Item Detail
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13340
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1
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0
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English
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Abolitionism in the Illinois Churches 1830-1865
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Evanston, Illinois
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Northwestern University
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Ph.D. diss.
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"This dissertation explores the capabilities and limitations of the abolitionist movement in Illinois by analyzing its interaction with organized religion. Abolitionism was based on the absolute moral principle that to claim ownership in human life was a sin. The churches provided much of the ideological foundation and the leadership of the movement, and so abolitionists naturally sought to utilize the resource of religious institutions to promote their cause. Because the churches were often the most important local-level organizations in pioneer Illinois, the successes and failures of the crusade in these forums determined in a large degree its power in the general society. Public opinion labeled an entire congregation as an "ultraist" organization if it countenanced abolitionist activities in its midst, however, and so most churches resisted involvement in the unpopular crusade. Thus, both the abolitionists and their adversaries turned the struggle into a zero-sum situation of absolute choices. By the 1840s, as the members of the Illinois congregations began to understand the inexorable logic of this conflict, some aligned with abolitionism, but most rejected it. This polarization enabled the abolitionists to identify and measure both their own constituency and the opposition. Because the course of the struggle over abolitionism varied from denomination to denomination, this study examines separately each of the major denominations represented in Illinois and many of the smaller ones. Despite great diversity on the local scene, overall patterns do emerge. Most abolitionists were evangelical and Northern, but most Northern, evangelical churches were anti-abolitionist. Churches with a strong heritage of post-millennialism, a membership drawn largely from New York and New England, and a tradition of judging and criticizing the general society around them were most likely to accept the responsibility of condemning slaveholding. Churches whose denominations customarily promoted a broad social tolerance and churches that drew apart from society in sect-like exclusivity produced few participants in the radical crusade." [Author's abstract]