Title: A Review of American History to Understand Americas Current Cultural Status and The Implications for
1A Review of American History to Understand
Americas Current Cultural Status and The
Implications for Evangelization(Part 1)
- Original Edition Prepared For
- NAMBs 2006 Leadership Summit
- Current Revision Prepared For
- SBC State Convention Directors of Mission
- Missouri, Oklahoma South Carolina Staff
Meetings in 2007 - Prepared by Dr. James B. Slack, Missiologist of
IMB, SBC
2A Note To The Viewers Usersof this PowerPoint
Presentation
- This PowerPoint presentation is supported by at
least two other Word source documents. The major
one of the two is Frontiers of Lostness in the US.
3The Aim and Context of this Ethnic Immigration
History Presentation
- The aim of this presentation is to explore and
present a history of immigration into the USA
from 1775 to the present with a view to exposing
major implications concerning church planting
then and now.
4Section 1 Biblical Backgroundfor Evangelizers
5Context of This Presentation
- All that is presented in this biblical
background section goes at least back to Abraham
when God moved to make Abraham the father of
ethnic peoples, ethnic evangelization and ethnic
blessings that extended even to the families
(phulagi in Greek). - Genesis 121 Now the Lord said to Abram, Go out
from your country and from your family and from
your father's house, into the land to which I
will be your guide 2 And I will make of you a
great nation ethnosan ethnic people group),
blessing you and making your name great and you
will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who
bless you, And I will curse him who curses you
And in you all the families (tribes, clans,
peoples) of the earth shall be blessed." - To bring Himself as Saviour into this world in
an incarnate state, God chose Abraham as the
basis for developing a distinct ethnic people
groupIsrael (the people of God). Israel would
be the channel through which the lineage and
heritage of Jesus would flow and come into this
world in the flesh.
6Context of This Presentation
- God promised Abraham and us through Abraham that
He would make of Abraham a great nation (ethnic
people group) through whom (Israel-the people of
God) He would engage and blessn not only every
ethnic group but also every tribe
(phulagitranslated as tribe and family that
follows within the lineage of a clan, a tribe, an
ethnic group). - Throughout Gods developing of His ethnic
people group Israel, God continually pleaded that
Israel put Him first, clean up their
life--personal and national-- and ultimately take
His hope of salvation to the panta ta ethne
(each and every ethnic group). All of this
history from Abraham in Genesis is summarized in
Christs Great Commission (Matthew 2819 20).
7Context of Presentation
- For Israel from its beginning in Abraham unto
spiritual Israel now (each Christian and each
Church), the panta ta ethne was and is the
focus of making disciples. The panta ta
ethne obligation can be seen in the Old
Testament in the stranger in thy home, the
stranger (ethnic) in thy midst. - On occasion in the O.T., as with Jonah, God
called individual witnesses to take His message
to other ethnic groups. In Jonahs eyes, Nineveh
was a major enemy of Israel, deserving to be
damned forever. In Gods eyes the people of
Nineveh were a lost ethne to be evangelized.
And, God worked to make him go.
8Context of Title Presentation
- The story of Jonah is one of a number of
stories as to how God reminded Israel that their
mission in life was to be the channel of the
Messiah to lost ethnes. Israel was to be the
messenger to the lost (enemy or not) concerning
Gods promise of salvation. - In this case, with significant coaxing, Jonah
came through, Nineveh was delivered, and Israel
continued in its move toward its destiny. Even
then, Jonahs ethnocentricity would not allow him
to enjoy the conversion of an entire city. All
Christians face this same issue of the ethnic
people groups, friends or foes among us, who need
to be evangelized.
9Context of Title Presentation
- However, in multiple other situations like the
one Jonah faced, Israel did not respond to Gods
coaxing to clean up their lives and be His
messenger to the panta ta ethne. As a result,
God punished Israel by allowing Israels enemies
to occupy Israel, the Holy Land, allowed them to
take His people into captivity. Only by means of
a remnant that God saved and brought out of those
in captivity did Israel survive. Throughout the
Testament history it continued to be difficult
for Israel to remember and respond to Gods
mission to the panta ta ethne through themHis
chosen people.
