Citizens of a Christian Nation : Evangelical Missions and the Problem of Race in the Nineteenth Century /
Chang, Derek
Citizens of a Christian Nation : Evangelical Missions and the Problem of Race in the Nineteenth Century / Derek Chang. - 1 online resource (248 p.) - Politics and Culture in Modern America .
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1. "A Grand and Awful Time" -- Chapter 2. Faith and Hope -- Chapter 3. Callings -- Chapter 4. Congregation -- Chapter 5. Conflict and Community -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Index -- Acknowledgments
restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec
In America after the Civil War, the emancipation of four million slaves and the explosion of Chinese immigration fundamentally challenged traditional ideas about who belonged in the national polity. As Americans struggled to redefine citizenship in the United States, the "Negro Problem" and the "Chinese Question" dominated the debate.During this turbulent period, which witnessed the Supreme Court's Plessy v. Ferguson decision and passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, among other restrictive measures, American Baptists promoted religion instead of race as the primary marker of citizenship. Through its domestic missionary wing, the American Baptist Home Missionary Society, Baptists ministered to former slaves in the South and Chinese immigrants on the Pacific coast. Espousing an ideology of evangelical nationalism, in which the country would be united around Christianity rather than a particular race or creed, Baptists advocated inclusion of Chinese and African Americans in the national polity. Their hope for a Christian nation hinged on the social transformation of these two groups through spiritual and educational uplift. By 1900, the Society had helped establish important institutions that are still active today, including the Chinese Baptist Church and many historically black colleges and universities.Citizens of a Christian Nation chronicles the intertwined lives of African Americans, Chinese Americans, and the white missionaries who ministered to them. It traces the radical, religious, and nationalist ideology of the domestic mission movement, examining both the opportunities provided by the egalitarian tradition of evangelical Christianity and the limits imposed by its assumptions of cultural difference. The book further explores how blacks and Chinese reimagined the evangelical nationalist project to suit their own needs and hopes.Historian Derek Chang brings together for the first time African American and Chinese American religious histories through a multitiered local, regional, national, and even transnational analysis of race, nationalism, and evangelical thought and practice.
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
In English.
9780812242188 9780812205954
10.9783/9780812205954 doi
African Americans--History--19th century.--Missions
African Americans--Missions--History--19th century.
Baptists--History--19th century.--United States--Missions
Baptists--Missions--History--United States--19th century.
Chinese Americans--History--19th century.--Missions
Chinese Americans--Missions--History--19th century.
Evangelistic work--History--19th century.--United States
Evangelistic work--History--United States--19th century.
Home missions--History--19th century.--United States
Home missions--History--United States--19th century.
Missionaries--Attitudes.
Missionaries--History--19th century.--United States--Attitudes
Missionaries--Attitudes--History--United States--19th century.
Race relations--Religious aspects.
Racism--History--19th century.--Religious aspects--Baptists
Racism--Religious aspects--Baptists--History--19th century.
White people--Attitudes--History--United States--19th century.
Whites--Attitudes.
Whites--History--19th century.--United States--Attitudes
Whites--Attitudes--History--United States--19th century.
American Studies.
HISTORY / United States / 19th Century.
American History. American Studies. Political Science.
BV2766.B5 / C47 2010eb
266.6131
Citizens of a Christian Nation : Evangelical Missions and the Problem of Race in the Nineteenth Century / Derek Chang. - 1 online resource (248 p.) - Politics and Culture in Modern America .
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1. "A Grand and Awful Time" -- Chapter 2. Faith and Hope -- Chapter 3. Callings -- Chapter 4. Congregation -- Chapter 5. Conflict and Community -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Index -- Acknowledgments
restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec
In America after the Civil War, the emancipation of four million slaves and the explosion of Chinese immigration fundamentally challenged traditional ideas about who belonged in the national polity. As Americans struggled to redefine citizenship in the United States, the "Negro Problem" and the "Chinese Question" dominated the debate.During this turbulent period, which witnessed the Supreme Court's Plessy v. Ferguson decision and passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, among other restrictive measures, American Baptists promoted religion instead of race as the primary marker of citizenship. Through its domestic missionary wing, the American Baptist Home Missionary Society, Baptists ministered to former slaves in the South and Chinese immigrants on the Pacific coast. Espousing an ideology of evangelical nationalism, in which the country would be united around Christianity rather than a particular race or creed, Baptists advocated inclusion of Chinese and African Americans in the national polity. Their hope for a Christian nation hinged on the social transformation of these two groups through spiritual and educational uplift. By 1900, the Society had helped establish important institutions that are still active today, including the Chinese Baptist Church and many historically black colleges and universities.Citizens of a Christian Nation chronicles the intertwined lives of African Americans, Chinese Americans, and the white missionaries who ministered to them. It traces the radical, religious, and nationalist ideology of the domestic mission movement, examining both the opportunities provided by the egalitarian tradition of evangelical Christianity and the limits imposed by its assumptions of cultural difference. The book further explores how blacks and Chinese reimagined the evangelical nationalist project to suit their own needs and hopes.Historian Derek Chang brings together for the first time African American and Chinese American religious histories through a multitiered local, regional, national, and even transnational analysis of race, nationalism, and evangelical thought and practice.
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
In English.
9780812242188 9780812205954
10.9783/9780812205954 doi
African Americans--History--19th century.--Missions
African Americans--Missions--History--19th century.
Baptists--History--19th century.--United States--Missions
Baptists--Missions--History--United States--19th century.
Chinese Americans--History--19th century.--Missions
Chinese Americans--Missions--History--19th century.
Evangelistic work--History--19th century.--United States
Evangelistic work--History--United States--19th century.
Home missions--History--19th century.--United States
Home missions--History--United States--19th century.
Missionaries--Attitudes.
Missionaries--History--19th century.--United States--Attitudes
Missionaries--Attitudes--History--United States--19th century.
Race relations--Religious aspects.
Racism--History--19th century.--Religious aspects--Baptists
Racism--Religious aspects--Baptists--History--19th century.
White people--Attitudes--History--United States--19th century.
Whites--Attitudes.
Whites--History--19th century.--United States--Attitudes
Whites--Attitudes--History--United States--19th century.
American Studies.
HISTORY / United States / 19th Century.
American History. American Studies. Political Science.
BV2766.B5 / C47 2010eb
266.6131