God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution - Hardcover

Kidd, Thomas S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0465002358 ISBN 13: 9780465002351

Publisher: Basic Books, 2010

Synopsis

Before the Revolutionary War, America was a nation divided by different faiths. But when the war for independence sparked in 1776, colonists united under the banner of religious freedom. Evangelical frontiersmen and Deist intellectuals set aside their differences to defend a belief they shared, the right to worship freely. Inspiring an unlikely but powerful alliance, it was the idea of religious liberty that brought the colonists together in the battle against British tyranny.

In God of Liberty, historian Thomas S. Kidd argues that the improbable partnership of evangelicals and Deists saw America through the Revolutionary War, the ratification of the Constitution, and the election of Thomas Jefferson in 1800. A thought-provoking reminder of the crucial role religion played in the Revolutionary era, God of Liberty represents both a timely appeal for spiritual diversity and a groundbreaking excavation of how faith powered the American Revolution.

About this title

About the Author

Thomas S. Kidd is associate professor of history at Baylor University. The author of several books on American religious history, he lives in Woodway, Texas.

Reviews

Kidd directs his magnifying glass on a rare slice of the American Revolution: its religious aspects. The organization of the work is more topical than chronological, giving a chapter’s worth of attention to matters of racial equality, slavery, revivalism, chaplains, the Constitution, and the 1800 election of Jefferson as president. If there are common threads running throughout, they are the questions: How was the Revolution influenced by religion, and how was religion affected by the Revolution? Kidd is quite adept at providing answers while explaining the complicated connections between religion, politics, freedom, and patriotism that make up the Revolutionary period. After reading this, some may wonder why religion is so shortchanged in other Revolutionary treatments. In his epilogue, the author also has something to say about the notion of a Christian America, a topic that is particularly relevant today. --Wade Osburn

Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0465002358
• ISBN 13: 9780465002351
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304