RELIGIOSITY and REFORM in OBERLIN, OHIO, 1833-1859 Matthew Inh Tz Clemson University, [email protected]
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Clemson University TigerPrints All Theses Theses 5-2012 PARADISE FOUND: RELIGIOSITY AND REFORM IN OBERLIN, OHIO, 1833-1859 Matthew inH tz Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Hintz, Matthew, "PARADISE FOUND: RELIGIOSITY AND REFORM IN OBERLIN, OHIO, 1833-1859" (2012). All Theses. 1338. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/1338 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PARADISE FOUND: RELIGIOSITY AND REFORM IN OBERLIN, OHIO, 1833-1859 A Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of the Arts History by Matthew David Hintz May 2012 Accepted by: H. Roger Grant, Committee Chair C. Alan Grubb Orville V. Burton ABSTRACT Founded as a quasi-utopian society by New England evangelists, Oberlin became the central hub of extreme social reform in Ohio’s Western Reserve. Scholars have looked at Oberlin from political and cultural perspectives, but have placed little emphasis on religion. That is to say, although religion is a major highlight of secondary scholarship, few have placed the community appropriately in the dynamic of the East and West social reform movement. Historians have often ignored, or glossed over this important element and how it represented the divergence between traditional orthodoxy in New England and Middle-Atlantic states, and the new religious hybrids found in the West. While Oberlinians traced their religious heritage to Puritan Calvinism, they and other western evangelicals fused different theologies to create an ecclesiastical mechanism for gaining converts, promoting universalism, and combating sin. This was in contrast to traditional eastern orthodoxy where denominations remained pure. Although Oberlin was exceptional for its time, even by Western Reserve standards, it properly embodied the religious zeal found in western settlements such as Galesburg, IL, and Olivet, MI. These communities espoused a belief in religious activism and universalism shared by their Ohio brethren. Much of the primary source material here comes from traditional religious sources; the works of Charles G. Finney, the doctrine of Perfectionism and Perfect Love, and the writings and speeches of activists. To contrast the relationship between East and West, it was important to incorporate Lyman Beecher and other orthodox churchmen as well as religious compacts such as the 1801 Plan of Union. ii This study has led to several conclusions. First, that egalitarian democracy was shared between the orthodox and non-orthodox, but those empowered to partake greatly expanded in the West. This was due to the impact of non-orthodox Calvinism where Arminian theology demanded human agency for salvation. Secondly, Puritanical aspects of universal education encouraged the challenge of authority to expand the rights of others. Finally, universal agency and citizenship radicalized the women’s rights and antislavery movements, empowering women and the growing black elite and middle class to sue for equality through conventional and non-conventional means. Thus, the Puritan foundation of democracy and religion fostered practical expression in the West, in contrast to the East where they remained theoretical. iii DEDICATION For absent friends and lost loves, you have not been forgotten. For Katelyn and Jacob, so you may learn. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As with all creative projects, it was impossible to complete any aspect of this thesis without the assistance of others. I would like to thank my chair, Dr. H. Roger Grant, whose guidance allowed me to approach this topic from both a theological as well as a practical standpoint. His patience as an advisor and sharp eye in copyediting my manuscript provided me with the appropriate canvas on which to build my ideas. I offer my sincerest gratitude to the members of my committee, Dr. Alan Grubb, and Dr. Orville V. Burton, for their professional and constructive criticism from which this final manuscript greatly benefits. It is felicitous to mention the positive impact of other faculty members who have played an intricate role in the formation of this project. Dr. Rod Andrew and Dr. Paul Anderson, whose diligence to answer questions, dispense criticism, and offer administrative support cannot be overstated. Both instilled in me a sense of duty and faith in every aspect of this undertaking. My sincerest gratitude goes to Dr. Vivien Sandlund of Hiram College, for her endless encouragement as my senior advisor and for strengthening my background in antislavery history. I also want to highlight the crucial contributions of my academic mentor, Professor Christopher Dewell of Hiram College, for his thorough and rigorous evaluation of my research and tireless support over the years. Historians are only as effective as their sources. I wish recognize the various organizations that have contributed to the substance of this study. The Oberlin Heritage Center, where I first found interest in the themes explored in this paper, the newspaper v archive of the Hiram College Library, the primary documents made available by the Oberlin Electronic Group, and the wealth of literature at the Western Reserve Historical Society. These associations made following the long winding road of social reform history a pleasant and fulfilling adventure. Finally, this thesis would not be possible without the love and support of friends and family. I would like to thank my colleagues and friends in the graduate department, specifically Jonathan Hepworth, for reading drafts and offering assistance and suggestions. I cannot begin to articulate the love and affection I have for my family. Through all of the events of the last six years they have stood by me and never lost faith. Without them this project would have never come into being. I give my love and sincerest appreciation to my parents, David and Cynthia, my sister and her husband, Lisa and John, and lastly to my niece and nephew, Katelyn and Jacob. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE....................................................................................................................i ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................ii DEDICATION................................................................................................................iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................v PROLOGUE PARADISE: AWAKENING IN THE WEST ...............................................1 CHAPTER I. CREATING ZION: RELIGION, DEMOCRACY, & THE QUEST FOR PERFECTION ........................................................9 II. CULTIVATING THE WHOLE: SOCIAL UPLIFT THROUGH UNIVERSIAL EDUCATION...........................................32 III. COSMOPOLITANISM AND UNITY: BLACK CITIZENSHIP.........................................................................56 EPILOGUE BEYOND AWAKENING: THE SOCIAL GOSPEL..................................84 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................101 vii PROLOGUE PARADISE AWAKENING IN THE WEST Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didstinspire That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed, In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth Rose out of Chaos: Or if Sion Hill Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow'd Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song, That with no middle flight intends to soar Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime. – John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I. In 1789, President George Washington signed the Northwest Ordinance into law. An important catalyst in America’s political and economic development, the act marked the first time since the French and Indian War (1754-1763) that colonists could legally traverse the great Appalachian Mountains to seek their fortune. Opportunistic settlers, who had been priced out of the land market in the East by wealthy elites, ventured into the great Ohio and Mississippi valleys in search of property and economic prosperity; the essence of American independence. The fruits of these wayfarers laid the foundation of northern industrialism, canals, railroads, and manufactories in growing urban centers where commerce commanded the stage. This was the birth of the American West. While hearty, individualistic, fortune-seeking pioneers form the crux of the mythos of Manifest Destiny, they only account for one part of the whole. In order to sustain western civilization, settlers had to tame the West and mold it into something unique. For New Englanders, as with their predecessors before them, the only weapon sufficient 1 to conquer the West and spread civilization was the Bible. Indeed, cultivation and settlement did not solely advance on the desire for economic satisfaction, but through an airy biblical transcendence and belief in something abstractly divine. To these neo- Puritans, the West represented more than earthly sustenance, it was the ultimate reality of a land promised in the Book of Exodus.1 Given America’s policy of a “wall of separation” between