Excommunication from the Union by William B Kurtz
Fordham Up, £23.99
Anti-Catholicism was staggeringly pervasive in 19th-century America. The faith was routinely denounced as antithetical to the supposedly progressive spirit of the Republic. Catholics were portrayed as blindly obedient to a papal tyrant, and otherwise level-headed commentators thought nothing of using terms like the “Whore of Babylon” or dreaming up fantasies about potential Romish invasion forces. This must all have been devastating for America’s Catholic population, which had risen to 3.1 million (some 10 per cent of the citizenry) by 1860.
Everything had seemed much more promising only a few decades earlier. The contributions of many Catholics to the revolutionary cause had not gone unnoticed and in 1790 George Washington, no less, had praised these “worthy members of the community” for their “patriotic spirit”.
Unfortunately, it did not take long for lazy stereotypes to reassert themselves. Well-organised parties, notably the Know-Nothings, spat venom and grumbled about the mass immigration of Irish and German Catholics. Spectacular, if short-lived, victories were secured. The 1854 election in Massachusetts saw the Know-Nothings take the state governorship, every seat in the state senate and all but two in the House of Representatives.
As William Kurtz’s outstanding book reveals, however, the outbreak of the Civil War offered northern Catholics an opportunity to silence the wayward critics and demonstrate just how much they loved their country.
There were certainly misgivings about securing the Union through force but, when it mattered, some 200,000 Catholics joined the ranks of the northern armies while hundreds of nuns served as nurses. At first, such work won plaudits and had truly unexpected consequences: before the conflict, who could have foreseen Protestant businessmen in New York raising funds for the families of Catholic immigrant soldiers? Such bonhomie would not endure. Anti-Catholic bigotry within the army became easy to spot and Catholics came to resent the lack of appreciation for their sacrifices.
Fault lines in the Catholic attitude to the war also emerged. It was not always easy for Catholics to support Lincoln and the Republican Party. Many of the party’s luminaries had a troubling record when it came to anti-Catholic prejudice and the Democratic Party was always a more natural home for the American sons of Rome.
Slavery was also divisive. There had certainly been passionate abolitionists in the Catholic fold and, more generally, a sense in many quarters that slavery was an immoral institution. But, by and large, the Church’s leadership had adopted a cautious, gradualist approach to the subject. When it came to deciding what the war was about, or which policies ought to be supported, tensions were all but inevitable. It became easy for those who despised Catholicism to focus on such problems.
Kurtz concludes that the Civil War proved to be an “alienating experience” for American Catholicism: one that led to retreat and the emergence of a subculture. He pushes this concept of isolation a little too far, but the basic idea has merit. Within Catholic ranks there would be a determined effort to remember moments of heroism, but these were largely ignored by everyone outside the Church.
Worse yet, and as the later 19th century proved, it would take a very long time for anti-Catholic sentiment to retreat to the margins of American society. Even some of the best histories of the Civil War pay scant attention to the muddled Catholic experience, and this desideratum makes Kurtz’s book truly groundbreaking.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.