Upon the Altar of the Nation (81 page)
Read Upon the Altar of the Nation Online
Authors: Harry S. Stout
8
On the American flag as a “totem” of American civil religion, see Marvin and Ingle,
Blood Sacrifice and the Nation.
On the American flag as a “totem” of American civil religion, see Marvin and Ingle,
Blood Sacrifice and the Nation.
10
On the rise of the penny press, see Mott’s classic
American Journalisrn.
See also Henkin,
City Reading,
and Leonard,
News for All.
On the rise of the penny press, see Mott’s classic
American Journalisrn.
See also Henkin,
City Reading,
and Leonard,
News for All.
12
Ibid., April 14, 1861.
Ibid., April 14, 1861.
14
Ibid., April 13, 1861. On the cultural phenomenon of “making” the news, see Schudson,
Discovering the News.
Ibid., April 13, 1861. On the cultural phenomenon of “making” the news, see Schudson,
Discovering the News.
17
Northern confidence in their superiority was a commonplace. One typical sentiment, expressed by the Reverend John S. C. Abbott, was unabashedly confident: “Should the Cotton states secede, they will make but a feeble nation.... Should the South
provoke war,
it is ruined beyond redemption.... Dreadful, beyond imagining, to the South, will be that hour when civil war shall be seriously introduced. May God, in mercy, save them from the awful doom.” In
An Address upon Our National Affairs,
13.
Northern confidence in their superiority was a commonplace. One typical sentiment, expressed by the Reverend John S. C. Abbott, was unabashedly confident: “Should the Cotton states secede, they will make but a feeble nation.... Should the South
provoke war,
it is ruined beyond redemption.... Dreadful, beyond imagining, to the South, will be that hour when civil war shall be seriously introduced. May God, in mercy, save them from the awful doom.” In
An Address upon Our National Affairs,
13.
18
The Age,
May 4, 1861. The only known surviving copy of
The Age
is housed at the American Antiquarian Society. I am indebted to Professor Patricia Cohen for calling this source to my attention.
The Age,
May 4, 1861. The only known surviving copy of
The Age
is housed at the American Antiquarian Society. I am indebted to Professor Patricia Cohen for calling this source to my attention.
20
Ibid., April 20, 1861.
Ibid., April 20, 1861.
22
Richmond Examiner,
July 16, 1861. From newspaper circulation rates it is clear that most newspaper-reading inhabitants subscribed to both a religious and a secular paper. It is, therefore, as important to examine the secular press as well as denominational papers in reconstructing religious meanings in Richmond. The secular papers contained some but not much religious material in their columns, and taken by themselves would give a very different picture of the power and pervasiveness of religion in Richmond public discourse and Confederate ideology than that which appears in the religious press. Interestingly, Beringer et al.,
Why the South Lost the Civil War,
derive much of their evidence for religion’s supposed abandonment of the Confederacy from the secular press.
Richmond Examiner,
July 16, 1861. From newspaper circulation rates it is clear that most newspaper-reading inhabitants subscribed to both a religious and a secular paper. It is, therefore, as important to examine the secular press as well as denominational papers in reconstructing religious meanings in Richmond. The secular papers contained some but not much religious material in their columns, and taken by themselves would give a very different picture of the power and pervasiveness of religion in Richmond public discourse and Confederate ideology than that which appears in the religious press. Interestingly, Beringer et al.,
Why the South Lost the Civil War,
derive much of their evidence for religion’s supposed abandonment of the Confederacy from the secular press.
24
Andrews, “The Confederate Press,” 464, n78.
Andrews, “The Confederate Press,” 464, n78.
25
Ibid., 463, n77.
Ibid., 463, n77.
28
Wise is quoted in W.M.E.R., “The Thanksgiving Day Contention,” 9-11.
4. “THE DAY OF THE POPULACE”Wise is quoted in W.M.E.R., “The Thanksgiving Day Contention,” 9-11.
1
On the lack of (fictional) literary classics emerging from the Civil War, see
Wilson, Patriotic Gore,
and Aaron,
Unwritten War.
On writers and intellectuals in the Civil War, see Masur,
“The Real War Will Never Get in the Books,”
and Fredrickson’s classic
Inner Civil War.
On the lack of (fictional) literary classics emerging from the Civil War, see
Wilson, Patriotic Gore,
and Aaron,
Unwritten War.
