David Rex Galindo
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603264
- eISBN:
- 9781503604087
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603264.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This chapter focuses on Franciscan temporary missions known as misiones populares, which were aimed at eradicating what the missionaries viewed as deviant practices and to reform the customs of ...
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This chapter focuses on Franciscan temporary missions known as misiones populares, which were aimed at eradicating what the missionaries viewed as deviant practices and to reform the customs of Catholics in communities. On the basis of the foundational documents of the colegios de propaganda fide, it is clear that the conversion of Catholics was paramount for Franciscan missionaries. The chapter first offers some conceptual clarification regarding religious conversion from a Franciscan perspective before discussing the techniques and methods of the Franciscan missionary program of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Spanish Atlantic world. It also considers the religious culture that stemmed from missionary activities within the frame of global salvation and shows that all Franciscan colleges carried out itinerant missions in their own dioceses along with neighboring bishoprics and, in some cases, distant dioceses, with help from bishops and archbishops.Less
This chapter focuses on Franciscan temporary missions known as misiones populares, which were aimed at eradicating what the missionaries viewed as deviant practices and to reform the customs of Catholics in communities. On the basis of the foundational documents of the colegios de propaganda fide, it is clear that the conversion of Catholics was paramount for Franciscan missionaries. The chapter first offers some conceptual clarification regarding religious conversion from a Franciscan perspective before discussing the techniques and methods of the Franciscan missionary program of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Spanish Atlantic world. It also considers the religious culture that stemmed from missionary activities within the frame of global salvation and shows that all Franciscan colleges carried out itinerant missions in their own dioceses along with neighboring bishoprics and, in some cases, distant dioceses, with help from bishops and archbishops.
David Rex Galindo
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603264
- eISBN:
- 9781503604087
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603264.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This chapter focuses on the contents of sermons and pláticas preached in the Franciscan popular missions. Franciscan missionaries from the apostolic colleges of propaganda fide conducted itinerant ...
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This chapter focuses on the contents of sermons and pláticas preached in the Franciscan popular missions. Franciscan missionaries from the apostolic colleges of propaganda fide conducted itinerant preaching campaigns on the streets of hamlets, towns, haciendas, and cities throughout Spain and Spanish America. They were armed with a tailored message aimed at converting sinners and ensuring their eternal salvation. In addition to their doctrinal purpose to convert nominal Catholics, written sermons and pláticas were used as textbooks for missionary training. The chapter first provides an overview of the Franciscan science of oratory—homiletics, the art of religious preaching, or ars praedicandi—before discussing the Franciscan friars' preachings about moral, social, and political virtues. It shows how missionaries viewed colonial society while also providing an idea of the intellectual background of sermon authors.Less
This chapter focuses on the contents of sermons and pláticas preached in the Franciscan popular missions. Franciscan missionaries from the apostolic colleges of propaganda fide conducted itinerant preaching campaigns on the streets of hamlets, towns, haciendas, and cities throughout Spain and Spanish America. They were armed with a tailored message aimed at converting sinners and ensuring their eternal salvation. In addition to their doctrinal purpose to convert nominal Catholics, written sermons and pláticas were used as textbooks for missionary training. The chapter first provides an overview of the Franciscan science of oratory—homiletics, the art of religious preaching, or ars praedicandi—before discussing the Franciscan friars' preachings about moral, social, and political virtues. It shows how missionaries viewed colonial society while also providing an idea of the intellectual background of sermon authors.
David Rex Galindo
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603264
- eISBN:
- 9781503604087
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603264.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This chapter examines the missionary training program in the Franciscan colleges for the propagation of Catholicism, focusing on the collegial curriculum, especially instruction in moral theology and ...
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This chapter examines the missionary training program in the Franciscan colleges for the propagation of Catholicism, focusing on the collegial curriculum, especially instruction in moral theology and languages. The objective of the Franciscan Order's college training program was to provide missionaries with pedagogic and epistemological techniques to help them in their evangelical endeavors, particularly preaching skills. Franciscan friars in the colegios were exposed to a stringent daily life and training in linguistics, philosophy, and theology. Franciscan missionaries and preachers were trained to become assertive evangelical ministers at the vanguard of the Catholic religion in the early modern world. The chapter discusses the specific elements of the Franciscan training program in the colegios de propaganda fide, what and how veteran missionaries and reformers contributed to college curricula, and quotidian life in the college. It also describes the curriculum reforms pursued by the Franciscan colleges.Less
This chapter examines the missionary training program in the Franciscan colleges for the propagation of Catholicism, focusing on the collegial curriculum, especially instruction in moral theology and languages. The objective of the Franciscan Order's college training program was to provide missionaries with pedagogic and epistemological techniques to help them in their evangelical endeavors, particularly preaching skills. Franciscan friars in the colegios were exposed to a stringent daily life and training in linguistics, philosophy, and theology. Franciscan missionaries and preachers were trained to become assertive evangelical ministers at the vanguard of the Catholic religion in the early modern world. The chapter discusses the specific elements of the Franciscan training program in the colegios de propaganda fide, what and how veteran missionaries and reformers contributed to college curricula, and quotidian life in the college. It also describes the curriculum reforms pursued by the Franciscan colleges.
