Excommunicated From the Union: How the Civil War Created a Separate Catholic America
William B. Kurtz
Abstract
This book argues that the Civil War had a negative impact on the assimilation and acceptance of Catholics in American society. Prior to the start of the conflict, many Catholics felt alienated by antebellum anti-Catholicism and nativism and responded by partially separating themselves from other Americans, most clearly seen in their creation of the parochial schools system. Still, many Catholics in the North rallied to support the Union after the attack on Fort Sumter, with famous units such as the Irish Brigade demonstrating Catholic patriotism. Scores of priests and hundreds of nuns served i ... More
This book argues that the Civil War had a negative impact on the assimilation and acceptance of Catholics in American society. Prior to the start of the conflict, many Catholics felt alienated by antebellum anti-Catholicism and nativism and responded by partially separating themselves from other Americans, most clearly seen in their creation of the parochial schools system. Still, many Catholics in the North rallied to support the Union after the attack on Fort Sumter, with famous units such as the Irish Brigade demonstrating Catholic patriotism. Scores of priests and hundreds of nuns served in regiments and hospitals, caring for the spiritual and physical welfare of Catholics and non-Catholics alike. The war, however, also exposed divisions within the church while painting its followers as lacking in patriotism and devotion to the Union. Anti-war Catholics in the North and Border States opposed President Abraham Lincoln’s abrogation of civil liberties, the human cost of the war, and the administration’s emancipation policy, which they saw as an unconstitutional and radical measure. After the war, Republicans reinforced Catholics’ alienation by attacking them as disloyal and un-American. Later in the century, veterans and apologists tried to restore the church’s reputation by writing laudatory accounts of their faith community’s efforts to save the Union, but ultimately these efforts only reinforced their separateness and had little effect on convincing Protestants of the compatibility of Catholicism with American society and politics.
Keywords:
anti-Catholicism,
Border States,
Catholic,
Civil War,
emancipation,
loyalty,
nativism,
North,
patriotism,
Union
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2015 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780823267538 |
| Published to Fordham Scholarship Online: May 2016 |
DOI:10.5422/fordham/9780823267538.001.0001 |