10Context of Title Presentation
- In the last two years, Acts 18 has been a
major theme of the SBC and the focus of many SBC
events. Southern Baptists could have no more
biblical nor historically appropriate theme at
this time in its history. - However, many fail to interpret Acts 18 in the
context of the panta ta ethne in Matthew 2819
20 which is telling the new Christian believers
that they are to be conscious of, identify,
engage and evangelize every ethnic group (panta
ta ethne) in ones Jerusalem every ethnic group
in ones Judea every ethnic group in ones
Samaria and every ethnic group in ones
uttermost. This connection is much easier to
grasp when one reads Matthew 2819 20 followed
immediately by Acts 1 and the illustration of the
panta ta ethne in their Jerusalem in Acts 2. - My thanks goes out to my fellow presenters
during this NAMB leaders summit for parts of
their presentations that have laid the foundation
for this topic. (Remember or notice that the
first edition of this presentation was first
developed and presented during a leadership
summit of NAMB when multiple presenters preceded
this presentation.)
11Contextual Issues other Presenters Covered During
the Summit
- I am grateful that Dr. Towns of Liberty
University reviewed the foundation of ta ethne
as Gods mandate from Christ and the Scripture
for all believers of all times. - From the time of Gods call and promise to
Abraham and beyond to Jesus giving His Great
Commissions ta ethne focus, an ethnolinguistic
people group focus has existed for all believers.
Acts 18 and all of Acts 1 2 underlines the
Great Commissions ethnic mandate.
12Contextual Issues other Presenters Covered
- I am grateful to Dr. Roy Fish for talking about
historic awakening type growth in the 1950s and
about the importance of Worldview awareness in
ministering to any ethnic of any time. - I am also grateful to Dr. Lawless for talking
about Exegeting the City and giving attention
to the variety of ethnic, Great Commission,
people groups during his Acts 18 presentations. - I am also committed to Dr. Fishs worldview
emphasis because dealing with worldview is one
of basic reasons for a biblical ta ethne focus
and mandate.
13Contextual Issues Assumed As Background
- Acts 18 has less to do with the actual or
symbolic geographical implications related to
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost
than to its link with the Great Commissions
panta ta ethne focus. Thus, a panta ta ethne
focus starts in Jerusalem and remains a priority
in each of those geographic settings. Luke 24,
Matthew 28 and Acts 2 present Jesus as placing
the seeing and engaging of the panta ta
ethne (ethnic engagement) in ones heart
language foremost in the life of every believer.
14Echoing a Pleading of God about His ta ethne
Focus Given to Israel Christians
- The Great Commissions panta ta ethne mandate
is - to engage every ethnolinguistic group in the
world - to engage each ethne in their heart language, and
- to engage them at their worldview belief, habits,
values and living level--a paramount obligation
for every Christian in the Great Commission and
elsewhere in the Scriptures. - At the same time, a people group focus does not
rule out engaging society according to other
groupings such as students, the classes, etc., as
long as the primary commitment is that of
engaging every ethnic group in ones midst.
15Echoing a Pleading of God about His ta ethne
Focus Given to Israel Christians
- Even though other groupings of people are
allowed, if a panta ta ethne priority has not
been given by Christs followers to the various
ethnics in any given geographic settingones
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria or uttermostthen the
Christians in those geographic settings should
set about to aggressively identify the ethnics
who live there. They should establish a priority
evangelism focus among each ethnic group to be
true to Christs Great Commission.
16Echoing a Pleading of God about His ta ethne
Focus
- The issue of worldview rests upon the following
- Every sane person has a Worldviewbeliefs,
values, habits, and lifestyle practices common to
the person, the persons family his ethne. - Worldview is laid down in the idiom of the heart
language of each person as that person develops
from a new born baby to an adult. - Engaging a worldview is most effectively done
through the persons ethnic heart language.
17Questions God Pleads That We Ask and Answer in
Every Generation!
- Who are the specific ta ethne who are outside
our doors in our current Jerusalem and beyond? - Have we taken the time to identify the stranger
in our midst and the strangers (ethneethnic
people groups) at our door in our Jerusalem? - What is the strangers (ethnes) purpose and
spiritual status in our home setting, in our
town, our county (possibly our Judea), our state
and country (possibly our uttermost)? - Are our SBC churches in the USA, as Israel was in
the Old Testament era, so engrossed in our own
kind of peoplemainly the Anglo ta ethne--such
that other ta ethne are seldom even seen by us?
