Excommunicated from the Union: How the Civil War Created a Separate Catholic America (The North's Civil War) - Softcover

Kurtz, William B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0823268861 ISBN 13: 9780823268863

Publisher: Fordham University Press, 2015

Synopsis

Anti-Catholicism has had a long presence in American history. The Civil War in 1861 gave Catholic Americans a chance to prove their patriotism once and for all. Exploring how Catholics sought to use their participation in the war to counteract religious and political nativism in the United States, Excommunicated from the Union reveals that while the war was an alienating experience for many of 200,000 Catholics who served, they still strove to construct a positive memory of their experiences in order to show that their religion was no barrier to their being loyal American citizens.

About this title

About the Author

William B. Kurtz is managing director of the John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History at the University of Virginia and author of Excommunicated from the Union: How the Civil War Created a Separate Catholic America (Fordham University Press, 2015).

Review

"In this deeply researched and ably argued book, William Kurtz has re-set the compass on Catholic identity and interest, religion and the Civil War, and much more. With uncommon insight, Kurtz shows that even as the war provided the opportunity for Irish and German Catholics to become "American" by fighting for and supporting the Union war effort, it also divided them as to the social, cultural, and political cost of accepting the dominant Republican and Protestant terms for inclusion in that Union and their own need to maintain the integrity of their faith. By tracking Catholic thinking, behavior, and memory, Kurtz discovers how the war led Catholics to become both more American and more Catholic at the same time. The result is a history of Catholics, and religion, and the war that is more complex and compelling than the commonplaces about the supposed assimilating effects of the war in creating a unified civil religion. In sum, Kurtz's book is simply the best study of Catholics in/and the war and the way the war affected the place and perception of Catholics in the Union."-Randall M. Miller, Saint Joseph's University

"William Kurtz's intensive research has produced a book which puts forward a fascinating thesis about American Catholic history. Kurtz shows how, in the early years of the American Civil War, Northern Catholics experienced the tantalizing prospect of being accepted as fellow-citizens by the dominant Protestants. Northern Protestants were impressed by the valor of Catholic soldiers, the piety and courage of Catholic chaplains, and the self-sacrifice of nuns who nursed the wounded from both sides and of all religions. But in Kurtz's telling,this initial period of good relations was a false dawn. Protestant opinion grew more sour toward Catholics as the war went on.Controversies over the war and slavery split the Catholic Church in the North into factions, with a numerous group of Northern Catholics opposing emancipation and resisting the war effort. In the wake of all this, many Northern Protestants resumed their traditional suspicions of the Church. Catholics after the war faced this revived Protestant hostility. This excellent book would be great for Civil War buffs and those interested in American religion."--Max Longley, author of For the Union and the Catholic Church: Four Converts in the Civil War

Edition details

• Publisher: Fordham University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0823268861
• ISBN 13: 9780823268863
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 250