The Cherokees and Christianity, 1794-1870: Essays on Acculturation and Cultural Persistence

William G. McLoughlin

University of Georgia Press, 2008 - History - 347 pages

In The Cherokees and Christianity, William G. McLoughlin examines how the process of religious acculturation worked within the Cherokee Nation during the nineteenth century. More concerned with Cherokee "Christianization" than Cherokee "civilization," these eleven essays cover the various stages of cultural confrontation with Christian imperialism.

The first section of the book explores the reactions of the Cherokee to the inevitable clash between Christian missionaries and their own religious leaders, as well as their many and varied responses to slavery. In part two, McLoughlin explores the crucial problem of racism that divided the southern part of North America into red, white and black long before 1776 and considers the ways in which the Cherokees either adapted Christianity to their own needs or rejected it as inimical to their identity.

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THE CHEROKEES AND CHRISTIANITY, 1794-1870: Essays on Acculturation and Cultural Persistence

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This excellent collection of essays probes the responses of one Native American tribe to the forces of Christianity. In this posthumously published anthology of essays, McLoughlin (History and ...

Contents

• Introduction: 3
• Tears 18381839: 91
• Cherokee Responses to: 129
• The Cherokees Use of Christianity: 152
• Accepting Christianity 18391860: 188
• The Origins of the Keetoowah: 219
• Ghost Dance Movements: 285
• The Fast Day Proclamation of Chief Lewis: 306
• Index: 343

About the author

William G. McLoughlin was Willard Prescott and Annie McClelland Smith Professor Emeritus of History and Religion, Professor Emeritus of History, and Chancellor's Fellow at Brown University. He was the author of several books on Cherokee history, including After the Trail of Tears: The Cherokee's Struggle for Sovereignty, 1839-1880. Walter H. Conser, Jr., is professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He is the author of God and the Natural World: Religion and Science in Antebellum America.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Cherokees and Christianity, 1794-1870: Essays on Acculturation and Cultural Persistence
• Author: William G. McLoughlin
• Editor: Walter H. Conser
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press, 2008
• ISBN: 0820331384, 9780820331386
• Length: 347 pages
• Subjects: History / Native American; History / United States / 19th Century; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / Native American Studies; Social Science / Minority Studies