Description
Book SynopsisThis book uses the discourse of religious liberty, often expressed as one favoring a separation between church and state, to explore racial differences during an era of American empire building (17501900). Discussions of religious liberty in America during this time often revolved around the fitness of certain ethnic or racial groups to properly exercise their freedom of conscience. Significant fear existed that groups outside the Anglo-Protestant mainstream might somehow undermine the American experiment in ordered republican liberty. Hence, repeated calls could be heard for varying forms of assimilation to normative Protestant ideals about religious expression. Though Americans pride themselves on their secular society, it is worth interrogating the exclusive and even violent genealogy of such secular values. When doing so, it is important to understand the racial limitations of the discourse of religious freedom for various aspects of American political culture. The following accoun
Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Chapter 1: British Providentialism, Racial Identity, and American Religious Liberty, 1700–1800 Chapter 2: Jeffersonian Liberty and the Protestant Republic Chapter 3: Slavery, Race, and Religious Liberty Chapter 4: Anti-Catholicism and Race in the Nineteenth Century and Beyond Chapter 5: Religious Liberty and Empire in the United States, 1820–1900 Conclusion: Church, State, and Race Index
