American Creed: Philanthropy and the Rise of Civil Society, 1700-1865

332 Pages·2003·4.823 MB·English

by  Kathleen D. McCarthy

American Creed

American Creed
Philanthropy and the Rise of Civil Society
‒
 .  
c
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
D
The University ofChicago Press, Chicago 
The University ofChicago Press, Ltd., London
© by The University ofChicago
All rights reserved. Published 
Paperback edition
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
           
: ---(cloth)
: ---(paperback)
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McCarthy, Kathleen D.
American creed : philanthropy and the rise ofcivil society,
–/Kathleen D. McCarthy.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
---(cloth : alk. paper)
. Charities—United States—History—th century. . Non-
profit organizations—United States—History—th century.
. Civil society—United States—History—th century.
. Charities—United States—History—th century. . Nonprofit
organizations—United States—History—th century. . Civil
society—United States—History—th century. I. Title.
.
.(cid:2)(cid:2)—dc

(cid:2)(cid:3) The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements ofthe American National Standard for Information
Sciences—Permanence ofPaper for Printed Library Materials,
 .-.
To the International Fellows
ofthe Center for the Study ofPhilanthropy
The Graduate Center
City University ofNew York

Contents
Acknowledgments, ix
Introduction, 
 :     
. Forging the Creed,
. The Feminization of Republicanism,
. The Legacy of Disestablishment,
. The Geography of Generosity, 
. Race, Religion, and Reform,
 :   
. The Jacksonian Backlash,
. Civil Society/Civil Disorder,
. The Politics of Chivalry,
Conclusion: Civil Society and the Civil War,
Notes, 
Bibliography, 
Index, 

Acknowledgments
One of the happiest tasks in writing a
book is thanking the people who helped along the way. I am extremely
grateful to everyone who assisted me on this journey.
Any historian will tell you how vitally important archivists are to our
work. I have benefited greatly from the wisdom and the assistance of the
staffs of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, the New-York Historical So-
ciety, the New York Public Library, the Schomburg Center for Research in
Black Culture, and the American Bible Society, where Mary Cordato was
particularly helpful. I especially want to thank Phillip Lapasansky and his
outstanding staff at the Library Company of Philadelphia. Their kind-
ness, help, and efficiency played a vitally important role in my ability to
finish this research.
Many colleagues and friends read some or all of the manuscript in
various stages of its career, including Kenneth Arnold, Benjamin Barber,
Carol Berkin, Martin Burke, Charles Clotfelter, Virginia Hodgkinson,
Stanley Katz, Thomas Kessner, Barbara Leopold, Charles William Maynes,
Louis Masur, Eugene Miller, Dan Moore, John Morning, James Oakes, Joel
Orosz, Colin Palmer, Bhikhu Parekh, Frances Fox Piven, Kathryn Kish
Sklar, James Allen Smith, Francis X. Sutton, and Sidney Verba. Their good
counsel immeasurably improved the book; any remaining errors of fact
or interpretation are entirely my own. I also particularly want to thank
ix