On writers and intellectuals in the Civil War, see Masur,
“The Real War Will Never Get in the Books,”
and Fredrickson’s classic
Inner Civil War.
5
Ibid., 163.
Ibid., 163.
8
Higginson, “Ordeal by Battle,” 8, reprinted in Masur,
“The Real War Will Never Get in the Books,”
184, 186.
Higginson, “Ordeal by Battle,” 8, reprinted in Masur,
“The Real War Will Never Get in the Books,”
184, 186.
14
See Perry Miller,
Errand into the Wilderness;
Miller,
The New England Mind;
and Bercovitch,
American Jeremiad.
See Perry Miller,
Errand into the Wilderness;
Miller,
The New England Mind;
and Bercovitch,
American Jeremiad.
15
Elsewhere I have traced the rhetorical transformation of the jeremiad from theocracy to democracy in
New England Soul.
Elsewhere I have traced the rhetorical transformation of the jeremiad from theocracy to democracy in
New England Soul.
18
Independent,
January 1, 1861. On the development of the nineteenth-century religious press, see Nord, “Systematic Benevolence,” in Sweet,
Communication and Change in American Religious History,
239-69.
Independent,
January 1, 1861. On the development of the nineteenth-century religious press, see Nord, “Systematic Benevolence,” in Sweet,
Communication and Change in American Religious History,
239-69.
19
I have counted column space given over to religious and general news in a sampling of religious newspapers from 1860 to 1865 (cited throughout this book), and find that with the onset of war the ratio of general to religious news almost reverses, so that for every column of religious news there are three or four columns of general news.
I have counted column space given over to religious and general news in a sampling of religious newspapers from 1860 to 1865 (cited throughout this book), and find that with the onset of war the ratio of general to religious news almost reverses, so that for every column of religious news there are three or four columns of general news.
23
Ibid.
Ibid.
25
Hodge,
State of the Country
(reprinted from the
Princeton Review,
January 1861). For a summary of the issues raised by this pamphlet, see VanderVelde,
Presbyterian Churches and the Federal Union,
33—36.
Hodge,
State of the Country
(reprinted from the
Princeton Review,
January 1861). For a summary of the issues raised by this pamphlet, see VanderVelde,
Presbyterian Churches and the Federal Union,
33—36.
27
Now published in Tennessee, the
Christian Recorder
is the oldest continually published black newspaper in the United States. See Williams,
Christian Recorder,
12.
Now published in Tennessee, the
Christian Recorder
is the oldest continually published black newspaper in the United States. See Williams,
Christian Recorder,
12.
30
Ibid.
Ibid.
34
On the “Christianization” of the South, see Loveland,
Southern Evangelicals and the Social Order,
and Schweiger,
The Gospel Working Up.
In claiming Christianity as the most powerful cultural system in the antebellum South, I do not mean to imply it was the only one. Powerful competing systems emerged defined by the slaveholding elite, a cultural heritage of violence, and the culture of honor. For especially good summaries of these, see Wyatt-Brown,
Shaping of Southern Culture; Stowe, Intimacy and Power in the Old South;
and Genovese,
Slaveholders’ Dilemma.
On the “Christianization” of the South, see Loveland,
Southern Evangelicals and the Social Order,
and Schweiger,
The Gospel Working Up.
In claiming Christianity as the most powerful cultural system in the antebellum South, I do not mean to imply it was the only one. Powerful competing systems emerged defined by the slaveholding elite, a cultural heritage of violence, and the culture of honor. For especially good summaries of these, see Wyatt-Brown,
Shaping of Southern Culture; Stowe, Intimacy and Power in the Old South;
and Genovese,
Slaveholders’ Dilemma.
35
Smyth,
The Sin and the Curse,
11-12. The Reverend Benjamin Palmer issued an almost identical argument in New Orleans; see
Slavery, a Divine Trust
published in
Fast Day Sermons.
For an admirable summation of South Carolina clerical reflection on slavery, labor, religion, and morality, see Sinha,
Counterrevolution of Slavery,
and Snay,
Gospel of Disunion.
Smyth,
The Sin and the Curse,
11-12. The Reverend Benjamin Palmer issued an almost identical argument in New Orleans; see
Slavery, a Divine Trust
published in
Fast Day Sermons.
