Christian imperialism : converting the world in the early American republic / Emily Conroy-Krutz ; cover design, Scott Levine.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Conroy-Krutz, Emily, author.

Contributor:

Levine, Scott, cover designer.

Series:

United States in the world.

United States in the World

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Missions, American--History--19th century.

Missions, American.

Political messianism--United States--History--19th century.

Political messianism.

Christianity and politics--United States--History--19th century.

Christianity and politics.

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions--History.

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (265 p.)

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, New York ; London, [England] : Cornell University Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In 1812, eight American missionaries, under the direction of the recently formed American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, sailed from the United States to South Asia. The plans that motivated their voyage were ano less grand than taking part in the Protestant conversion of the entire world. Over the next several decades, these men and women were joined by hundreds more American missionaries at stations all over the globe. Emily Conroy-Krutz shows the surprising extent of the early missionary impulse and demonstrates that American evangelical Protestants of the early nineteenth century were motivated by Christian imperialism-an understanding of international relations that asserted the duty of supposedly Christian nations, such as the United States and Britain, to use their colonial and commercial power to spread Christianity. In describing how American missionaries interacted with a range of foreign locations (including India, Liberia, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, North America, and Singapore) and imperial contexts, Christian Imperialism provides a new perspective on how Americans thought of their country's role in the world. While in the early republican period many were engaged in territorial expansion in the west, missionary supporters looked east and across the seas toward Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Conroy-Krutz's history of the mission movement reveals that strong Anglo-American and global connections persisted through the early republic. Considering Britain and its empire to be models for their work, the missionaries of the American Board attempted to convert the globe into the image of Anglo-American civilization.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue: An American Missionary in London

Introduction: Christian Imperialism and American Foreign Missions

1. Hierarchies of Heathenism

2. Missions on the British Model

3. Mission Schools and the Meaning of Conversion

4. Missions as Settler Colonies

5. American Politics and the Cherokee Mission

6. Missionaries and Colonies

7. A "Christian Colony" in Singapore

Conclusion: Missions and American Imperialism

Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-5017-0104-5

OCLC:

919921508