God's Continent Divided: Politics and Religion in Upper Canada and the Northern and Western United States, 1775 to 1841

Abstract

Following the American Revolution, the social foundation supporting a settled ministry and sustaining the Old World tradition of an established state church began to crumble, prompting Alexis de Tocqueville to observe that in the United States, "the ideas of Christianity and liberty are so completely intermingled that it is almost impossible to conceive of the one without the other." 1 Large numbers of ordinary Americans who had internalized egalitarian, anti-aristocratic attitudes while advancing the patriot cause began to search for and find spiritual meaning in evangelical forms of religious expression. Indeed, the revivals sweeping the northern and western states between the American Revolution and the Civil War have been described as "the Revolution at work in religion." 2 Thanks to Allan Greer for commenting on an earlier version of this essay and to the journal's reviewers for their helpful suggestions.1 Alexis de Tocqueville.

Rejoinder to “Who Owns Democracy?”*

“…. the dominant religion in both the United States and English Canada" (Rawlyk andNoll, 1994: 1819;also Clark, 1959: 421-24;Noll, 1992: 265-76;Adamson, 1994;Deming and Hamilton, 1994).…”

Defining Moments and Recurring Myths: A Reply

“…The varying institutions which have affected behavior, particularly government, religion, and economy, as well as geographic and demographic differences, were present from the beginning of the continental political divide. Anglo-Canadian religion, as Christopher Adamson (1994) brilliantly documented, has differed from American denominationalism. American congregational, non-hierarchical, sectarian religion reflected republican and populist values, which they also reinforced.…”