Dependence on the Divine
How Religion Affected the Daily Lives of
American Citizens in the 19th Century
Jessica Randolph
Dr. Olsen
English 111 Honors
October 8, 2007
Tusculum College
Intro to Religion in the Nineteenth Century
What did the churches, the schools, and the businesses in the nineteenth
century all have in common?
They were all controlled by religious people. In fact, schools
did not start to be taken over by nonbelievers or
religiously neutral people until the end of the nineteenth
century (Marsden, 442). Articles, published fiction,
artwork, and teaching lessons all reinforced this idea of
dependence on an otherworldly, divine being.
People guided their entire lives by their choice of deity.
Popular Religions
Who came out on top?
Two main religions dominated America at that time: Christianity and Judaism. As the
former is an offshoot of the latter, the two did not have an overly hard time getting
along.
Louis Antoine Godey, Creator of Godey’s
Magazine and Lady’s Book
Starting Young
Louis Antoine Godey was a native New Yorker. He began
working for a newspaper when he turned fifteen, and
proceeded to earn enough money to move to Philadelphia
after a few years. Only two years thereafter, Godey published
his first Godey’s Magazine and Lady’s Book, which at the time
was merely a collection of French articles and fashions
(Briczinski para 1).
It’s clear from reading through a few issues of Godey’s Lady’s
Book that Louis Godey wanted to stress the importance of
religion in his magazine. Take, for instance, the image on the
next page:
Christ and the Woman of Samaria
Pictures such as this one,
titled “Christ and the Woman
of Samaria,” which was
engraved specifically for the
Lady's Book's use, showed the
emphasis Godey wished to
put on Christianity in his
magazine. This engraving
most probably depicts the
beginning of the well-known
tale of the “Woman of
Samaria” in the fourth chapter
of John in the Christian Bible.
In the picture, Jesus Christ
reaches out to the nameless
woman of Samaria, possibly
asking of her, “Give me to
drink.” This represents the
way in which Christ reaches
out to every person's heart,
and that the woman looks
away from him suggests that
she remains uncertain as to
whether or not she should
speak with him*, as many
people also have to decide in
their lifetimes.
The overall message of this
engraving, however, is not
present in the picture at all, but
rather in the biblical message
that lies behind it. The woman
of Samaria had been married
five times, and at the time of
meeting Christ at the well, she
was sleeping with a man to
whom she was not married.
After Christ convinces the
woman of his divinity, she
brings her entire household to
him to attain salvation and
quits her sinful ways. I believe
Godey meant to impart a
powerful message to his
readers: that no matter the
depth of their sins, or past
wrongdoings, or their race and
heritage, it is possible to
change, to attain salvation and
lead a clean and pure life.
* Samaritans and Jews were enemies, so to speak, and it was
inappropriate for them to interact in any way.
Religion in the Home Environment
Life Lived Right
Along with encouraging an altogether humble
and righteous life, Godey published articles
encouraging the spiritual growth of the
entire household. Since his magazine’s
target audience was women, the articles
that were published often appealed to their
motherly instincts, such as the published
essay on the following pages.
Religious Influences in the Country
By Rev. John L. Blake, D.D.
