The Democratization of American ChristianityA provocative reassessment of religion and culture in the early days of the American republic "The so-called Second Great Awakening was the shaping epoch of American Protestantism, and this book is the most important study of it ever published."—James Turner, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
Winner of the John Hope Franklin Publication Prize, the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic book prize, and the Albert C. Outler Prize In this provocative reassessment of religion and culture in the early days of the American republic, Nathan O. Hatch argues that during this period American Christianity was democratized and common people became powerful actors on the religious scene. Hatch examines five distinct traditions or mass movements that emerged early in the nineteenth century—the Christian movement, Methodism, the Baptist movement, the black churches, and the Mormons—showing how all offered compelling visions of individual potential and collective aspiration to the unschooled and unsophisticated. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 56
... minds of ordinary people but the realization that the very structures of society were undergoing a democratic winnowing. Political convulsions seemed cataclysmic; the cement of an ordered society seemed to be dissolving. People ...
... minds of ordinary people but the realization that the very structures of society were undergo- ing a democratic winnowing . Political convulsions seemed cataclysmic ; the cement of an ordered society seemed to be dissolving . People ...
... minds unlike our own , to explore the assumptions , beliefs , and rhetorical strategies of obscure Amer- icans who played significant roles in the religious affairs of the nation . This book seeks to plumb the pamphlets , booklets ...
... minds only , but ultimately by the people at large , as a system of groveling doctrines , and debasing precepts , lowering the character of man to a degree , beneath even his natural degra- dation . " In this vein , Dwight was delighted ...
... minds and breaking into print . A writer identify- ing himself as " Baptist " wrote in The Patriot , or Scourge of Aristocracy ( Stonington - Port , Connecticut ) in 18o1 to explain how he could no longer remain " neuter in opinion in ...
Contents
3 | |
17 | |
49 | |
67 | |
The Sovereign Audience | 125 |
The Right to Think for Oneself | 162 |
Upward Aspiration and Democratic Dissent | 193 |
The Recurring Populist | 210 |
A Sampling of Anticlerical | 227 |
Notes | 244 |
Index | 305 |
Other editions - View all
The Democratization of American Christianity Nathan O. Hatch,Professor Nathan O Hatch Limited preview - 1989 |