Religious diversity and social change

Description

Powerful forces of social change at the turn of the nineteenth century forced American churches and their members to confront, for the first time, the issue of religious toleration. Christiano analyzes the effects of mass immigration and urbanization on various communities. These upheavals required the established churches to either accept or repel a level of religious diversity unimagined by the architects of American liberty. By examining changes in church membership in the largest urban areas, integrating historical research from a number of disciplines with statistical analyses of the United States Census reports of 1890 and 1906, this cross-disciplinary study provides an empirical assessment of the cultural shifts that laid the foundations for the denominational system that prevails in America today.

First Sentence

After the conclusion of the nineteenth century's most important social crusade, the one which sought to liberate thousands of Americans from legal though involuntary servitude, Wendell Phillips, a prominent abolitionist and a farsighted reformer, predicted that "the time will come when our cities will strain our institutions as slavery never did" (quoted in Strong, 1898: 101-102).

Subjects

Other Editions

• Religious diversity and social change: American cities, 1890-1906Cambridge University Press1987-01-01
• Religious Diversity and Social ChangeHardcoverCambridge University Press1988-01-29
• Religious Diversity and Social ChangeCambridge University Press2009-01-01
• Religious Diversity and Social ChangePaperbackCambridge University Press2009-02-01
• Religious Diversity and Social ChangeCambridge University Press2011-01-01