Patriotism and Piety

In Patriotism and Piety, Jonathan Den Hartog argues that the question of how religion would function in American society was decided in the decades after the Constitution and First Amendment established a legal framework. Den Hartog shows that among the wide array of politicians and public figures struggling to define religion’s place in the new nation, Federalists stood out - evolving religious attitudes were central to Federalism, and the encounter with Federalism strongly shaped American Christianity.Den Hartog describes the Federalist appropriations of religion as passing through three stages: a “republican” phase of easy cooperation inherited from the experience of the American Revolution; a “combative” phase, forged during the political battles of the 1790s–1800s, when the destiny of the republic was hotly contested; and a “voluntarist” phase that grew in importance after 1800. Faith became more individualistic and issue-oriented as a result of the actions of religious Federalists.Religious impulses fueled party activism and informed governance, but the redirection of religious energies into voluntary societies sapped party momentum, and religious differences led to intraparty splits. These developments altered not only the Federalist Party but also the practice and perception of religion in America, as Federalist insights helped to create spaces of voluntary, national organizations in which Americans could practice their faith in interdenominational settings.Patriotism and Piety focuses on the experiences and challenges confronted by a number of Federalists, from well-known leaders such as John Adams, John Jay, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Timothy Dwight to lesser-known but still important figures such as Caleb Strong, Elias Boudinot, and William Jay.

Patriotism and Piety represents a much-needed addition to the political and religious history of the period. Comprehensive and authoritative, this book is clearly based on immense archival reading and research and will have a long-lasting influence on our view of an understudied topic. --Thomas S. Kidd, Baylor University, author of God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, den Hartog has written an original and fascinating book on an underresearched portion of American religious history. Although some recent treatments of early Americna religion consider, for example, religious opposition to Jefferson's candidacy in the election of 1800, none come close to depth and originality to that provided in Patriotism and Piety. --author of Fides et Historia, Den Hartog's prosapographical approach provides a revealing way to dive into the subjects with enough depth to draw key distinctions between outlooks and between the republican, combative, and voluntarist strands he identifies among evangelical Federalists.... [T]he great strength of this work is its careful, detailed examinations of its subjects. Den Hartog has skillfully and ably laid out a thesis and charted a course for subsequent scholarship to follow. --author of Journal of Church and State, In Patriotism and Piety Jonathan J. Den Hartog casts the familiar story of the Federalist struggle against Jeffersonian infidelity in a new light. He shows that leading Federalists, so often depicted as supporters of established religion and theological orthodoxy, staked out a range of positions on the questionof religion's role in public life. Moreover, he demonstrates that Federalist views on the church-state relationship evolved over time and in directions that would continue to shape American politics long after the last of the New England religious establishments had crumbled. --author of Journal of American History, In this year of political turmoil, religious fear, and major challenges to federal institutions and what used to be touted as American values, Jonathan Den Hartog's 2015 book merits careful study. Federalists played a large role in establishing the norms and institutions that defined politics and religion in the early United States and in shaping forms of social organization that persist to this day. Federalists also played a decisive role in establishing a culture of religo-political factionalism that even now thrives with a vengeance. --author of Catholic Historical Review

Jonathan J. Den Hartog is Associate Professor of History at the University of Northwestern, St. Paul, USA.