This comprehensive narrative account of religion in America from the sixteenth century through the present depicts the religious life of the American people within the context of American society. It addresses topics ranging from the European origins of American religious thought and the diversity of religion in America, to the relation of nationhood with religious practice and the importance of race, ethnicity, and gender in American religious history. Split into four parts this textbook covers:
- Religion in a Colonial Context, 1492-1789
- The New Nation, 1789-1865
- Years of Midpassage, 1865-1918
- Modern America, 1918- Present
This new edition has been thoroughly updated to include further discussion of colonialism, religious minorities, space and empire, religious freedom, emotion, popular religion, sexuality, the ascent of the "nones," Islamophobia, and the development of an American mission to the world.
With a detailed timeline, illustrations and maps throughout, and an accompanying companion website Religion in America is the perfect introduction for students new to the study of this topic who wish to understand the key themes, places, and people who shaped the world as we know it today.
Preface
Introduction: Land, People, and Nation
The Geography of the Nation
The Ethnography of the Nation
Religious Pluralism
Regionalism
Common Cause and Intolerance
Studying American Religious History
The Colonial Frame
Space
Secularity
Post-/911
Part 1 Religion in a Colonial Context, 1492-1789
Chapter One: Backgrounds and Beginnings
Native Peoples
A Distinctive Worldview
Belief and Performance
A myth of Purity and Decay
Catholic Missionaries
The Protestant Reformation and the Council of Trent
Feelings of Enchantment
The Spanish Religious Interest
Old Spain and New Spain
"The Friars were watching"
French Missions and Institution’s
Religious Disagreements and the Problem of Organization
Catholicism in the St. Lawrence Valley
Institutional Support
Chapter Two: The Atlantic World
Protestant Predominance in the English Colonies
The Puritan Heritage
Religious Diversity
A New Beginning in a New Land
The Importance of the Laity
The Breakdown of the Parish System
The Possibility of Thoroughgoing Reform
The Sense of Expectancy
Religious Enemies
Religious Characteristics of the Different Colonies
The Southern Colonies
The New England Colonies
The Middle Colonies
The English-Speaking Denominations
The Anglicans
The Congregationalists
The Presbyterians
The Baptists
The Quakers
The Roman Catholics
Denominations of Continental Origin
The Dutch and the French Reformed
Mennonites, Dunkers and Moravians
The German Lutherans and the German Reformed
The Jews
Everyday Religious Belief and Practice
Chapter Three: The Great Awakening
Transatlantic Influences
The Transmission of Ritual Forms
Theological Change and Public Piety in New England
The First Stirrings of Revival
Theodore J. Frelinghuysen
The Tennents
Jonathan Edwards
The Great Awakening
"The Grand Itinerant"
The Mounting Opposition
The Southern Phase of the Awakening
The Impact of the Awakening
Institutional Consequences
The Theological Temper Generated by the Awakening
The Denominational Concept
Chapter Four: The Birth of the Republic
Religion and Politics
The Puritan Political Heritage
Fear of Anglican Expansion
Deism
The Winning of Independence
The Attitude of the Various Denominations
The Role of the Clergy
Religious Freedom
Separation of Church and State
African Traditions and Christianization
Part Two: The New Nation, 1789-1865
Chapter Five: The Republic and the Churches
The Mission of America
The Religion of the Republic
Church Religion
The Reordering of Denominational Life
Anglicans
Congregationalists, Presybterians, and Baptists
Methodists and "Christians"
Roman Catholics
Estimating the Influence of the Churches
Chapter Six: Protestant Expansion and Consolidation
The Second Awakening
Camp Meetings
New Measures
Roles for Women
Settler Colonialism, Race, and Religion
Missionary Societies
Voluntary Societies and a National Strategy
The Mood of the South
Overseas Missions
Chapter Seven: The Broadening of Denominational life
Unitarians and Universalists
The Emergence of African American Denominations
The Female Majority
Antebellum Roman Catholicism
Jewish Communities
Rationalists, Scientists and Transcendentalists
Migration to East to West
The Businessmen’s Revival
Chapter Eight: Visions of Religious Community
The Utopian Vision
The Shakers
The Oneida Community
Transcendentalism's "Wild Oats"
New Visions
The Mormons
The Millerites
The Spiritualists
The Humanitarian Impulse
The Expanding Concern
The Disruption of the Churches
Mediation and Conflict
Intolerance
Space and Empire
Part Three Years of Midpassage, 1865-1918
Chapter Nine: Post-Civil War America
Reconstituting the Nation
The Bond of Religion