For an admirable summation of South Carolina clerical reflection on slavery, labor, religion, and morality, see Sinha,
Counterrevolution of Slavery,
and Snay,
Gospel of Disunion.
37
Thomas Smyth Papers, 1830—1861, Third Notebook, July 31, 1861, William R. Perkins Library, Duke University.
Thomas Smyth Papers, 1830—1861, Third Notebook, July 31, 1861, William R. Perkins Library, Duke University.
41
A reading room on Eleventh Street in Richmond kept on file all the city papers and all available papers from every state, city, and town in the South. See Kimball,
Starve or Fall,
74.
A reading room on Eleventh Street in Richmond kept on file all the city papers and all available papers from every state, city, and town in the South. See Kimball,
Starve or Fall,
74.
42
Southern Churchman,
April 25, 1862. Religious presses such as the Episcopal
Southern Churchman
and the
Southern Presbyterian
printed “a Religious Family Newspaper” on their mastheads. Virtually all religious weeklies registered a family focus with sections particularly directed at women and young readers. They also assumed that they were the only source of news. A writer for the
Central Presbyterian
responded on November 24, 1860, to criticisms that the paper included too much secular news with the observation that “many of our subscribers read no other paper. [Our] chief purpose, in this day, is to furnish instructive and useful reading, to discuss religious and ecclesiastical topics, to arouse and develop the Christian zeal and efforts of the church, and to help forward the cause of truth and righteousness.” A female writer to the same paper on December 18, 1862, however, informed the editors that her family had other sources of news: “We read the latest news through the week, the Bible and our own ‘Southern Presbyterian’ on the Sabbath.”
Southern Churchman,
April 25, 1862. Religious presses such as the Episcopal
Southern Churchman
and the
Southern Presbyterian
printed “a Religious Family Newspaper” on their mastheads. Virtually all religious weeklies registered a family focus with sections particularly directed at women and young readers. They also assumed that they were the only source of news. A writer for the
Central Presbyterian
responded on November 24, 1860, to criticisms that the paper included too much secular news with the observation that “many of our subscribers read no other paper. [Our] chief purpose, in this day, is to furnish instructive and useful reading, to discuss religious and ecclesiastical topics, to arouse and develop the Christian zeal and efforts of the church, and to help forward the cause of truth and righteousness.” A female writer to the same paper on December 18, 1862, however, informed the editors that her family had other sources of news: “We read the latest news through the week, the Bible and our own ‘Southern Presbyterian’ on the Sabbath.”
45
Richmond Christian Advocate,
March 26, 1861. On the doctrinal underpinnings of secession, see Farmer,
Metaphysical Confederacy.
5. “TO RECOGNIZE OUR DEPENDENCE UPON GOD”Richmond Christian Advocate,
March 26, 1861. On the doctrinal underpinnings of secession, see Farmer,
Metaphysical Confederacy.
1
The national motto was formally introduced on the Confederacy’s seal in 1863. See Bonner,
Colors and Blood,
115—16.
The national motto was formally introduced on the Confederacy’s seal in 1863. See Bonner,
Colors and Blood,
115—16.
2
Nineteenth-century churchmen were acutely aware of the absence of God in the federal Constitution and the implications of this for Christian nationhood. See Stout, “Rhetoric and Reality in the American Revolution,” in Noll,
Religion and Politics,
62-76. Southern interpretations of the significance and meaning of the Constitution in the context of new nation-forming are described in Coulter,
Confederate States of America,
and Emory M. Thomas,
Confederate Nation.
Nineteenth-century churchmen were acutely aware of the absence of God in the federal Constitution and the implications of this for Christian nationhood. See Stout, “Rhetoric and Reality in the American Revolution,” in Noll,
Religion and Politics,
62-76. Southern interpretations of the significance and meaning of the Constitution in the context of new nation-forming are described in Coulter,
Confederate States of America,
and Emory M. Thomas,
Confederate Nation.
3
See Stout and Grasso, “Civil War, Religion, and Communications,” in Randall M. Miller et al.,
Religion and the American Civil War,
313-59.
See Stout and Grasso, “Civil War, Religion, and Communications,” in Randall M. Miller et al.,
Religion and the American Civil War,
313-59.
4
In Love’s calendar of printed fast and thanksgiving sermons, only 7 of 622 titles originated in the South. See Love,
Fast and Thanksgiving Days of New England.
