Religion Civil War
Religious concepts had a profound influence on the evolution ofAmerican intellectual thought during the Civil War. Thomas Paine's CommonSense, which predated the American Civil War by almost a century, arguedthat religious differences would simply supply the fledgling Americannation with a diversity of opinion and a greater opportunity for Christiankindness. As the Civil War spit America over the issue of slavery, itbecame clear that religious concepts drove the differences in opinion overslavery. As the Civil War ended, Abraham Lincoln's famous Second InauguralAddress referred to both sides' use of religion to justify their aims, andprayed for a peaceful end to the conflict. Thomas Paine's Common Sense (1776), one of the earliest of America'sinfluential intellectual works calls for religious tolerance, and suggeststhat differences in religious concepts can be healthy for a developingnation. Common Sense was a seminal work in intellectual thought that droveAmerica toward independence. Paine's work placed blame for suffering inthe colonies firmly on the shoulders of Britain's King George III, andcalled for America's independence from British rule. In Common Sense,
Religious differences drove a great deal of the intellectual discussionabout the root cause of the American Civil War: slavery. People in the north argued that the spirit of the Bible held all people asequal under God, and thus used their ideas about religion to oppose theCivil War. He prayed that the end of thewar would come soon, and argued that the war itself, the time of slavery,and the end of slavery were God's will. Individuals inthe south used the letter of the Bible to justify slavery, whileindividuals in the north argued that the bible held all people as equalunder God, thus opposing slavery on religious grounds. Inthe South, religion often focused on personal piety, and faith was oftenused as a justification for slavery. Clearly,American's had forgotten Thomas Paine's assertion that religiousdifferences could only provide a greater opportunity for human kindness. In the south, people argued that adherence to the letter of theBible justified slavery. In a separation fromthe mainstream churches of Europe, modern Americans began to embrace theideas of independence. Ultimately, Lincoln prayed thatthe nation would be healed, and that peace would come to the United States. He clearly and emphaticallydenounced the evil of slavery in the speech. In the North,religion was intertwined with ideas of social action that called for theend of slavery on moral and religious grounds. He notedthat both sides worshipped the same god, and yet both sides repeatedlyasked for God's aid in defeating the other. Instead, the issue of slavery seemed to polarize Americanintellectual thought, with Americans either using religious concepts tojustify or denounce slavery. Puritan theology and the SecondGreat Awakening both inspired American independence.
Common topics in this essay:
Civil War,
United Lincoln's,
Inaugural Address,
Common Sense,
Abraham Lincoln,
War Puritan,
Thomas Paine's,
God North,
War Instead,
War Religion,
civil war,
religious concepts,
north south,
religious differences,
inaugural address,
common sense,
american intellectual,
thomas paine's,
paine's assertion,
american civil war,
abraham lincoln's,
opportunity christian kindness,
played role shaping,
bible held people,
held people equal,
|
Acceptance Essays
