Religion in Age of Jackson
• “Religion, which never mixes directly in
government in America, must be regarded
as their primary political institution….I have
seen Americans form associations to send
priests to the new Western states, to found
schools and churches there; they fear that
religion might be lost in the wilderness....
‘All American republics are united,’ they
will say; ‘If the republics of the west were
to fall into anarchy, or submit to the yoke of
despotism, the republican institutions that
flourish along the Atlantic coast would be
threatened; it is thus in our interest to
ensure that the new States are religious, so
that they allow us to remain free.’” (pp.
87-88)
Lyman Beecher (1775-1863)
• 1814 Yale
Graduation
Address
Popular Religion Takes Over,
1776-1850
• “Adherence”
• Figures
Religious Adherents by
Denomination, 1776
Methodists
Roman Catholic
Baptists
Presbyterian
Episcopalian
Congregationalist
1776
0
20
1776
Methodists
2.5
Roman Catholic
1.8
Baptists
16.9
Presbyterian
19
Episcopalian
15.7
Congregationalist
20.4
40
Religious Adherents by
Denomination, 1776 and 1850
Methodists
Roman Catholics
Baptists
Presbyterians
Episcopalians
Congregationalists
1850
1776
0
20
40
1776
1850
Methodists
2.5
34.2
Roman Catholics
1.8
13.9
16.9
20.5
Presbyterians
19
11.6
Episcopalians
15.7
3.5
Congregationalists
20.4
4
Baptists
Popular Religion
• Religious Freedom
• Radicalism of the
Revolution
Factors behind Methodist Growth
• A New Kind of
Preacher
• Arminian Theology
• Organizational
Structure
Methodist Organization
•
•
•
•
Local Preachers
Exhorters
Class Leaders
Circuit Riders
Francis Asbury
Factors behind Methodist Growth
• A New Kind of
Preacher
• Arminian Theology
• Organizational
Structure
• “Enthusiasm”
Women and Methodism
• Methodist Worship
• Jarena Lee
African-American Christianity
• Preachers and Exhorters
• Henry Evans
• The Exodus Story
Independent Black Churches
• Richard Allen
• African Methodist
Episcopal Church
(AME), 1792
Mormonism
• Joseph Smith
• Family History
• Visions, the Angel
Moroni
• Book of Mormon,
1830
• Warnings in the Book
• Mormon Migration
Long-term Consequences of
Popular Religion?
60
50
40
30
% Religious
Adhernce
20
10
0
1776
1890
Year
1980