John C. Pinheiro
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199948673
- eISBN:
- 9780199380794
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199948673.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
While evangelicals Protestants were refining a civil-religious discourse for America that depended for its intelligibility on anti-Catholicism, nativist political leaders were adopting Christian ...
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While evangelicals Protestants were refining a civil-religious discourse for America that depended for its intelligibility on anti-Catholicism, nativist political leaders were adopting Christian symbolism and religious terminology during the schools controversy of the early 1840s. Lyman Beecher led the way in fusing traditional, theological, and Enlightenment anti-Catholicism with nativism and evangelical impulses. This “Beecherite Synthesis” appealed to common definitions of liberty and republicanism and was founded on a belief that Providence had reserved a special role for the United States in world history. This rapidly developing discourse proved universal for most white Americans and allowed them to understand themselves, their role in the advancement of civil and religious liberty, the heretofore mysterious ways of Providence, and the meaning of America. By 1844, nativists understood the ultimate goals of their movement in anti-Catholic terms. Americans, however, were not yet convinced of Beecher’s primary claim: that the West promised to be the battleground between Catholicism and a practical civil liberty that required Protestantism to survive.Less
While evangelicals Protestants were refining a civil-religious discourse for America that depended for its intelligibility on anti-Catholicism, nativist political leaders were adopting Christian symbolism and religious terminology during the schools controversy of the early 1840s. Lyman Beecher led the way in fusing traditional, theological, and Enlightenment anti-Catholicism with nativism and evangelical impulses. This “Beecherite Synthesis” appealed to common definitions of liberty and republicanism and was founded on a belief that Providence had reserved a special role for the United States in world history. This rapidly developing discourse proved universal for most white Americans and allowed them to understand themselves, their role in the advancement of civil and religious liberty, the heretofore mysterious ways of Providence, and the meaning of America. By 1844, nativists understood the ultimate goals of their movement in anti-Catholic terms. Americans, however, were not yet convinced of Beecher’s primary claim: that the West promised to be the battleground between Catholicism and a practical civil liberty that required Protestantism to survive.
Bridget Ford
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469626222
- eISBN:
- 9781469628028
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469626222.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: Civil War
This chapter describes rising tensions between Protestants and Catholics and the outbreak of religious violence in Ohio and Kentucky in the 1850s. It reveals intense efforts to proselytize across the ...
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This chapter describes rising tensions between Protestants and Catholics and the outbreak of religious violence in Ohio and Kentucky in the 1850s. It reveals intense efforts to proselytize across the Ohio River Valley, and the conflicts resulting from heated competition between Protestants and Catholics. This first chapter reveals the growth of powerful churches and missionary organizations based in urban Ohio and Kentucky, and especially in Cincinnati and Louisville. These Protestant and Catholic institutions sought to evangelize throughout the entire Ohio River valley. The chapter treats black and white Protestant revivals and evangelism, and reveals Catholics’ deep interest in fostering missions throughout the region.Less
This chapter describes rising tensions between Protestants and Catholics and the outbreak of religious violence in Ohio and Kentucky in the 1850s. It reveals intense efforts to proselytize across the Ohio River Valley, and the conflicts resulting from heated competition between Protestants and Catholics. This first chapter reveals the growth of powerful churches and missionary organizations based in urban Ohio and Kentucky, and especially in Cincinnati and Louisville. These Protestant and Catholic institutions sought to evangelize throughout the entire Ohio River valley. The chapter treats black and white Protestant revivals and evangelism, and reveals Catholics’ deep interest in fostering missions throughout the region.
