214 Christopher Grasso, Skpeticism and American Faith

Ben Franklin's World

Liz Covart

Earlyrepublic, History, Benfranklin, Society & Culture, Warforindependence, Earlyamericanrepublic, Earlyamericanhistory, Education, Colonialamerica, Americanrevolution, Ushistory, Benjaminfranklin

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 27 November 2018

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Was the early United States a “Christian nation?” Did most of its citizenry accept God and the Bible as the moral authority that bound them together as one nation?

Scholars have taken a binary stance on these questions. Some argue that early America was a thoroughly religious place and that even those who didn’t attend church were on the same basic page as those who did. While others argue early America boasted an increasingly secularized society.

Christopher Grasso, a professor of history at William & Mary and the author of Skepticism and American Faith: From the Revolution to the Civil War, challenges and complicates these two ideas by offering a third explanation: the religious landscape of early America was a continuum where many people experienced both faith and doubt over the course of their lives.

Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/214

Seattle Meet Up Details

Sponsor Links

Omohundro Institute
Babbel (Use Promo Code BFWorld to save 50% off your first 3 months)

Complementary Episodes

Helpful Show Links

*Books purchased through this link will help support the production of Ben Franklin's World.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Ben Franklin's World is a production of the
0:02.5	O'Mohandro Institute.
0:04.0	Welcome to Ben Franklin's World,
0:08.0	Podcasts About Early American History with Liz Covert.
0:11.0	The study of history is key to understanding who we are and how we can affect the better future.
0:17.0	Ben Franklin's world will introduce you to historical people and
0:25.0	welcome,
0:28.0	welcome to episode,
0:30.0	and welcome to episode 214 of Ben Franklin's world.
0:32.0	The podcast dedicated to helping you learn more about how the people
0:36.2	and events of our early American past have shaped the present day world we live in.
0:41.0	Many histories of early America describe the United States as a Christian nation.
0:45.0	These works point to newspaper articles, essays, and pamphlets, written by early American clergymen,
0:51.0	who argued for the centrality of Protestant faith in early American society.
0:55.4	These clergymen contended that Americans needed to have faith in God and the Bible as the
1:00.8	moral authority of their nation, because the United States needed a virtuous
1:05.8	citizenry to succeed in its experiment with Republican government.
1:10.2	But was the early United States really a Christian nation?
1:14.0	Did most of its citizenry except God and the Bible is the moral authority that bound them together as one nation?
1:20.0	Over the years, scholars have taken a binary stance on these questions.
1:25.0	Some scholars argue that early America was a thoroughly religious place and that even those
1:29.9	who didn't attend church were on the same basic page as those who did attend.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Liz Covart, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Liz Covart and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.