A MORE impressive scene is not known in rural life, nor, indeed, anywhere else, than the
sight of a whole population, for miles around, on a pleasant Sunday morning in the vernal
season, collecting for public worship on the church green. Everything without and
everything within conspires to produce the emotions of chastened piety. The noise and
bustle of labor were laid aside on the previous evening. Stillness reigns with undisturbed
dominion. The realm of nature, as if to join the general homage, is peculiarly lovely. The
rich and dense foliage of forests, waving in majesty and beauty; the grass, green and soft,
like velvet, in the meadows and upon the roadside; and perfumes of flowers and aromatics
everywhere regale the senses, and point upward to the Being that made and governs all. In
the midst of this quiet loveliness and overpowering suasion, as far as the eye can reach in
varied directions, family after family, each in a group by itself― those near by on foot, those
more distant in carriages― is slowly advancing, with pensive air, to mingle in the gathering
crowd. With what kind salutations do they greet each other! With what simplicity have they
adorned themselves! What a charming contrast between the surrounding verdure and the
white robes of the female youth, alike emblematical of unsullied innocence presumed to
exist at that period of life, and of the flowing vestures in which the righteous are
represented, in their glorified state, to surround the throne of God! Such an election of
vestments is a matter of philosophy as well as of good taste. Not absorbing the sun's rays,
like black, they of course are much cooler; and they may be supposed to denote those
personal ablutions particularly needful after six days' exposure to the dust when freely
perspiring, as all will perspire in labor under a summer sun. For these reasons, as well as for
their appropriateness in a religious view, it is a paradox that this subject is so little
appreciated. In the church, appropriate neatness of costume is a virtue tending to piety
itself; whereas, a gaudy and fantastic display of dress and ornament is in bad taste,
originating in pride, and tending to the desecration of the forms of religion.
Religious Influences, Cont.
However, it is not designed to discuss this subject here. Another one alluded to
deserves further consideration in speaking of the religious influences in the
country― it is the grouping of families, each family by itself, especially on Sunday.
There is around the fireside and the household altar, in these well-defined
associations, a melting pathos that cannot fail of touching the heart of the beholder.
There is in the relations between parents and children, and all of the same household,
a social chord which cannot be touched without sending its vibrations to every
human bosom. In all well-organized communities we see much to admire, especially
authority and submission, like the different shades of the landscape, so blended into
each other that it is difficult to define where either terminates and the other begins.
But in the family circle, where authority and submission are modified and made
sacred by the laws of consanguinity, where the one and the other is exercised in love,
like that which binds divinity and humanity in common fellowship, where all enjoy
one inheritance and are bound together by one instinct, we should be wanting in the
most precious sensibilities of our nature were we to prescribe limits to our
admiration and homage. So deeply engraven on the heart of man are the principles
that govern us in estimating this subject, that we gaze with unmeasured delight even
on analogous alliances grouped together in the brute creation. Who can fail to
experience pleasure on beholding, in all the grades of this creation, the parent with
her progeny following their respective instincts, till the latter ceases to need the
protection of the former? Who can feel no interest in the feathered songsters of the
forest, watching over and feeding their little responsibilities, if possible with more
than human assiduity? Who can feel no interest in beholding the female grunter
imparting nourishment to her sleek and portly young? And, if the ever faithful
barnyard fowl, with her sprightly retinue, is made by the inspired writer an emblem
of social fidelity, it surely is not beneath our dignity or the dignity of our subject that
we make kindred allusions.
Religious Influences, Cont.
Nevertheless, it is on occasions to which we have
alluded that the family group appears in more than
ordinary loveliness. As with all others in the Christian
temple, all the members of the household lay aside all
distinctions of ago, of authority, and of rank; and among
the most ardent of their aspirations is the one that they
may most faithfully and at all times perform the
corresponding duties which originate in the family
relation. Can parents thus unite in these hallowed
services and experience no increased feeling of
responsibility for a due regard to the welfare of those by
nature and religion made dependent on them? And can
children thus unite in them without being the more
impressed with their own duties for love and filial
submission? And when on their way homewards, and
when again collected in their own domicil, does not the
passion of love burn with a flame more pure and effulgent
than before? And do not fresh smiles and caresses, as if
from the inspiration of heaven, reciprocally cheer each
other till lulled to midnight rest and repose? Where else
can the joint members of the household thus adorn
themselves with this social garniture? Where else can
they seek for these renewed and invigorated social
instincts― a panoply that, like the mantle of divine
mercy, will never wax old nor decay?
Religious Influences, Cont.