18Questions God Pleads That We Ask and Answer in
Every Generation!
- If certain ta ethne in our Jerusalem, Judea,
Samaria or the uttermost are our enemies,
whether considered so by us or by them, or by
both, are we engaging them with a view to
bringing them to Christ? - Or, are there ethne on our list like Nineveh
was to Jonah whom we consider as deserving only
to die lost and condemned by God and man, and
not deserving the chance to hear and live? - Can we give a positive count (numerical) and
therefore an account (spiritual) of the ethnics
around us?
19The Main Question To Ask!
- Are we sleeping like Israel slept in times when
God asked Israel to move beyond an almost single
focus on their own kind of God-chosen people,
in order to engage and evangelize the ta ethne
among them? Or, are we taking note of every
ethnic group who moves among us, and are we
taking steps to evangelize them?
20The Main Consequence To Consider!
- Israel in her life as a chosen people from the
time of Israels entry into the Promised Land
to the coming of Christ was often warned by
prophets sent by God concerning their mission on
earth as a people. Time and time again the
prophets warned Israel that if she did not repent
and come back from her backslidden life, then He
would judge them by sending them into captivity.
Most often they did not repent, and time and time
again God sent them into physical and national
captivity. He could do the same to people and
nations today if they ignore the ta ethne.
21A Historical Look at the Status, Engagement and
Implications of Immigrants (the Ta Ethne) in the
United States from 1775 to 2006
- A Version Designed for the NAMB Leadership Summit
and Significantly Updated for SBC State
ConventionStaffs for Directors of Mission
Others
22The Three Periods that Established American as a
Nation that Resulted in Future-Altering Changes
in the USA in our Time
- The first of the three periods occurred between
1775 and 1924. We will extend the 1924
immigration date to the 1940s in order to present
a combined secular and religious picture of that
formative period. -
- The second period of change occurred between
1945 and 1965 which can be called the Golden Age
of Christianity in the USA. - The third period of change occurred between 1965
and 2006 A.D. This section summarizes trends
observed to give evidence of drastic changes and
deviations from the past. Many Christians are
unaware of the changes and the implications of
all the changes since 1965.
23Section 2 A Look At Immigration in the USA from
1775 to 1940s
24Documentation of This Look At Immigration from
1775 to 1940s
- Every concept and all the data included is well
documented. Almost every entry is backed by more
than one source. Will Herberg, a major historian
of immigration prior to and during the 1950s
1960s is a major source. Herberg worked through
and cited over 339 major sources in his classic
work. This author has followed up on every one
of those sources. - Oscar Handlin was quoted often by Herberg.
Handlin also was a major, Pulitzer Prize winning,
researcher of immigration and the formation of
the United States of America. Handlin cited
hundreds of other social, religious and
statistical researchers of his era. This author,
like Handlin did with Herbergs writing, followed
up on most of Handlins sources. Both authors
works are seen as classics and are highly quoted
and respected even today. Handlins Pulitzer
Price was for his The Uprooted. Multiple other
religious sources beyond these two authors were
consulted in developing the religious comments
and interpretations in this presentation. -
25Documentation of This Look At Immigration from
1775 to 1940s
- The compiler of this document on immigration to
the USA searched current sources for any who
disputed Herbergs and Handlins findings.
Herberg and Handlin published in the 1950s
1960s. - That body of research when joined with research
from the mid-1960s and after provides great
clarity and vital understanding of our religious
social situation today. - Those responsible for engaging and evangelizing
the lost in this generation should pay attention
to the lessons from the past.
26Exploring The Ta Ethne Migration from 1775 to the
1940s
- An old proverb says those who do not consider
and pay attention to history are doomed to repeat
it. - Again, a look at Israel in the Old Testament
era tells us that when Israel ignored God and
Gods work in history, God instigated their
downfall. (See Ezekiel 1-4)
27Will Herbergs Oscar Handlins Research Findings
- Oscar Handlin said in the 1950s Once I thought
to write a history of the immigrants in America.
Then I discovered that the immigrants were
American history The Uprooted, The Epic Story
of the Great Migrations that Made the American
People. (p. 3. Little Brown, 1957) (Handlins
Pulitzer Prize work.) - This is the most significant and critical
reality for America and American Christians to
understand, then and now. We will explore the
then first, followed by a look at the now in
parts 2 and 3 of this document. -
- America is a nation of immigrants.
