Catholics, the Civil War, and the problem of the lost cause / Robert Emmett Curran.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Curran, Robert Emmett, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Catholics--United States--History--19th century.

Catholics.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Religious aspects.

United States.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Influence.

Lost Cause mythology.

Physical Description:

xiii, 255 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : Georgetown University Press, [2026]

Summary:

"This book explores the complicated legacies of American Catholics in North and South during and after the American Civil War. When the American Civil War overtook the country in 1861, Catholics fought on both sides of the conflict, but few Catholics supported the evolving war aim for emancipation of the enslaved. Catholic resentment at the nativism directed against them in the decades leading up to the war made them loyal to the pro-slavery Democratic Party, and recent Catholic immigrants feared economic competition from free Blacks. By the late nineteenth century, the Lost Cause became the reigning explanation for why the war had been fought. White Catholics played decisive roles in creating and promoting this ideology of a supposedly noble Southern fight for freedom, not secession to preserve slavery. In both South and North, this narrative of the Civil War dominated public discourse well into the twentieth century. This book seeks to shed light on the legacies of Catholic laypersons, clergy, and colleges during the war years and the puzzle of why Catholics became so closely identified with opposition to Reconstruction and promotion of the Lost Cause after the war"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction

Slavery in an Immigrant Church

Chaplains and Nurses to the Front

Catholic Higher Education in War and Peace

The War's Impact on Church-State Relations

Hard War

Dissent, Disloyalty, and Assassination in the Catholic Heartland

The Enduring Lost Cause

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-244) and index.

Other Format:

Online version Curran, Robert Emmett Catholics, the Civil War, and the problem of the lost cause

ISBN:

9781647127053

9781647127046

1647127041

164712705X

OCLC:

1540952669

Publisher Number:

90104514615