David Rex Galindo
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603264
- eISBN:
- 9781503604087
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603264.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This book examines the role played by the Franciscan friars of propaganda fide in the expansion and consolidation of Catholicism in the eighteenth-century Hispanic world. More specifically, it ...
More
This book examines the role played by the Franciscan friars of propaganda fide in the expansion and consolidation of Catholicism in the eighteenth-century Hispanic world. More specifically, it investigates the conversion agenda of the Franciscan Order's Colleges for the Propagation of the Faith and their missionaries in Spanish America and Spain. It shows how Franciscan colleges developed an extensive, methodical missionary program aimed at converting both Catholics and non-Christians. The Franciscan missionaries focused not only on the recruitment of non-Catholics for their eternal salvation under the umbrella of the Church, but also on the salvation of the sinners who were otherwise condemned to hell. This introduction provides a summary of the chapters that follow, covering topics such as the recruitment of novices and friars, the missionary training program in the Franciscan colleges, the misiones populares, and the contents of sermons and pláticas preached in the popular missions.Less
This book examines the role played by the Franciscan friars of propaganda fide in the expansion and consolidation of Catholicism in the eighteenth-century Hispanic world. More specifically, it investigates the conversion agenda of the Franciscan Order's Colleges for the Propagation of the Faith and their missionaries in Spanish America and Spain. It shows how Franciscan colleges developed an extensive, methodical missionary program aimed at converting both Catholics and non-Christians. The Franciscan missionaries focused not only on the recruitment of non-Catholics for their eternal salvation under the umbrella of the Church, but also on the salvation of the sinners who were otherwise condemned to hell. This introduction provides a summary of the chapters that follow, covering topics such as the recruitment of novices and friars, the missionary training program in the Franciscan colleges, the misiones populares, and the contents of sermons and pláticas preached in the popular missions.
David Rex Galindo
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603264
- eISBN:
- 9781503604087
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603264.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This chapter focuses on the recruitment of novices and friars to become Franciscan missionaries. To convert the Hispanic world, Franciscan colleges for the propagation of Catholicism had to recruit ...
More
This chapter focuses on the recruitment of novices and friars to become Franciscan missionaries. To convert the Hispanic world, Franciscan colleges for the propagation of Catholicism had to recruit friars. In this regard, they were highly effective. Throughout the eighteenth century, the colleges became the most successful recruiting force of Peninsular personnel for the Americas in a trans-Atlantic flux that underscores the Spanishness of the propaganda fide institution. The chapter examines how a Franciscan college went about its business of enlisting missionaries by describing the selection process as well as the level of education of novices and friars before admission to a college. It also considers the motivations of the young men and the requirements set by the colleges. It shows that the recruitment of Spanish friars relied on guidelines and templates that appointed commissioners who traveled to Spain on enlistment missions.Less
This chapter focuses on the recruitment of novices and friars to become Franciscan missionaries. To convert the Hispanic world, Franciscan colleges for the propagation of Catholicism had to recruit friars. In this regard, they were highly effective. Throughout the eighteenth century, the colleges became the most successful recruiting force of Peninsular personnel for the Americas in a trans-Atlantic flux that underscores the Spanishness of the propaganda fide institution. The chapter examines how a Franciscan college went about its business of enlisting missionaries by describing the selection process as well as the level of education of novices and friars before admission to a college. It also considers the motivations of the young men and the requirements set by the colleges. It shows that the recruitment of Spanish friars relied on guidelines and templates that appointed commissioners who traveled to Spain on enlistment missions.
David Rex Galindo
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603264
- eISBN:
- 9781503604087
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603264.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This epilogue discusses the Franciscan missionaries' evangelism on the periphery of the Spanish empire in relation to the themes of the book, and more specifically how they put their knowledge into ...
