American Religion after the Civil War
 The years after the Civil War saw America transform from an
agricultural society to an industrial economy based in the
cities
 Population of major cities grew rapidly
 New York: appr. 1.1 million in 1860, 3.4 million in 1890
 Chicago: appr. 100 in 1830, 1.6 million in 1900
 Immigration also accelerated, with most settling in cities with
industrial jobs
 Roughly 25 millions immigrants arrived within 50 years of
the Civil War
 In 1890, as much as 80% of New York’s population was
made of first or second generation immigrants
 Industrialization, immigration, and urbanization would have a
major impact on America’s diverse religious culture
 Existing religious groups had to adapt their methods of
organization and operation to the new cultural situation
 Religious groups, not the government, took responsibility
for meeting new social welfare needs
 Immigration from new areas of Europe brought new
religious orientations, even within pre-existent religious
groups like Catholicism and Judaism
 Three examples illustrate the tension wrought by these
changes:
 Number of Catholic adherents rose from 6.25 million in 1880
to 16.4 million in 1920, with Catholics accounting for over 60%
of national growth
 Because most were immigrants, parishes normally divided
along geographical lines were subdivided on ethnic, national,
linguistic lines
 Catholic schools developed to educate immigrant children,
distrusting the Protestant flavor of public schools
 Stress from this diversity had many implications:
 Inspired Americanism among native-born Catholics
 Challenged Catholic claims to universality because of
dominant ethnic flavor of many parishes
 Presented problems when some eastern Europeans
continued to follow the Eastern Rite and allow marriage
among priests
 Caused backlash of anti-Catholicism, as in Josiah Strong’s
Our Country
 Number of adherents to Judaism grew from 250,000 in
1880 to 3 million during WWI
 Because of isolation in various ethnic communities of
Europe, form of practice differed among immigrants
based on place of origin
 Joining the Reformed Judaism of the native born, who
were embarrassed by immigrant practices, various
strands developed in response to the American
environment:
 Orthodox Judaism
 Conservative Judaism
 Secularism Zionism
 Like Catholics, Jews developed social networks and
institutions to handle growth and sustain identity
 Longstanding Russian Orthodox communities existed in the
American West and in Alaska
 Jobs in the mining industry attracted Orthodox Christians of
various additional strands:
 Greek Orthodox
 Syrian Orthodox
 Armenian Orthodox
 Each strand continued to sustain its distinct form of practice
 Groups like the Young Men’s Christian Association provided
training and a platform for social action
 Revivalists like D.L. Moody and Billy Sunday called individuals
to return to the holiness sustained before problems of
urbanization and industrialization arose
 Concern for social welfare inspired groups like the Salvation
Army, but also caused some churches--“institutional
churches”—to expand services to meet urban needs (e.g.,
gyms, education, housing, etc.)
 Underlying Protestant responses to new challenges were two
different perspectives on the locus for change
 Some remained convinced that conversion of individual souls
would lead in turn to social change
 D.L. Moody
 Billy Sunday
 Others believed the problems were too great for an individual
approach, and that activists should target the social structures
directly
 Social Gospel
 Walter Rauschenbusch
 Washington Gladden
 The common thread through this period, however, was
optimism, a conviction that challenges could be met, society
reformed, an Eden established on earth.