Religion and American Politics: A Historic Perspective
Carrie Nation - Prohibitionist INTRODUCTION The recent acrimonious debate over the debt ceiling and possible U.S. government default is way out of proportion to the issue involved. This is common in American history. Examples include a small tax on tea and whether the U.S. should have silver coins. What is often at stake is something much more fundamental. RELIGION IN AMERICA There is an interesting dynamic in the history of Protestantism in America . As different Protestant churches became the “established” or mainstream churches, Americans have turned away to form and join more evangelical or Pentecostal churches and sects. The large and sudden popularity of Baptists and Methodists in the first half of the 19 th century was partly a reaction to the less fervent Puritan (Congregational) and Episcopal churches. As Methodist and some Baptists groups became less evangelical and more “mainstream,” there were numerous ...