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Religion in Nineteenth Century America
JON BUTLER & HARRY S. STOUT GENERAL EDITORS
Religion in Nineteenth Century America Grant Wacker
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS New York • Oxford
For Julia, who turned ideals into deeds Americorps City Year, San Jose 1998-99 Oxford University Press Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris Sao Paulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright © 2000 Grant Wacker Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wacker, Grant. Religion in 19th century America/by Grant Wacker p. cm. — (Religion in American life) Includes bibliographic references and index. Summary: Tours the ever-shifting landscape of 19th-century America, reflecting the constant change of religious life in that century. ISBN 0-19-511021-8 (alk. Paper) 1. United States—Religion—19th century—Juvenile literature. 2. United States—Church history—19th century—Juvenile literature. [1. United States—Church history—19th century.] I. Tide. II. Series. BL2525.W33 2000 200'.973'09034—dc21 99-088938 ISBN 0-19-511021-8 (library edition) 987654321 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Design and layout: Loraine Machlin Picture research: Lisa Kirchner On the cover: Vespers by Gari Julius Melchers Frontispiece: Presbyterian Mission School employees and their children head home after Sunday church in Oklahoma.
Contents Editors' Introduction Jon Butler and Harry S. Stout Preface C H A P T E R
125
9
Conservatives C H A P T E R
109
8
Innovators C H A P T E R
93
7 7
Immigrants C H A P T E R
77
6
Warriors C H A P T E R
63
5
Outsiders C H A P T E R
47
4
Restorers C H A P T E R
31
_3 3
Visionaries C H A P T E R
13
2
Insiders C H A P T E R
10
1
Founders C H A P T E R
7
139
1 1 00
Adventurers
155
Epilogue
171
Chronology
173
Further Reading
177
Index
183
Editors' Introduction JON BUTLER & HARRY S. STOUT, GENERAL EDITORS
H
istory, as every historian knows, is about change over time. Anthropologists look at "culture," and sociologists analyze "society," but only historians tell stories that trace people and events over many generations. Thus it is important that this series examine not only individual religious groups, but also the interactions of these groups over three long periods of time: the colonial era, the 19th century, and the 20th century. In this volume Grant Wacker traces the middle period of America's religious past. He begins with the American Revolution and its novel separation of church and state. Nobody knew where this great experiment in religious liberty would lead. In this book we see how Americans of diverse religious traditions and heritages made their peace with, and even thrived in, the new republic. Along the way we see entirely new religious traditions emerge, and new challenges, with the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution. This book is part of a unique 17-volume series that explores the ev