of religion. Contributors: Yvonne Chireau, Swarthmore College Amy DeRogatis, Michigan State University William Durbin, Washington Theological Union Tracy Fessenden, Arizona State University James German, State University of New York, Potsdam Philip Goff, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis Paul Harvey, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Sue Marasco, Vanderbilt University Winnifred Fallers Sullivan, University of Chicago Divinity School Roberto Trevino, University of Texas, Arlington David Weaver-Zercher, Messiah College

The Myth of American Religious Freedom

The Myth of American Religious Freedom
Author: David Sehat
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2011-01-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199793115

In the battles over religion and politics in America, both liberals and conservatives often appeal to history. Liberals claim that the Founders separated church and state. But for much of American history, David Sehat writes, Protestant Christianity was intimately intertwined with the state. Yet the past was not the Christian utopia that conservatives imagine either. Instead, a Protestant moral establishment prevailed, using government power to punish free thinkers and religious dissidents. In The Myth of American Religious Freedom, Sehat provides an eye-opening history of religion in public life, overturning our most cherished myths. Originally, the First Amendment applied only to the federal government, which had limited authority. The Protestant moral establishment ruled on the state level. Using moral laws to uphold religious power, religious partisans enforced a moral and religious orthodoxy against Catholics, Jews, Mormons, agnostics, and others. Not until 1940 did the U.S. Supreme Court extend the First Amendment to the states. As the Supreme Court began to dismantle the connections between religion and government, Sehat argues, religious conservatives mobilized to maintain their power and began the culture wars of the last fifty years. To trace the rise and fall of this Protestant establishment, Sehat focuses on a series of dissenters--abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, socialist Eugene V. Debs, and many others. Shattering myths held by both the left and right, David Sehat forces us to rethink some of our most deeply held beliefs. By showing the bad history used on both sides, he denies partisans a safe refuge with the Founders.