The Politics of Faith During the Civil War. By Timothy L. Wesley. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2013. xi + 273 pp. $45.00 cloth.

Abstract

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)The Politics of Faith During the Civil War . By Timothy L. Wesley . Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press , 2013. xi + 273 pp. $45.00 cloth.Book Reviews NotesHistorians have devoted considerable attention to ministers during the American Civil War. More than three decades ago James H. Moorhead (American Apocalypse: Yankee Protestants the Civil War, 1860-1869 [New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1978]) analyzed the millennial overtones in sermons of New England ministers. More recently, Harry S. Stout (Upon the Altar of the Nation: A Moral History of the Civil War [New York: Viking, 2006]) depicted the northern clergy as kneejerk supporters of a war that oftentimes was conducted in an immoral, unchristian manner. In this fine volume, social historian Timothy Wesley maps out much underexplored territory by examining the impact of ministers' words deeds the multifaceted responses to these utterances actions by the laity, denominational leaders, military civil authorities, the secular press. He effectively shows how people inside outside the church manipulated or inhibited the political behavior of clergymen (7), in the process revealing rifts between ministers laypersons regarding the extent appropriateness of the politicization of the church confirming how religion politics were thoroughly blended during the war.One strength of Wesley's work is the geographic breadth of his ministerial coverage. Indeed, his careful attention to regional differences unique local conditions illuminates the diversity complexity of clerical experiences. For instance, he discusses northern clerics who unequivocally supported the Union; northern pastors who were accused of disloyalty for both sins of omission or commission; border state ministers who sometimes served divided congregations oftentimes clashed with either coreligionists or secular figures; clergymen in the occupied South who were arrested or exiled by officers; southern divines who defended the war effort promoted Confederate nationalism; African American preachers who championed moral self-improvement education as stepping stones along the path to freedom rights.Wesley's discussion of treason during the war is also instructive. He explains how most Northerners went beyond the constitutional definition of treason scrutinized a minister's words for signs of disloyalty. In fact, a clergyman need not commit an overt act against the government to be considered a traitor. Laypersons, newspaper editors, military authorities branded numerous preachers as disloyal for failing to pray for Abraham Lincoln, for refusing to give vocal support to the cause, or even for holding personal opinions (the open-ended allegation of sympathizing with the South) that called into question their loyalty to the United States. Although he recognizes that in many cases Republicans targeted Democratic pastors for purely partisan reasons, at times Wesley makes unsubstantiated claims about the extent of disloyalty in the northern pulpit. For example, at the beginning of chapter 3 he asserts, and still other clergymen, at least in sentiment if less often in deed, were openly disloyal to the Union (43). At the chapter's end he concludes, treacherous congregational pastors who sapped their congregants' commitment to the war effort were threats to the Union (58). …