Skepticism and American Faith : From the Revolution to the Civil War.

Cover -- Skepticism and American Faith: From the Revolution to the Civil War -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Note on Sources -- Skepticism and American Faith -- Introduction -- The Personal and the Political -- Hiding Doubt and Silencing Skepticism -- Framing the Discussion -- Debate, Dialogue, and American History -- PART ONE: REVOLUTIONS, 1775-1815 -- 1. Deist Hero, Deist Monster: On Religious Common Sense in the Wake of the American Revolution -- Damnnation Murray and the Religious History of the American Revolution -- Deist Hero: Ethan Allen -- Deist Monster: William Beadle -- American Religious Common Sense in the New Republic -- 2. Souls Rising: The Authority of the Inner Witness, and Its Limits -- Soul Exercises and Religious Community -- Religious Imposture and Skeptical Infidelity -- 3. Instituting Skepticism: The Emergence of Organized Deism -- Deism as Skepticism and Faith -- Emergence: Deism and Universalism -- 4. Instituting Skepticism: Contention, Endurance, and Invisibility -- Contention: Deism and the Freemasons -- Endurance: Deism and the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian) Church -- On the Invisibility of Black Skepticism -- PART TWO: ENLIGHTENMENTS, 1790-1840 -- 5. Skeptical Enlightenment: An American Education in Jeffersonian Pennsylvania -- Free Discussion and the Public Arena -- Diffusing Enlightenment -- Soul, Self, and Citizen -- The Night of Superstition -- 6. Christian Enlightenment: Eastern Cities and the Great West -- Skeptical Maniacs, Moral Agents, Evangelical Print, and the Christian Party in Politics -- The Cause and Cure of Infidelity -- 7. Christian Enlightenment: Faith into Practice in Marion, Missouri -- The Marion Dream -- Moral Economies -- 8. Revelation and Reason -- Doubting Scripture -- Transcending Scripture -- PART THREE: REFORMS, 1820-1850 -- 9. Faith in Reform: Remaking Society, Body, and Soul.

Frances Wright, Infidel Politics, and the Working Class -- Health Reform and the Three Confessions of William Alcott -- Ernestine Rose and the Religious Roots of Patriarchy -- 10. Infidels, Protestants, and Catholics: Religion and Reform in Boston -- Doubt and Calvinist Orthodoxy -- Universalism and Free Inquiry -- Protestant Liberalism, Catholicism, and Spiritualism -- 11. Converting Skeptics: Infidel and Protestant Economies -- Infidel and Protestant Economies -- The Prosperous Professional -- The Urban Artisan -- On Factory Workers and Plantation Slaves -- PART FOUR: SACRED CAUSES, 1830-1865 -- 12. Political Hermeneutics: Nullifying the Bible and Consolidating Proslavery Christianity -- Religion and Politics -- Presbyterians and the Southern Cross -- 13. Lived Experience and the Sacred Cause: Faith, Skepticism, and Civil War -- Sanctifying Union -- Freed from the Bonds of Superstition -- The Creative Ambiguity of Civil Religion -- Epilogue: Death and Politics -- Death -- Politics -- Appendix: Grounds of Faith and Modes of Skepticism -- Grounds of Faith -- Modes of Skepticism -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Introduction -- Part One -- Chapter 1 -- Chapter 2 -- Chapter 3 -- Chapter 4 -- Part Two -- Chapter 5 -- Chapter 6 -- Chapter 7 -- Chapter 8 -- Part Three -- Chapter 9 -- Chapter 10 -- Chapter 11 -- Part Four -- Chapter 12 -- Chapter 13 -- Epilogue -- Appendix -- References -- I. Archival Sources -- II. Newspapers and Periodicals -- III. Other Cited Primary Published Sources -- IV. Secondary Sources -- Index.

Between the Revolution and the Civil War, the dialogue of religious skepticism and faith profoundly shaped America. Although usually rendered nearly invisible, skepticism touched-and sometimes transformed-more lives than might be expected from standard accounts. This book examines Americans wrestling with faith and doubt as they tried to make sense of their world.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.