In Love’s calendar of printed fast and thanksgiving sermons, only 7 of 622 titles originated in the South. See Love,
Fast and Thanksgiving Days of New England.
5
In
Confederate Morale and Church Propaganda,
64-65, James W. Silver lists the following Confederate fasts: June 13, 1861; November 15, 1861; May 16, 1862; September 18, 1862; March 27, 1863; August 21, 1863; April 8, 1864; November 16, 1864; March 10, 1865. In addition, Basil Manly lists February 28, 1862, “Day of Pub. humiliation, fasting and prayer, appointed by the President of the Confederate States.” See Hoole, “The Diary of Dr. Basil Manly,” 227. Abraham Lincoln proclaimed fasts for September 26, 1861, April 30, 1863, and August 4, 1864. In addition, Lincoln proclaimed four thanksgiving days and Davis two. I have recovered the texts of Davis’s proclamations from the Confederate newspapers. Lincoln’s proclamations are reprinted in Sickel,
Thanksgiving.
In
Confederate Morale and Church Propaganda,
64-65, James W. Silver lists the following Confederate fasts: June 13, 1861; November 15, 1861; May 16, 1862; September 18, 1862; March 27, 1863; August 21, 1863; April 8, 1864; November 16, 1864; March 10, 1865. In addition, Basil Manly lists February 28, 1862, “Day of Pub. humiliation, fasting and prayer, appointed by the President of the Confederate States.” See Hoole, “The Diary of Dr. Basil Manly,” 227. Abraham Lincoln proclaimed fasts for September 26, 1861, April 30, 1863, and August 4, 1864. In addition, Lincoln proclaimed four thanksgiving days and Davis two. I have recovered the texts of Davis’s proclamations from the Confederate newspapers. Lincoln’s proclamations are reprinted in Sickel,
Thanksgiving.
6
In
Confederate Morale and Church Propaganda,
64-65, James W. Silver points to the ubiquity of fast sermons in the South, but by limiting his concept of religion to a form of “propaganda,” Silver misses the ritual power of the fast day to shape a people’s view of itself in war. More recently, Faust has summarized the fast-day jeremiad in
Creation of Confederate Nationalism,
26-27, in terms that recognize its inclusive significance as “a recurrent occasion for clerical solemnization of this marriage of sacred and secular.” Also useful is Daniel,
Southern Protestantism in the Confederacy.
In
Confederate Morale and Church Propaganda,
64-65, James W. Silver points to the ubiquity of fast sermons in the South, but by limiting his concept of religion to a form of “propaganda,” Silver misses the ritual power of the fast day to shape a people’s view of itself in war. More recently, Faust has summarized the fast-day jeremiad in
Creation of Confederate Nationalism,
26-27, in terms that recognize its inclusive significance as “a recurrent occasion for clerical solemnization of this marriage of sacred and secular.” Also useful is Daniel,
Southern Protestantism in the Confederacy.
7
Davis’s proclamation was reprinted in virtually every Confederate religious and secular newspaper.
Davis’s proclamation was reprinted in virtually every Confederate religious and secular newspaper.
8
Barten,
Sermon Preached in St. James Church,
11. g. Before the Civil War, virtually all Southern Protestants agreed that the doctrine of the spirituality of the church precluded the sort of “federal covenant” on which public fasts rested and through which “political sermons” were preached. See Leith, “Spirituality of the Church,” in Hill,
Encyclopedia of Religion in the South,
731, and Farmer,
Metaphysical Confederacy,
256—60.
Barten,
Sermon Preached in St. James Church,
11. g. Before the Civil War, virtually all Southern Protestants agreed that the doctrine of the spirituality of the church precluded the sort of “federal covenant” on which public fasts rested and through which “political sermons” were preached. See Leith, “Spirituality of the Church,” in Hill,
Encyclopedia of Religion in the South,
731, and Farmer,
Metaphysical Confederacy,
256—60.
14
Data calculated from Crandall,
Confederate Imprints,
and Harwell,
More Confederate Imprints.
Crandall and Harwell list 1,146 religious titles in 2,828 unofficial publications (these figures exclude periodicals, newspapers, and sheet music).
Data calculated from Crandall,
Confederate Imprints,
and Harwell,
More Confederate Imprints.
Crandall and Harwell list 1,146 religious titles in 2,828 unofficial publications (these figures exclude periodicals, newspapers, and sheet music).
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