28A Look At 1775 to 1950America, A Nation of
Panta ta ethne Immigrants
- America was founded, grew and flourished in
terms of immigrant ethnic peoples, immigrant
religious adherents and the churches they planted
in the emerging nation. We will explore those
categories. - Herberg described America following 1607
saying The colonists who came to these shores
from the time of the founding of Jamestown in
1607 to the outbreak of the Revolution were
mostly of English and Scottish stock, augmented
by a considerable number of settlers of Dutch,
Swedish, German, and Irish origin. Handlin and
Herberg said often Almost all came from
Christian background roots.
29A Look At 1775 to 1950America, A Nation of
Panta ta ethne Immigrants
- Herberg and Handlin said in separate research
documents in the 1950s At the time of the
Revolution, this British-Protestant element
(usually, though inaccurately, known as
Anglo-Saxon) constituted at least 75 per cent
of the 3,000,000 whites who made up the new
nation (in 1775). - In addition, there were about three quarters of
a million (750,000) African Americans in U.S.
in 1775. - The great influx of ethnics came in the next
century.
30A Look At 1775 to 1950America, A Nation of
Panta ta ethne Immigrants
- In the early 1960s Herberg, Handlin and Hansen
said separately in their publications In three
huge waves, stretching over something more than a
hundred years, over 35,000,000 men and women left
Europe to come to continental United States.
This 35 million extended the 3 million base of
1775. - In 2003, a book about the new Americans said At
the time colonial America declared its
independence from British rule in 1776 - Nearly 80 of people in the colonies were white
Europeans from England, Ireland, Scotland,
Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Sweden. - Just over 20 were slaves from Africa (The
Newest Americans. Editor Susan Madoff of Creative
Media Applications, Greenwood Press, 2003. p.8) - Over the next 200 years, more than 70 million
people from around the world would immigrate to
the United States. (The Newest Americans, p. 8) -
- In this introduction, it should be clear that as
American history passed, immigration continued to
be the most defining trait of the United States.
31A Look At 1775 to 1950America, A Nation of
Panta ta ethne Immigrants
- By the time the great migrations were past, the
British-Protestant element had been reduced to
less than half the population, and Americans had
become linguistically and ethnically the most
diverse people on earth. (Herberg and Handlin).
However, even by 1950, there were only a small
percentage of the US population who did not come
from Christian background settings. (Herberg,
Handlin Hansen). Obviously, the late coming
Catholics figured into the mix, especially in the
1900s.
32 A Look At 1775 to 1950America, A Nation of
Panta ta ethne Immigrants
- The melding force was a combination of the
frontier, economics and the continuing waves of
ethnic immigrant arrivals from 1775 to 1924. - Immigrants found plenty of opportunities to work
on the Westward moving frontier and came in waves
seeking frontier jobs land. - It is important to note that the flow of most of
the immigrants to the frontier meant minimal
settling by them in their own ethnic enclaves.
The frontier caused their coming and their
melding, their assimilation.
33 A Look At 1775 to 1950America, A Nation of
Panta ta ethne Immigrants
- This flow of a majority of the immigrants who
came in waves seeking frontier jobs, played the
major role in shaping America linguistically and
culturally. Again, the frontier was the
assimilating factor and force. - Their basic desire was to live in their own
ethnic enclaves and not assimilate. The frontier
blocked them. - As successive waves of immigrants came to the US
over 100 years, the push of each wave
contributed to the rising of first generation
immigrants from menial frontier jobs to climb to
middle class manager/ business status on and just
behind the frontiers leading edge. Second
generation ethnics replaced the first generation
as the manual laborers. The shaping and melding
of America was in gear. It worked.
34 A Look At 1775 to 1950America, A Nation of
Panta ta ethne Immigrants
- Foundationally, it is very important to
understand that it was - the freedom in America,
- the emerging democracy in America,
- the vast Western frontier of the Continent,
- the letters from friends and family telling them
to come and join them on the vast frontier, - the Western push of the people to experience
freedom, own land, and prayerfully have a much
brighter future, - The poverty, the hopelessness, and the peasant
status of the immigrants in Europe - That lured them to America and its vast Frontier
that caused them to assimilate and meld to a
degree.
