A history of the Catholic Church in the American South : 1513-1900

“In a masterful survey of research on Catholicism in the South, Woods has done for that region what James Hennesey did for the Catholic Church in the United States in American Catholics.”—Gerald P. Fogarty, University of Virginia “This is a book we have long needed. Over the last four decades the history of the evangelical tradition in the South has been discovered and much written about, but the Catholic dimension of southern religious history has lagged behind in the historiography. Finally here is a synthesis of almost three centuries of the Catholic Church in the region.”—John B. Boles, Rice University No Christian denomination has had a longer or more varied existence in the American South than the Catholic Church. The Spanish missions established in Florida and Texas promoted Catholicism. Catholicism was the dominant religion among the French who settled in Louisiana. Prior to the influx of Irish immigrants in the 1840s, most American Catholics lived south of the Mason-Dixon line. Anti-Catholic prejudice was never as strong in the South as in the North or Midwest and was rare in the region before the twentieth century. James Woods’s sweeping history stretches from the first European settlement of the continent through the end of the Spanish-American War. The book is divided into three distinct sections: the colonial era, the early Republic through the annexation of Texas in 1845, and the stormy latter half of the nineteenth century. Woods pays particular attention to church/state relations, mission work and religious orders, the church and slavery, immigration to the South, and the experience of Catholicism in a largely Protestant region. He also highlights the contributions and careers of certain important southern Catholics, both clerical and lay, and considers how the diverse Catholic ethnic and racial groups have expressed their faith—and their citizenship—through the centuries. No Christian denomination has had a longer or more varied existence in the American South than the Catholic Church. The Spanish missions established in Florida and Texas promoted Catholicism. Catholicism was the dominant religion among the French who settled in Louisiana. Prior to the influx of Irish immigrants in the 1840s, most American Catholics lived south of the Mason-Dixon line. Anti-Catholic prejudice was never as strong in the South as in the North or Midwest and was rare in the region before the twentieth century. This sweeping history stretches from the first European settlement of the continent through the end of the Spanish-American War. This book is divided into three distinct sections: the colonial era, the early Republic through the annexation of Texas in 1845, and the stormy latter half of the nineteenth century. It pays particular attention to church/state relations, mission work and religious orders, the church and slavery, immigration to the South, and the experience of Catholicism in a largely Protestant region. It also highlights the contributions and careers of certain important southern Catholics, both clerical and lay, and considers how the diverse Catholic ethnic and racial groups have expressed their faith—and their citizenship—through the centuries Cross And Sword: The Spanish Catholic Mission To La Florida, 1513-1763 -- Padres, Prairies, And Piney Woods: Catholicism In Spanish Texas, 1519-1763 -- Fleur-de-lis: Catholicism In French Lower Louisiana And The Gulf Coast, 1673-1763 -- To The Manor Born: Catholics In The Southern English Colonies, 1633-1763 -- The Carroll Era: Southern Catholics And The New American Republic, 1763-1815 -- Church And State: The Erosion Of European Empires In The South, 1763-1821 -- Annexation And Accommodation: Catholic Growth Within The Expanding South, 1815-1845 -- From Aliens To Confederates: Catholics In The South, 1845-1865 -- A Regional Religion: Catholic Prelates In The Postbellum South, 1865-1900 -- Migrations, Movements, And Ministry: Catholicism In The South, 1845-1900. James M. Woods. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Woods pays particular attention to church/state relations, mission work and religious orders, the church and slavery, immigration to the South, and the experience of Catholicism in a largely Protestant region. He highlights the contributions of southern prelates such as John England of Charleston, who first wrote thoughtfully on church/state relations in a free society, and Bishop Edward Fitzgerald of Little Rock, who was the only English-speaking bishop to vote against, papal infallibility at the first Vatican Council in 1870. James Woods's sweeping history employs a dynamic integration of a wide variety of secondary accounts and original research to create a compelling new interpretation of southern Catholicism. Stretching from the first European settlement of the continent through the early Republic, the Civil War, and Reconstruction to the end of the Spanish-American War, this work explores the unique ethnic and racial diversity of a religion that some Protestants refused to acknowledge as Christian well into the twentieth century. No Christian denomination has had a longer or more varied existence in the American South than the Catholic Church. The Spanish missions established in Florida and Texas promoted Catholicism, which was also the dominant religion among French settlers in Louisiana. Until the mid-nineteenth century, most American Catholics lived south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Anti-Catholic prejudice was never as strong in the South as in the North or Midwest and was rare in the region before the twentieth century. Spanning nearly four centuries, A History of the Catholic Church in the American South, 1513-1900 reveals the creation of a rich tapestry of faith shared by southerners of many different origins, races, and social classes. Book jacket. This book discusses the history of Catholicism in the American South from the first European settlement through to the early Republic, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and the end of the Spanish-American War