Enriches our understanding of American history by examining key factors outside of traditional political, economic, social, and cultural domains
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What counts is that Kerstetter makes comprehensible the dizzying array of religion in the West and illuminates how belief systems often penetrated secular affairs to shape the contours of history. He is right to proclaim, “This is important stuff” (Western Historical Review, 2016)
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
1 Indigenous Religions in the West 8
Arctic 12
Sub-Arctic 13
Northwest Coast 16
Plains 18
Plateau 20
Great Basin 22
California 23
Southwest 24
Common Themes 27
Conclusion 29
Suggested Reading 30
2 Missions to New Worlds 32
Spain 34
France 50
Russia 60
Conclusion 66
Suggested Reading 67
3 Migrations, Manifest Destiny, and Mormons, 1803-1860 69
Transplanting Religions in the US Imperial Period 71
Protestantism 71
Roman Catholicism 80
Judaism 83
Asian religions 85
Religion and Manifest Destiny 86
Mormons and the Quest for Zion 91
The Mormon Question, 1852-1860 103
Conclusion 107
Suggested Reading 108
4 The West and Religion in the Era of the Civil War and Reconstruction, 1860-1890 109
Protestantism in the West 112
Catholicism in the West 119
Judaism in the West 124
Asian Religions in the West 127
The Mormon Question and the Mormon Answer, 1862–1890 127
American Indian Religious Experiences 135
Conclusion 150
Suggested Reading 150
5 Religion in the Modern West, 1890-1945 152
Mormonism 155
Catholicism 157
American Indians and Religion 162
Asian Religions and Influence 169
Modernism, Fundamentalism, and the Spirit of the West 172
World War I and Religion in the West 177
The Sunbelt and the Bible Belt 178
World War II and Religion in the West 188
Conclusion 189
Suggested Reading 190
6 Religion in the Cold War West, 1945-1965 192
Religious Innovation 197
Buddhism and the Beats 197
Scientology 198
Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and religion 199
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 201
The Native American Church 206
Hispanics and Religion in the West 207
Evangelicals and the Sunbelt West 210
Conclusion 216
Suggested Reading 216
7 Creativity and Controversy after 1965 218
Immigration Reform and Asian Religions in the West 220
Religion in the Hispanic West 224
New Religious Movements 227
Religion and the Internet in the West 240
The Megachurch Boom 242
Religion in the Native West 251
Paths to the Present in Mormon Wests 254
Conclusion 258
Suggested Reading 258
Conclusion: The Frontier that Wouldn't Close 260
Index 266