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This epilogue discusses the Franciscan missionaries' evangelism on the periphery of the Spanish empire in relation to the themes of the book, and more specifically how they put their knowledge into effect to convert frontier native peoples. It first considers how the frontier ministry borrowed from the Franciscan colleges' training ethos and the conversion of Catholics before highlighting the challenges posed by frontiers to the missionaries. It then shows how Franciscan friars preached, catechized, and introduced a Christian way of life in line with their Catholicism during frontier missions. For the Franciscan missionaries, conversion went beyond recruiting non-Catholics for their eternal salvation under the umbrella of the Church; it also meant the salvation of the sinners who were otherwise condemned to hell. The discussion concludes with a commentary that puts the Franciscan colleges squarely at the center of historiographic debates that connect early modern colonialism, global Catholicism, and the missions.Less
This epilogue discusses the Franciscan missionaries' evangelism on the periphery of the Spanish empire in relation to the themes of the book, and more specifically how they put their knowledge into effect to convert frontier native peoples. It first considers how the frontier ministry borrowed from the Franciscan colleges' training ethos and the conversion of Catholics before highlighting the challenges posed by frontiers to the missionaries. It then shows how Franciscan friars preached, catechized, and introduced a Christian way of life in line with their Catholicism during frontier missions. For the Franciscan missionaries, conversion went beyond recruiting non-Catholics for their eternal salvation under the umbrella of the Church; it also meant the salvation of the sinners who were otherwise condemned to hell. The discussion concludes with a commentary that puts the Franciscan colleges squarely at the center of historiographic debates that connect early modern colonialism, global Catholicism, and the missions.
David Rex Galindo
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781503603264
- eISBN:
- 9781503604087
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503603264.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
For 300 years, Franciscans were at the forefront of the spread of Catholicism in the New World. In the late seventeenth century, Franciscans developed a far-reaching, systematic missionary program in ...
More
For 300 years, Franciscans were at the forefront of the spread of Catholicism in the New World. In the late seventeenth century, Franciscans developed a far-reaching, systematic missionary program in Spain and the Americas. After founding the first college of propaganda fide in the Mexican city of Querétaro, the Franciscan Order established six additional colleges in New Spain, ten in South America, and twelve in Spain. From these colleges Franciscans proselytized Native Americans in frontier territories as well as Catholics in rural and urban areas in eighteenth-century Spain and Spanish America. This is the first book to study these colleges, their missionaries, and their multifaceted, sweeping missionary programs. By focusing on the recruitment of non-Catholics to Catholicism as well as the deepening of religious fervor among Catholics, the book shows how the Franciscan colleges expanded and shaped popular Catholicism in the eighteenth-century Spanish Atlantic world. This book explores the motivations driving Franciscan friars, their lives inside the colleges, their training, and their ministry among Catholics, an often-overlooked duty that paralleled missionary deployments. It argues that Franciscan missionaries aimed to reform or “reawaken” Catholic parishioners just as much as they sought to convert non-Christian Native Americans.Less
For 300 years, Franciscans were at the forefront of the spread of Catholicism in the New World. In the late seventeenth century, Franciscans developed a far-reaching, systematic missionary program in Spain and the Americas. After founding the first college of propaganda fide in the Mexican city of Querétaro, the Franciscan Order established six additional colleges in New Spain, ten in South America, and twelve in Spain. From these colleges Franciscans proselytized Native Americans in frontier territories as well as Catholics in rural and urban areas in eighteenth-century Spain and Spanish America. This is the first book to study these colleges, their missionaries, and their multifaceted, sweeping missionary programs. By focusing on the recruitment of non-Catholics to Catholicism as well as the deepening of religious fervor among Catholics, the book shows how the Franciscan colleges expanded and shaped popular Catholicism in the eighteenth-century Spanish Atlantic world. This book explores the motivations driving Franciscan friars, their lives inside the colleges, their training, and their ministry among Catholics, an often-overlooked duty that paralleled missionary deployments. It argues that Franciscan missionaries aimed to reform or “reawaken” Catholic parishioners just as much as they sought to convert non-Christian Native Americans.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804770866
- eISBN:
- 9780804773812
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804770866.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This chapter examines the liturgical and religious music brought by Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries to New Spain and ultimately to the frontier missions during the period from 1500 to 1800. It ...
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This chapter examines the liturgical and religious music brought by Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries to New Spain and ultimately to the frontier missions during the period from 1500 to 1800. It explains that the sacred music of the liturgy helped to foster group identity among believers and missionaries and that musical devotion represented an outward sign of inner piety and a restatement of personal belief. This chapter mentions that each religious order developed their own specific rules and practices regarding the place of music in their communities.Less
This chapter examines the liturgical and religious music brought by Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries to New Spain and ultimately to the frontier missions during the period from 1500 to 1800. It explains that the sacred music of the liturgy helped to foster group identity among believers and missionaries and that musical devotion represented an outward sign of inner piety and a restatement of personal belief. This chapter mentions that each religious order developed their own specific rules and practices regarding the place of music in their communities.
