John Wesley's Effects On Religion And Catholicism During The Civil War

Wesley’s look at politics, which affected faith and preaching during the Civil War, is different from his former counterpart historians. Wesley strives to prove that both the North and South were heavily influenced by its preachers during the Civil War. Wesley provides his theses with valuable evidence that the politics, which were preached by South and North leaders of the church, were different, but the goal was the same: to encourage their troops and supporters on their side of the war, and to biblically support their political positions. Religion and politics were motivating and moving factors for clergy during the Civil War. In fact, the Civil War had changed the way in which the average Americans viewed the first amendment. By …show more content…
The use of these primary sources in a book that is about the preachers and political activists, their beliefs, and influences on the psychology of the people is an incredible accomplishment and helps support his claims that the preachers are a valuable piece of Civil War history. Notably Wesley references a political preacher who told his followers that, if they did not wish to hear political preaching, they did not need to come to hear him preach. Wesley further documents the society’s view on the preachers by placing quotes in the text that portrayed the common people’s concerns. One instance of Wesley using a source to show the fear of the people is the comical quotation from Ross Phares stating that there would be too many political preachers in the …show more content…
It is difficult to comprehend the importance of certain quotes or references to historical events without the proper context of what is occurring with the war at that time. In one case Wesley notes that the Emancipation Proclamation (1962) occurs, and later on the same page presents a quote from Bishop Crummell that same year, asking his “colored brethren” to look elsewhere for a home. This presents a problem, there is no indication as to whether this quote became before or after the emancipation of the slaves. If the quote was said prior to the emancipation the preacher may have thought of himself as encouraging his “brethren” to seek out a better life in another country because they were enslaved in America. If the quote was stated after the emancipation then he can be seen as a preacher who was in fact asking the “brethren” to leave based upon their color and did not acknowledge the emancipation as truly freeing. Dates are important to the historical context however, by simply adding a date does not give the full context, it needs to be elaborated