Abstract
In 1861, the world’s most devout country went to war. Soldiers and civilians alike “read the same Bible, prayed to the same God and invoked His aide against the other.” In the antebellum era, organized faith and religion were easily the most important social and cultural values at work in America. Membership in churches grew from 1 in 15 to 1 in 7 Americans. The Second Great Awakening had led to the most prolific period of church growth in world history after the 1st century. Even the non-religious Abraham Lincoln said to an aide, “take all of [the Bible] upon reason that you can, and the balance upon faith, and you will live and die a happier and better man.” Though not a “war of religion,” America’s Civil War truly was a religious war.
DOI
10.31390/cwbr.21.2.03
Recommended Citation
Miller, Robert J.
(2019)
"Religion and Faith – the Forgotten Factor of the Civil War,"
Civil War Book Review: Vol. 21
:
Iss.
2
.
DOI: 10.31390/cwbr.21.2.03
Available at:
https://repository.lsu.edu/cwbr/vol21/iss2/3
