Rebuilding Zion: The Religious Reconstruction of the South, 1863-1877

During the American Civil War and its aftermath, Southern evangelicals remained convinced that their cause was both Christian and just. This position became more entrenched as Northern evangelicals entered the South after the war, aiming to save freedmen. Author Daniel Stowell plots the conflict that resulted from these competing visions of the religious reconstruction of the South. By demonstrating how the Southern vision eventually came to predominate, he shows how the Southern Churches became one of the principal bulwarks in the creation of the myth of the "Lost Cause," Southern honour, and curious moral righteousness of the South's treatment of both slave and freedman.

About the Author :
Daniel W. Stowell is an Assistant Editor with The Lincoln Legal Papers, a project of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, in Springfield, Illinois.

Review :
"Essential reading. The best account we have of the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on southern Protestantism. Stowell's consideration of the three dominant southern white denominations, of the emergence of black denominations, and of the northern religious perspective, plus the detailed comparisons of developments in two states, Georgia and Tennessee, provide a multifaceted comparative perspective with attention to change over time. Well researched, clearly written, perceptive, and judicious in tone, this is an uncommonly rewarding work of primary scholarship."--John B. Boles, Managing Editor, Journal of Southern History, and William Pettus Hobby Professor of History, Rice University "This book should be an important contribution to understanding changes in religious institutions during a vastly confusing and conflicted time. The author is to be congratulated for leading us through a process that most historians have ignored. We will be able to understand the neligious history of the late nineteenth century much better now. Southern historians especially will benefit from his work, but students of American religious history, as well, should read it to their own advantage."--Donald G. Mathews, Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "[The book] admirably complements the wealth of recent literature on religion and the Civil War by taking a small step forward in time to the Reconstruction period of the US South. For research on religious reconstruction in the US South, this volume will be a welcome addition."--CHOICE "Clearly argued and carefully documented, this important book should be in every college library."--Religious Studies Review "[An] ambitious work...in crafting a deeply contextualized account of Southern religious reconstruction, Stowell has also easily surpassed the conventional one-note denominational or biographical studies of Reconstruction religion and laid bare the real complexities of rebuilding the new even while the shadow of the old hung long over the land."--The North Carolina Historical Review "The greatest strength of [the book] lies in the author's well-crafted narrative of the myriad conflicts that shaped the institutional forms and cultural commitments emerging by the middle of the 1870s...Not content to synthesize the wide array of recent secondary scholarship...[H]e has supplemented existing studies with extensive work in manuscript sources from Georgia and Tennessee...His use of personal papers and local church records is particularly effective and should provoke similar investigations of other states...Stowell moves a giant step closer to a broader understanding of the role that religious faith played in the wake of Union victory."--Journal of Interdisciplinary History