The Impact of Civil War and
Regionalism
Chapter 9
Religion and the Issue of Slavery
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In the years leading up to the Civil War, various
religious groups (most prominently among different
Christian denominations) found themselves caught
debating slavery as a religious issue
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Pro-slavery rhetoric turned from the “slavery-asnecessary-evil” tone to a defense of the institution of
slavery as God-ordained
Many like Theodore Dwight Weld and William Lloyd
Garrison, on the abolitionist/anti-slavery ticket, drew on
biblical teachings to prove the deviant and sinful nature
of slavery
Generally, opinions split between North and South,
though denominational ties often served to “moderate
the effects of growing regional distinctiveness” (124)
Divided Denominations
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However, as time progressed, even interdenominational bonds
could not stay the battle between pro-slavery and anti-slavery
factions in certain church traditions
 Methodists split along Northern and Southern lines, the crucial
issue being whether bishops could hold slaves
 Likewise, Baptists split into Northern and Southern
conventions over whether slaveholders could serve on
missions boards
Some groups, particularly those with a more centralized hierarchy
(i.e. Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism) did not split; individual
parishes would often split
Historian C.C. Goen puts forward the idea that the civil war was
precipitated, at least in part, by church divisions (126)
Civil War as Religious Moment
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In his famous Second Inaugural Address,
Abraham Lincoln described the fascinating
paradox that both the dueling Union and
Confederate armies saw their cause as just, as
sanctioned by God; both sought biblical
precedent and found it
Lincoln himself became a religious martyr for
the Union cause when he was assassinated
Nationalism was profoundly affected by the
civil war, particularly depending upon what side
of the conflict one found oneself
Religious Significance in Victory
and Defeat
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Union victory led Northerners to believe in the
righteousness of their cause and their industrialized
economy
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Horace Bushnell’s sermon “Our Obligations to the Dead”
was a paean to the sacrifices of those who had died; the
victory came at the hands of a “baptism of blood”
Below the Mason-Dixon Line, former Confederates did
not retrench nor retract their belief in the justice of their
cause
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Instead they adhered to a “religion of the lost cause”
(129), believing that God was punishing his chosen
people, as he had done many times before, in order to
bring them back to the virtuous fold
The African-American Experience
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The war, in spite of its purported cause, did not bring to
an end many of the adverse effects of slavery; in
certain places, racism and economic disparity were
more deeply entrenched post-war
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Many slaves, in spite of their emancipation, did not have
the resources or mobility to start afresh, thus forcing
them to remain as sharecroppers on their former
plantations
Given this, many African-American denominations
arose following the Civil War, allowing former slaves a
place to worship outside of the scrutinizing eyes of
their former masters
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The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and the
Methodist Episcopal Church are two prime examples
Regionalism in General
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Classically, America is a country that harbors a very
unique connection to time and space; settlers traveled
to a land to start history anew and encountered a
seemingly boundless sense of space upon which to
wander and enact their beliefs freely
Though “North” and “South” or “East” and “West” are
the primary geographical categories in any
consideration of regionalism in America, there are
other regional lines that profoundly affect the type and
tenor of religious practice/belief that occurs therein
Appalachia, Utah and the Southwest, and the
Northwest are all regions that have particular religious
characteristics specifically attuned to the geography
and history of that area
Regions within Regions
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Appalachia, a particularly mountainous region isolated
from much of the industrialization that occurred
outside, has bred several Christian traditions that boast
a holy connection to the land and a more charismatic
appeal to God iI.e. snake-handling practices reflect this
belief in superior relationship of humans, nature and
the divine)
The isolated and untouched nature of Utah and the
Southwest in the early 19th century enabled the
Church of Latter-Day Saints to grow as a movement,
but also to profoundly affect the character and religious
atmosphere of that region
Pacific and Northern Influences
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The Northwest became home to many traditions that
had not moved from the Eastern seaboard across to
the West, but had in fact traveled over the Pacific or
down from Alaska territory
Chinese and Japanese Americans brought with them
Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism; though because
of the “tight immigration policy” such religious practices
were generally “confined” to this one area (for a while
at least)
The Russian Orthodox Church, which had planted
roots in Alaska also trickled down into the American
religious landscape