Hellfire Nation : The Politics of Sin in American History

by James A. Morone

• ISBN13: 9780300105179
• ISBN10: 0300105177
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2004-07-11
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

This extraordinary retelling of American political history shows thatdespite the clear separation of church and statereligion lies at the heart of American politics. "This is American history the way I like it, prodigiously researched and vivaciously told. Mr. Morone has a knack for peeling off veneers, for locating the surprising fact, for adopting the unexpected and illuminating slant. He is a rarity, a scholar who is never boring."Tracy Kidder, Pulitzer Prize-winning author ofThe Soul of a New Machine "Hellfire Nation [places] much of our public life in its proper soul-searching contextand its careful anatomy of the hand-in-glove relations between the American state and the American faithful is both welcome and illuminating."Chris Lehmann,Washington Post Book World

Author Biography

James A. Morone, professor of political science at Brown University, is also the author of The Democratic Wish: Popular Participation and the Limits of American Government, published by Yale University Press.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction: A Nation with the Soul of a Church	1	(33)
PART I The Puritan Foundations of Morality Politics (1630-1776)
CHAPTER 1. US: The City on a Hill	34	(21)
CHAPTER 2. Them: Heretic, Heathen, and Witch	55	(45)
CHAPTER 3. The Puritans Become America	100	(23)
PART II The Abolitionist Crusade (1800-1865)
CHAPTER 4. The Wrath of God in Black and White	123	(21)
CHAPTER 5. Abolition!	144	(25)
CHAPTER 6. South: The Pro-Slavery Argument	169	(14)
CHAPTER 7. North: The Ragged Chorus of the Union	183	(39)
PART III The Victorian Quest for Virtue (1870-1929)
CHAPTER 8. Purity and the Woman's Sphere	222	(35)
CHAPTER 9. White Slaves and the Modern Witch-Hunt	257	(24)
CHAPTER 10. Temperance: Crucible of Race and Class	281	(37)
CHAPTER 11. Prohibition and the Rise of Big Government	318	(32)
PART IV The Social Gospel at High Tide (1932-1973)
CHAPTER 12. The New Deal Call to Alms	350	(28)
CHAPTER 13. Manifest Destiny and the Cold War	378	(29)
CHAPTER 14. The Sixties	407	(43)
PART V The Puritans Roar Again
CHAPTER 15. Modern Morals	450	(43)
Epilogue	493	(6)
Notes	499	(62)
Index	561