Hence, if we would maintain the excellency of the
family relation in all its purity and vigor, let the family, on
all convenient occasions, and especially in the house of
God, and on the way to and from that sacred place,
maintain its distinctive position. An army moving
forward to conflict admits of no promiscuous concourse;
its beauty and its grandeur depend on each company or
portion of it remaining distinct and in its own place, so
that there may be no confusion or disorder. Let a welldisciplined and arranged martial band be contrasted with
one of tumultuous formation, and how forcibly will our
subject be illustrate! As a well-organized corps appears,
viewed in relation to its minor organizations, both in is
marching and countermarching, as well as when
stationary under the review of its commanding general, so
let families, on their way to the Christian temple, when
there engaged in its divine services, and also on their way
homeward, preserve their own associate character in
unbroken order. Let families― ten or twenty― be well
grouped, each succeeding another, at a discernible
distance from each other, as the several companies of a
regiment advance, and who can say there is no beauty in
going, like the tribes of ancient Israel, to the courts of the
Lord?
Analyzing the Article
Religion in the Home Environment
This essay by Reverend John Blake shows the extent to which religion controlled daily life. Almost everything
about the home environment could be related back to a religious source, which is just what Blake does in
his article.
The first paragraph of the previous passage describes an ideal Sunday morning. The article lauds this peaceful
scene as being the greatest humans can hope to achieve- it represents the extent to which people cherished
and valued their beliefs. Nature, piety, and spirituality appear as “beauty,” “loveliness,” and “innocence,”
while those who would disrupt righteousness by wearing “gaudy” outfits that cause pride tend “to the
desecration of the forms of religion.”
Next, Rev. Blake compares the glory of the religious setting in the first paragraph to a familial situation. He
proceeds to note that the authority and submission involved in families “is exercised in love, like that
which binds divinity and humanity in common fellowship.”
In the third and fourth paragraphs, all connections are made clear. In a Christian home, people should be able to
put aside their mortal wants and sins. Rev. Blake says that a family with a strong loving bond to each
other appreciate the Divine more, and are better suited to praise and worship in love. If each member of
the family upholds his or her duties, then it will march on in “purity and vigor,” “beauty and… grandeur.”
In short, the essay communicates that a household forged and raised in love and respect are able to worship in
love and respect, because the bond between parent and child is so alike to the bond between God and
humanity. Because the religious lesson and the parenting lesson are intertwined, Godey was able to use
this article to his magazine’s advantage.
Crisis of Faith
Nineteenth Century Disbelief
Religion had such an impact on daily life in the nineteenth century that people felt
utterly lost without it. For example, Samuel Griswold Goodrich, an American
author, wrote in his autobiography, Recollections of a Lifetime:
“Ah, how impossible to paint the dark, drear horizon of the mind when
it has put out the light of faith: extinguished even the star of hope! The
world from that moment became to me a fearful enigma: all its harmony was
gone: existence was a nightmare, heaven a fathomless abyss, earth an
incomprehensible mystery… Man alone seemed created to live in doubt, and
to perish in disappointment. The inferior things of earth were perfect; the
conscious lord of creation was a stupendous blunder! Thus seemed the
universe; thus seemed man, without God--without religion.” (Goodrich, 423)
People who lose their faith in modern times go through similar feelings, no doubt.
However, in a society that bases most of its points of view on religion, nonbelief left many people feeling stranded.
Thy Kingdom Come…
And I Am Done
In the nineteenth century, religion controlled America’s
population. What they wore, what they ate, and
what they could and could not do were all based on
their religious convictions.
More surprising is the sheer amount of religious icons,
articles, and pictures to be found in the popular
magazines of the time. In a society that now tries to
remain secular in such venues, it shocks me to find
that we used to be very forthcoming with our
beliefs. Perhaps one day, we can regain respect
for our faiths.
Works Cited



Goodrich, Samuel. "Letter XXVI." Recollections of a Lifetime 2(1856) 423424. 08 Sept. 2007 <http://www.merrycoz.org/adults.htm>.
Marsden, George. "The Soul of the American University: From Protestant
Establishment to Established Nonbelief." The Journal of Religion 75.3.
July 1995 442-443. 07 Sept. 2007 <http://www.jstor.org/>.
Briczinski, Paul. "Louis Antoine Godey." The Pennsylvania Center for the
Book. 10 Oct 2007 <http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/>.