Cameron D. Jones
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781503604315
- eISBN:
- 9781503608382
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503604315.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
By the early 1700s, the vast scale of Spanish empire led crown authorities to rely on local institutions to carry out their political agenda, including religious orders like the Franciscan mission of ...
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By the early 1700s, the vast scale of Spanish empire led crown authorities to rely on local institutions to carry out their political agenda, including religious orders like the Franciscan mission of Santa Rosa de Ocopa in the Peruvian Amazon. This book follows the Ocopa missions throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a period marked by events such as the indigenous Juan Santos Atahualpa Rebellion and the 1746 Lima earthquake. Caught between the directives of the Spanish crown and the challenges of missionary work on the Amazon frontier, the missionaries of Ocopa found themselves at the center of a struggle over the nature of colonial governance. This book examines the changes that Spain’s far-flung empire experienced from borderland Franciscan missions in Peru to the court of the Bourbon monarchy in Madrid, arguing that the Bourbon clerical reforms that broadly sought to bring the empire under greater crown control were shaped in turn by groups throughout the Americas, including Ocopa friars, the Amerindians and Africans in their missions, and bureaucrats in Lima as well as Madrid. Far from isolated local incidents, the book argues, these conflicts were representative of the political struggles over clerical reform occurring throughout Spanish America on the eve of Independence.Less
By the early 1700s, the vast scale of Spanish empire led crown authorities to rely on local institutions to carry out their political agenda, including religious orders like the Franciscan mission of Santa Rosa de Ocopa in the Peruvian Amazon. This book follows the Ocopa missions throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a period marked by events such as the indigenous Juan Santos Atahualpa Rebellion and the 1746 Lima earthquake. Caught between the directives of the Spanish crown and the challenges of missionary work on the Amazon frontier, the missionaries of Ocopa found themselves at the center of a struggle over the nature of colonial governance. This book examines the changes that Spain’s far-flung empire experienced from borderland Franciscan missions in Peru to the court of the Bourbon monarchy in Madrid, arguing that the Bourbon clerical reforms that broadly sought to bring the empire under greater crown control were shaped in turn by groups throughout the Americas, including Ocopa friars, the Amerindians and Africans in their missions, and bureaucrats in Lima as well as Madrid. Far from isolated local incidents, the book argues, these conflicts were representative of the political struggles over clerical reform occurring throughout Spanish America on the eve of Independence.
Steven W. Hackel (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520295391
- eISBN:
- 9780520968165
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520295391.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
In September 2015, Junípero Serra was canonized by Pope Francis in Washington, D.C. Like most complex historical figures, Junípero Serra has been interpreted in countless ways since his death in ...
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In September 2015, Junípero Serra was canonized by Pope Francis in Washington, D.C. Like most complex historical figures, Junípero Serra has been interpreted in countless ways since his death in 1784, and he is often contextualized mainly in California despite his time spent elsewhere. This book situates Serra in the context of all the major places that he lived, learned, and proselytized: Mallorca, Central Mexico, and Alta California. And it draws upon scholarship from all three regions to create a rare glimpse into the life of the saint in multiple cultural dimensions. Its essays discuss Serra’s use of music and art, his representation in popular culture, his education, and ideology, Franciscan influences, the plans and building of his missions, as well as the Native people affected by his missions, and other important topics revolving around his life and the history of Serra and the Catholic church in Mexico and California.Less
In September 2015, Junípero Serra was canonized by Pope Francis in Washington, D.C. Like most complex historical figures, Junípero Serra has been interpreted in countless ways since his death in 1784, and he is often contextualized mainly in California despite his time spent elsewhere. This book situates Serra in the context of all the major places that he lived, learned, and proselytized: Mallorca, Central Mexico, and Alta California. And it draws upon scholarship from all three regions to create a rare glimpse into the life of the saint in multiple cultural dimensions. Its essays discuss Serra’s use of music and art, his representation in popular culture, his education, and ideology, Franciscan influences, the plans and building of his missions, as well as the Native people affected by his missions, and other important topics revolving around his life and the history of Serra and the Catholic church in Mexico and California.
Charles Montgomery
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520229716
- eISBN:
- 9780520927377
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520229716.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This compelling narrative traces the history of the upper Rio Grande's modern Spanish heritage, showing how Anglos and Hispanos sought to redefine the region's social character by glorifying its ...
