Gospel of Disunion
Religion and Separatism in the Antebellum South

This book examines the ways in which religion influenced the development of a distinctive Southern culture and politics before the Civil War.

Mitchell Snay (Author)

9780521431224, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 29 October 1993

280 pages
23.7 x 15.8 x 2.4 cm, 0.523 kg

"...Snay has written a work that is now indispensable in understanding Southern religion." A.V. Huff, Jr., Church History

Gospel of Disunion examines the ways in which religion influenced the development of a distinctive Southern culture and politics before the Civil War, translating the secessionist movement into a struggle of the highest moral significance. It explores such topics as the religious pro-slavery argument and the slaveholding ethic for Christian masters, the denominational schisms of the 1830s and 1840s that divided Southern Protestants along sectional lines, and the distinctive religious rationale for secession. This book is the first major attempt to explore fully the relationship between religion and the origins of Southern nationalism in all these manifestations.

Introduction. Religion and the search for Southern distinctiveness
Part I. Religion and Sectional Politics: 1. The abolitionist crisis of 1835: the issues defined
Part II. Religion and Slavery: 2. Slavery defended: the morality of slavery and the infidelity of abolitionism
3. Slavery sanctified: the slaveholding ethic and the religious mission to the slaves
Part III. Religion and Separatism: 4. Harbingers of disunion: the denominational schisms, 5. The religious logic of secession
6. Religion and the formation of a Southern nationalism and the coming of the Civil War.

Subject Areas: Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], History of the Americas [HBJK]