35The Economics of Immigrants
- From 1830 to 1930, Irish, Bohemians, Slovaks,
Hungarians, and many other peoples followed each
other in the service of the pick and shovel, each
earlier group, displaced by newcomers, moving
upward in the occupational and social scaleif
successive waves of immigration served as the
push in this pattern of occupational
advancement, education and acculturation to
American ways provided the immigrants with the
opportunity of making the most of it, (Herberg)
36The Shaping of A New Nation
- It is very important to notice in this history
that - The lure and fact of the frontier that brought
the immigrants by the millions caused the
assimilation, the melding, of the immigrants.
Non-assimilation was not a choice and would not
have been their choice by many ethnic groups. - Historically, the immigrants would liked to have
settled in among their own kind of people and
produced ethnic enclaves within the USA - The mass of immigrants and the fact of the
frontier minimized the peoples choice and forced
assimilation over a 150-year period of time
37A Look At 1775 to 1950America, A Nation of
Panta ta ethne Immigrants
- In this shaping process, the second generation of
immigrants assumed the jobs of the vacated first
generation immigrants who moved up the job
ladder. - As the frontier moved farther westward and as new
waves of immigrants came to America, the movement
from menial to managerial jobs continued and the
appearance of educational opportunities on the
frontier increased its occurrence and the varied
status in US. Though the US frontier was not
near 50 literate, schools tended to follow the
frontier westward. - The push of the frontier and education in English
language in schools minimized wholesale
settlement of immigrants within ethnic enclaves,
except where enclaves developed in a few cities.
38A Look At 1775 to 1950America, A Nation of
Panta ta ethne Immigrants
- Thus, the Americanization process did produce
in the somewhat melded population a fairly common
English language among the ethnics. - In order to move up the ladder socially and
economically, each wave of immigrant ethnics had
to push their ethnic language into the home and
family, while publically adopting English as the
language of the workplace and society. Many
ethnic languages did persist in the family for
100 years. Traces of them exist today. For
instance, it was the late 1970s before Swedish
Baptists in the US renamed themselves Baptist
General Conference.
39A Look At 1775 to 1950America, A Nation of
Panta ta ethne Immigrants
- In many of the families of the various ethnic
groups in each successive wave, the older first
generation families found it difficult to give up
their homeland language for English. - However, pronounced (pun intended) regional, and
some sub-regional, dialectical accents, worldview
expressions and word choices remain even today
within US regions. This does not mean that
everybody learned English immediately or at all. - Again, some immigrants did settle in cities and
were often able to duplicate their ethnic status
there.
40A Look At 1775 to 1950America, A Nation of
Panta ta ethne Immigrants
- Americanization of the various European ethnics
- Even though they learned English for economic
reasons, this language melding did not erase all
of their ethnic identities. Illustrations abound
and persist even today concerning this fact. - A major, a key, fact of the immigrants and the
frontier was that language melding did not erase
their religious identity from the old country.
Of all their ethnic qualities, their religious
identity came over from the old country, and came
to the fore. As public ethnic language use was
stripped from them, they tended to hold on to and
underline their religious heritage. For many,
their original ethnic language persisted. Many
Catholic parishes were established along ethnic
language lines. This was not as common among
Protestants.
41A Look At 1775 to 1950America, A Nation of
Panta ta ethne Immigrants
- Most of the regional dialectical and worldview
differences in the US can be traced to ethnic
heritages that persisted. Consider the Cajuns in
Louisiana. Also, consider the German dairy
communities that existed throughout the nation.
For other examples see the DVD package entitled
The Appalachians (A PBS video), and the Gente de
Razon, a San Antonio, Texas Catholic Missions
video on the five missions. This second video was
produced by the US Parks and Historical Society.
42A Look At 1775 to 1950America, A Nation of
Panta ta ethne Immigrants
- American frontier history shaped and melded
only to a degree the European ta ethne peoples.
