Anti-Catholicism in America, 1620-1860

Farrelly uses America's early history of anti-Catholicism to reveal contemporary American understandings of freedom, government, God, the individual, and the community.

Maura Jane Farrelly (Author)

9781107164505, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 November 2017

222 pages, 6 b/w illus.
23.6 x 15.7 x 1.8 cm, 0.44 kg

'… her theses should readily lead to robust classroom discussions. The book should be strongly considered by teachers looking for a concise, readable and engaging text.' Paul J. Gutacker, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History

Using fears of Catholicism as a mechanism through which to explore the contours of Anglo-American understandings of freedom, Anti-Catholicism in America, 1620–1860 reveals the ironic role that anti-Catholicism played in defining and sustaining some of the core values of American identity, values that continue to animate our religious and political discussions today. Farrelly explains how that bias helped to shape colonial and antebellum cultural understandings of God, the individual, salvation, society, government, law, national identity, and freedom. In so doing, Anti-Catholicism in America, 1620–1860 provides contemporary observers with a framework for understanding what is at stake in the debate over the place of Muslims and other non-Christian groups in American society.

Preface
1. 'It hath been found inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this Protestant Kingdom.': anti-Catholicism in Old England and New
2. 'This Province is God be thanked very peaceable and quiet.': anti-Catholicism and colonial Catholics in the seventeenth century
3. 'The common Word then was: No King, No Popery.': anti-Catholicism and the American revolution
4. 'The Catholic religion is modified by the spirit of the time in America.': anti-Catholicism and the new republic
5. 'Those now pouring in upon us…are wholly of another kind in morals and intellect.': anti-Catholicism in the age of immigration
6. 'The benumbing and paralyzing influence of Romanism is such, as to disqualify a person for the relish and enjoyment of liberty.': anti-Catholicism and American politics
Epilogue.

Subject Areas: History of religion [HRAX], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], History of the Americas [HBJK]