American Crusade: Lyman Abbott and the Christian Nation at War, 1861-1918

This study investigates American Christians’ interpretations of the Civil War, Spanish-American War, and World War I.Lyman Abbott (1835-1922), a Congregationalist minister, prominent editor, and advisor to Theodore Roosevelt, serves as the focal point because as a widely-respected popular voice he consistently championed America’s wars.In doing so, he deployed theological language to justify armed conflict, explain American victory, and exalt national righteousness.Although Abbott regularly spoke for the nation’s white mainline Protestant leadership, he did not speak for everyone.The opinions of Christian groups far removed from Abbott’s ideological convictions and elite social position offer a counterpoint to his understanding of America’s military conflicts.Juxtaposing Abbott’s vehement support for America’s wars with the views of groups less a part of the American mainstream (specifically African American Methodists, Roman Catholics, and Missouri Synod Lutherans) reveals much about the history of his era.For Abbott as well as for these counterpoint groups, ideological orientation and social position did the most to shape perspectives on American warfare and influence their wartime commentary.An understanding of American history in the Civil War Era, Gilded Age, and Progressive Era remains incomplete without reckoning with the ways religion was mobilized to support or oppose warfare.