Faculty Publications

America’s “Peculiar Children”: Authority And Christian Nationalism At Antebellumwest Point

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Antebellum, Authority, Christianity, Civil war, Education, Military, Nationalism

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Religions

Volume

8

Issue

1

Abstract

This essay examines how the United States Military Academy at West Point developed an explicitly “federal” Christianity to help train the antebellum officers of the United States Army. It begins by examining how the Episcopal Church was quietly “established” at West Point, and how the church allied with the federal government and US Army to encourage a potent Christian nationalism that collapsed the sovereignty of the United States into the sovereignty of God. The case of West Point illustrates how federal officials, Army leaders, and Academy administrators understood religion as a central component of national security.

Department

Department of Philosophy and World Religions

Original Publication Date

1-1-2017

DOI of published version

10.3390/rel8010006

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

Link to Full Text

Comments?

Share

COinS