Sectarianism and Orestes Brownson in the American Religious Marketplace

180 Pages·2017·14.044 MB·English

by  Ángel Cortés (auth.)

Histories of the Sacred and Secular,
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1700 2000
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ÁngelCortés
Sectarianism and
Orestes Brownson in
the American
Religious
Marketplace
ÁngelCortés
DepartmentofHistory
HolyCrossCollege
NotreDame,Indiana,USA
HistoriesoftheSacredandSecular,1700–2000
ISBN978-3-319-51876-3 ISBN978-3-319-51877-0(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-51877-0
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017939697
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A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Like every scholar, I benefited from the assistance of many individuals in
writingthisbook.AtNotreDame,IthanklibrariansSusanFeirick,Kristie
Clark, and Nancy Kambol and those who assisted in the crucial area of
Interlibrary Loans, especially Therese Bauters. The Cushwa Center’s
Director, Kathleen Sprows Cummings, and Administrative Coordinator,
ShaneUlbrich,expandedmyaccesstothecollectionsofHesburghlibrary.
WilliamKevinCawleyattheNotreDameArchivesandJamesCachey,Ken
Kinslow, and Trudy Mullins at Rare Books and Special Collections were
particularly helpful. At St. Mary’s College, Kate Ward helped me secure
needed items through Interlibrary Loans during the summer months. At
myhomeinstitution,Holy Cross,helpcamefromlibrariansSeanWalton
and Mary Ellen Hegedus. A special thanks goes to David Lutz, whose
leadership and advocacy secured desperately needed funds to defray
research expenses. I also benefited from archival assistance on the road,
particularlyfromKateFeigheryattheArchivesfortheArchdioceseofNew
York, andThomasLester, atthe Archives ofthe Archdiocese ofBoston.
I thank reviewers for their careful and close read of my manuscript,
especially James Turner, who read each of my chapters, one by one. Jon
ColemanprovidedusefulfeedbackonmyBookProposal,helpingtochisel
it intoshape.
Iaminfinitelygratefultomyfamilyforsupportingmeinthisendeavor:
Marcy, who has always provided a ballast to my sails; Bernal, whose busy
lifeprovidesmewithausefulwavethatIcanride;TobyandMia,whoare
myradiantsunshine.
vii
C
ONTENTS
1 Preface 1
2 An Ageof ‘Crisis andDiscontinuity’: Brownson’s
Early ReligiousConfusionandMobility 7
3 ‘A Seaof SectarianRivalries’: The Second Great
Awakening and ReligiousConflict 15
4 ‘I am SlavetonoSect’: Brownson’sDefense
of Intellectual Freedom andDoubt 37
5 ‘I WishedtoUniteMen’:A Visionof Religious
Calm in the Midstof an IntellectualStorm 55
6 ‘We must have clothinganda shelter’:
The Search for aReligious Home 75
7 ‘We are OurselvesToo Polemical’:Formation
of a RhetoricalPugilist 101
8 ‘A DangerousandPestilent Fellow’: Return
to ReligiousLiberalism 119
ix
x CONTENTS
9 ‘An UncompromisingCatholicanda Thoroughgoing
Papist’: Endof aLong Journey 139
10 Epilogue 149
Index 161
CHAPTER1
Preface
The former slave and great abolitionist orator Frederick Douglass once
saidthat,‘forpracticalbenefit,weareoftenaboutasmuchindebtedtoour
enemies,astoourfriends;asmuchtothemenwhohiss,astothosewho
applaud;foritmaybewithmenassomeonehassaidabouttea;thatifyou
wishtogetitsstrength,youmustputitintohotwater.’OrestesBrownson
(1803–1876), the individual at the center of this book, may not always
have been prepared to celebrate the truth of this observation, but in his
moremeditativemomentshemostassuredlywouldhavehadtorecognize
its wisdom. The ‘hot water’ applied to Brownson was supplied by the
religiousmarketplaceoftheearlyrepublic.HereBrownsonwasrepeatedly
provokedbyinternalandexternalcriticsofhisreligiousconfessionaswell
asoutrightenemies.ThisdoesnotmeanthatBrownsonwasatthemercy
ofhisfoes—fornoonedeterminedBrownson’schoices.Whatitsuggests,
rather,isthatBrownson’sengagementwiththosewithwhomhediffered
hada way of reshaping his fundamentalbeliefs regarding hisown confes-
sion, a process that often eventually resulted in Brownson’s search for a
new communitywith whichto associate.
MyaimwillbetorenderBrownsonatonceshapedandreshapedbythis
marketplace,butatthesametimefreetomakechoices.InthiswayIhope
topresentBrownsonasembeddedinhistime,butalsoabletodetermine
his attachments and shape his destiny. In sum, Brownson will remain an
agent—butonewhoiseverworkingwithintheveryrealparametersofthe
American religiousmarketplace.
©TheAuthor(s)2017 1
Á.Cortés,SectarianismandOrestesBrownsonintheAmerican
ReligiousMarketplace,HistoriesoftheSacredandSecular,1700–2000,
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-51877-0_1