The Failure of Reconstruction
The Southern Churches
The Churches and the Freedmen
The Growth of African American Churches
Renewal of Home Missionary Concern
Church Extension in the West
Native Americans and Christian Missions
Urban Revivalism
The Sunday School Movement
Chapter Ten: The New Americans
The Response of the Older Americans
Nativist Concerns
Protestant-Catholic Tensions
Protestant Ministries to the Immigrants
Adjustments and Tensions within Roman Catholicism
Institutional Developments
"Americanism"
Other Immigrant Faiths and Accessions
Lutheran Accessions
Other Protestant Accessions
Judaism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Chapter Eleven: The New Intellectual Climate
Protestant Liberalism
The Fundamental Issue of Biblical Authority
Evangelical Liberalism
Scientific Modernism
Unbelief
Protestant Conservatism
New Departures
The Religion of Humanity
Wisdom from the East
Science, Religion, Health
Chapter Twelve: New Frontiers for the Churches
The Roles of Women and Men
Churchgoing Women
The Segregated Clergy
Social Reform
Religious Innovation
Masculinizing Religion
The Challenge of the Cities
New Techniques for City Churches
The Institutional Church
The Churches and the Economic Order
The Gospel of Wealth
The Feeling of Emptiness and Consumer Culture
Social Discontent
The Social Gospel
The "Progressive" Movement
Dollar Diplomacy and Religion
The Evangelization of the World
Part 4 Modern America, 1918
Chapter Thirteen: The Shifting Religious Configuration
Judaism
Reform Judaism
The Great Immigration
Reconstructionism and Zionism
Jewish Religious Revivals at Mid-Century
Eastern Orthodox Christianity
The Orthodox Churches
Orthodoxy in America
"Disaffected" Protestants
The Holiness Movement
Pentecostalism
Millennialism
The Black Churches
Mid-Twentieth-Century Religious Profile
Chapter Fourteen: Protestant Transition and New Religions
The Transitional Years
The Postwar Generation
The Fundamentalist Controversy
The Business of Religion
Religions From Other Lands
Islam
African Americans and Islam
Buddhism
Hinduism
Resistance to Asian Religions
New Religious Movements
Chapter Fifteen: Resurgence, Reform, and Renewal
The Protestant Religious Resurgence of the Mid-Twentieth Century
Reform: African Americans and Social Justice
The Renewal of Roman Catholicism
The Aftermath of World War One
Increase in Numbers and Wealth
Changing Status of Catholics in American Life
Social Reform
Intellectual life
The Religious Revival
Interfaith Relationships
Evangelical Growth and Mainstream Protestant Decline
Chapter Sixteen: Congregations and Coalitions
The Religious Right
Dominion Theology
Roman Catholics: From Euphoria to Scandal
Euphoria and Vacillation
Dissidence
Retrenchment
Hispanic Catholicism
The Scandal of Sexual Abuse
Religion and Identity
Hispanic Catholicism
The Decline of Judaism
Native Americans and the Land
Nature Religion, Holistic Living, and Healing
Chapter Seventeen: Moral Divisions: Religion After 9/11
Islamophobia
Religious Freedom
Sexuality
Environment
Economy and Society: Three Religious Movements
WTO Protests
Occupy
Black Lives Matter
The Nones
Secularity
The Marketplace of Religion
Biography
John Corrigan is Lucius Moody Bristol Distinguished Professor of Religion and Professor of History at Florida State University, USA.
This edition updates an older classic, bringing together the strengths of different approaches to understanding the history of religion in America, maintaining a vigorous narrative throughout, and incorporating the newest research in diverse religious groups. An ideal text for courses in American religious history. Paul Harvey, University of Colorado, USA
For decades, Religion in America by John Corrigan and Winthrop Hudson has been a classic. This new edition is the best yet. Not only is this book an authoritative history, it is also an excellent guide to the diverse and conflicted marketplace of religion in America today. Religion in America brings the American religious past and present into dialog better than any other book available. James P. Byrd, Vanderbilt University, USA.
In the 9th edition of the classic text, Religion in America, Corrigan continues the tradition started with the publication of the early editions by his late co-author, Winthrop Hudson, over fifty years ago. This work provides an informative, comprehensive, readable, and balanced religious history of the United States from colonial times to the present. In each succeeding revision by Professor Corrigan he has over the years succeeded in making appropriate improvements upon the previous solid text. For close to 30 years I have utilized Religion in Americaas a main text in my American Religious History classes and look forward to having students read this fine ninth edition. Sandy D. Martin, The University of Georgia, USA.