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This compelling narrative traces the history of the upper Rio Grande's modern Spanish heritage, showing how Anglos and Hispanos sought to redefine the region's social character by glorifying its Spanish colonial past. This book demonstrates that northern New Mexico's twentieth-century Spanish heritage owes as much to the coming of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1880 as to the first Spanish colonial campaign of 1598. As the railroad brought capital and migrants into the region, Anglos posed an unprecedented challenge to Hispano wealth and political power. Yet unlike their counterparts in California and Texas, the Anglo newcomers could not wholly displace their Spanish-speaking rivals. Nor could they segregate themselves or the upper Rio Grande from the image, well-known throughout the Southwest, of the disreputable Mexican. Instead, prominent Anglos and Hispanos found common cause in transcending the region's Mexican character. Turning to colonial symbols of the conquistador, the Franciscan missionary, and the humble Spanish settler, they recast northern New Mexico and its people.Less
This compelling narrative traces the history of the upper Rio Grande's modern Spanish heritage, showing how Anglos and Hispanos sought to redefine the region's social character by glorifying its Spanish colonial past. This book demonstrates that northern New Mexico's twentieth-century Spanish heritage owes as much to the coming of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1880 as to the first Spanish colonial campaign of 1598. As the railroad brought capital and migrants into the region, Anglos posed an unprecedented challenge to Hispano wealth and political power. Yet unlike their counterparts in California and Texas, the Anglo newcomers could not wholly displace their Spanish-speaking rivals. Nor could they segregate themselves or the upper Rio Grande from the image, well-known throughout the Southwest, of the disreputable Mexican. Instead, prominent Anglos and Hispanos found common cause in transcending the region's Mexican character. Turning to colonial symbols of the conquistador, the Franciscan missionary, and the humble Spanish settler, they recast northern New Mexico and its people.
Keith Ashley and Rebecca Douberly-Gorman
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781683402510
- eISBN:
- 9781683403364
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9781683402510.003.0002
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
In 1587, Franciscan missionaries established San Juan del Puerto on present-day Fort George Island, Florida. Located immediately north of the St. Johns River, this Mocama mission lasted until its ...
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In 1587, Franciscan missionaries established San Juan del Puerto on present-day Fort George Island, Florida. Located immediately north of the St. Johns River, this Mocama mission lasted until its forced abandonment at the hands of British-sponsored slave raiders in 1702. The archaeological site of San Juan has been known since the 1950s. Drawing on the results of intermittent archaeological testing over the past 60 years, this chapter explores the layout of the mission community on Fort George Island. Information is presented on the potential location of the church, council house, and Indian village. Consideration is also given to the layout of other Mocama mission communities in northeastern Florida.Less
In 1587, Franciscan missionaries established San Juan del Puerto on present-day Fort George Island, Florida. Located immediately north of the St. Johns River, this Mocama mission lasted until its forced abandonment at the hands of British-sponsored slave raiders in 1702. The archaeological site of San Juan has been known since the 1950s. Drawing on the results of intermittent archaeological testing over the past 60 years, this chapter explores the layout of the mission community on Fort George Island. Information is presented on the potential location of the church, council house, and Indian village. Consideration is also given to the layout of other Mocama mission communities in northeastern Florida.
Margaret M. McGuinness and James T. Fisher
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823282760
- eISBN:
- 9780823286263
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823282760.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the history of U.S. Catholicism, which is traced back to the efforts of Franciscan missionaries in the sixteenth-century Southwest prior to ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the history of U.S. Catholicism, which is traced back to the efforts of Franciscan missionaries in the sixteenth-century Southwest prior to the arrival of Anglo-Protestants along the Eastern Seaboard, and then moved on to Jesuits in New France (Canada) early in the following century. By 1850, Catholicism was the largest religious denomination in the United States, and remains so to this day. American Protestant Christianity has always boasted a substantial aggregate majority of religious adherents, but Protestantism was broken into so many movements by the mid-nineteenth century that no single Protestant group equaled in size the nation's Catholic populace. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the history of U.S. Catholicism, which is traced back to the efforts of Franciscan missionaries in the sixteenth-century Southwest prior to the arrival of Anglo-Protestants along the Eastern Seaboard, and then moved on to Jesuits in New France (Canada) early in the following century. By 1850, Catholicism was the largest religious denomination in the United States, and remains so to this day. American Protestant Christianity has always boasted a substantial aggregate majority of religious adherents, but Protestantism was broken into so many movements by the mid-nineteenth century that no single Protestant group equaled in size the nation's Catholic populace. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.