Irish Catholics and other ethnic groups persist
to this day. Enclaves of them exist in many
urban settings. - At the same time, due to the frontier and the
economic push over a 150-year period, these
multiple ethnic groups were melded mainly into an
Anglo Saxon or Anglo-Saxon-oriented culture, at
least in terms of language. It is out of this
process that the WASP title aroseWhite Anglo
Saxon Protestant. Do remember that the majority
of the melded Americans by the end of the first
wave of migration (1924) were Protestants. -
43A Look At 1775 to 1950American Indians and
Africans in America
- American Indians, or more appropriately called
Native Americans, who were the only Americans in
the 1500s and 1600s, and who existed in many
ethnic groupings, are said by various historians
to have suffered the most between 1775 and 1924
as the European ethnics came and settled the
American frontier from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. Included in this would be the Spanish
migrations into Latin America which migrated into
the Southwest and Western parts of America. -
44The American Indian from 1600 to 1900
- The first, and earliest, change was the
overrunning of the American Indians by the
European immigrants. This wave pushed them
farther inland. - Of an estimated 300 plus original languages
spoken by American Indians, 175 living languages
remain (National Museum of the American Indian,
the Smithsonian Institute) - Optimum estimates of the pre-Columbian Native
American population was 15,000,000 to 18,000,000
(Linguistic Anthropologist R. David Edmonds of UT
Dallas)
45The American Indian from 1600 to 1900
- By 1860 in the continental USA there were
official government counts or estimates of
339,421 American Indians (James Collins, Native
Americans in the Census, 1860-1890) - By 1880 the American Indian count was 305,543.
(Collins) - Like all early US Census data, this data was
based upon a projected sample. The issue here is
the decline from 15,000,000 to 306,543. - Few American Indians were evangelized from 1600
to 1900. This does not minimize the great work
of Brainard and others.
46African Americans from 1600 to 1900
- In 1619 the first known or recorded African
Americans arrived in English colonial America - It is historically important to note that the
African slaves brought mainly from West Africa,
had in West Africa lived in complex, organized,
structured market economies in which they
participated as producers, traders, brokers,
merchants, and entrepreneurs. (p. 19 African
Americans by Juliet E.K. Walber in A Nation of
Peoples by Greenwood Press.
47African Imports from 1620-1870
- 1620-1700 20,500
- 1701-1760 188,600 (18,000 to French La.)
- 1761-1800 212,361 (None of these to La.)
- 1800-1870 175,290 (10,200 of these to La.)
- (p. 20, Table 1 of A Nation of Peoples compiled
from Philip D. Curtins The Atlantic Slave Trade
A Census, Madison Univ. 1969) - Just prior to the Civil War, out of the 8
million whites in the fifteen slave states, only
385,000 owned slaves. (p. 24, Ibid.) - During this period, a majority were evangelized.
48The Great Migration In The USA
- The period from 1910 to 1920 is known as the
Great Migration in African American history. The
era marked the beginning of the black urban
ghetto, but it was not until 1940 that more than
50 percent of blacks lived in places of more than
2,500 people. (p. 30, Ibid) - In 1910 there were 10 million blacks, with 90
percent living in the South and 80 percent living
in rural areas. Between 1917 and 1920, an
estimated 700,000 to 1 million blacks left the
South, followed by another 800,000 to 1 million
during the 1920s. In addition there was also the
immigrations of blacks from the West Indiesmost
of whom settled in New York or Florida. (p. 30,
Ibid)
49The Migration of African Americans within the US
- Nevertheless, more southern blacks migrated to
southern cities between 1900 and 1920 than to
northern cities. In some southern cities they
soon comprised from 25 to 50 percent of the total
population, whereas in northern cities they never
exceeded 10 percent. (p. 31, Ibid) - In the last half of the 20th Century some African
Americans melded into traditional Anglo society,
while others continued to live within African
American groupings. - Increasingly from 1700 to the present, a distinct
African American culture has developed in the
USA, just as a distinct Hispanic American culture
has been developing and escalating in the USA
from the mid-1900s to the present. - African Americans to the present tend to be
religious and tend to maintain a Protestant
identity with the majority being affiliated with
Methodist and Baptist churches. -
50A Look At African Americans by 1980
- There were an estimated 25 million
Afro-Americans in the U.S. in the mid-1970s, a
figure making them not only the largest ethnic
group in America, but second only to
Afro-Brazilians in the Western Hemisphere. (p.
5 of Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic
Groups, Stephen Thernstrom, Editor) - Voluntary migration has brought a good many
others since the 1800s. (p. 5, Ibid) - Not since 1880 have Afro-Americans comprised
more than 12 percent of the nation (Ibid)
51Immigration from 1775 to 1924
- The epic story of the great migrations that
made the American people came to an end
substantially with World War I and with the
restrictive legislation of the 1920s. - 35,000,000 Europeans had reached these shores
- 4,500,000 from Ireland,
- 4,000,000 from Great Britain,
- 6,000,000 from central Europe,
- 2,000,000 from the Scandinavian lands,
- 5,000,000 from Italy,
- 8,000,000 from eastern Europe,
- and 3,000,000 from the Balkans.
- (This was America. Much of Will Herbergs data
came from Handlins study cited earlier. See
Herberg, p. 8.) - Note Roman Catholic numbers and percentages came
in the later years.
52In Retrospect
- Between 1492 and 1965, 82 percent of all the
peoples on this planet who came to American
shores came from Europe. (Professor Stephen L.
Klineberg. Department of Sociology, Rice
University, Houston, Texas (2005) - Under the notorious 1924 National Origins Quota
Act, immigration was dramatically reduced, and
the newcomers were restricted almost exclusively
to northern Europeans (Klineberg of Rice
University) - In 1965, the Hart-Celler Act removed the
earlier restrictions, and established preferences
based primarily on family reunification and
professional skills, and later on refugee
status. (Klineberg)
53In Retrospect
- In the years following 1900, for the first time,
immigrants began coming from southern and eastern
Europe. Of all the immigrants coming during that
post-1900 era, those from southern and eastern
Europe were in the majority. Many of these
immigrants were Jewish and Catholic, in contrast
to the predominantly Protestant groups that
settled in the United States prior to 1900.
54Section 3 The Religious Situation In The USA
from 1775 to 1950
55The Religious Change from 1775 to 1950 A
Religious Perspective of History
- This section looks at the status of
Christianity in 1775 and the charted changes
within the population in light of what happened
within Christianity until 1950.
56This Period of Change from 1775 to 1950 A
Religious Perspective
- It is clear in early immigrant documents that the
main migratory people were Protestant and that
they migrated to the New World primarily for
religious reasons and in search of religious
freedom. - The percent of Christians, counted from the
perspective of recognized church members in the
colonies in 1775 was about 12 and a large
majority of those were Protestants. Most people
in the colonies beyond the 12 would say they
were Christians.
57The Period of Change from 1775 to 1950 A
Religious Perspective
- American religious denominations, beginning in
1775 and continuing until 1950, also underwent
classic changes which were only minimally caused
and marked by theology. - In the American religious landscape Protestantism
dominated from the 1700s to the 1900s.
58The Period of Change from 1775 to 1950 A
Religious Perspective
- Even though the percent of recognized church
members in 1775 in the colonies was about 12, a
majority of the people in the colonies, when
asked, would indicate that they came from a
Christian, protestant-oriented heritage. - The Bill of Rights, heavily influenced into
existence by Baptists, mainly in Virginia,
events related to the Western frontier, resulted
in a marked change in religion in America.
59A Look At The Six (6) Leading Church Groups in
the Colonies in 1780
- Congregational (745 churches)
- Anglican/Episcopal (405 churches)
- Presbyterian (490 churches)
- Lutheran (235 churches)
- Methodist (Less than 200 churches)
- Baptist (About 200 churches)
- Note Catholics are not included in this
comparison for they were a minority until the
1900s.
60The Six (6) Leading Church Groups in the USA in
1850
- Methodist
- Baptist
- Presbyterian
- Lutheran
- Congregational
- Episcopal
- (See Neil Brauns Laity Mobilized Masters Thesis
for more discussion of this dynamic within US
history.)
61The Six (6) Leading Church Groups in the USA in
1950
- Baptist was first
- Methodist
- Lutheran
- Presbyterian
- Episcopal
- Congregational was last
- (See Jim Slacks and Jim Maroneys IMB study and
book of the principles and practices of church
planting for documentation sources.)
62Discerning The Lay of the Land
- In fact, the order of the six leading
denominations in 1775 were exactly reversed by
1950. - By 1850 Methodists were the largest Protestant
denomination in the USA and Baptists were second. - By 1950 Baptists were the largest of the
original groups and Methodists were second. A
count of Southern Baptists alone in 1950 would
have shown them close to being largest Protestant
denomination. -
63Discerning The Lay of the Land
- It is very informative from a historic
evangelization and missiological perspective to
follow and compare the growth dynamics among the
6 largest Protestant denominations in 1775 with
the 6 largest Protestant denominations in 1950. - Baptists in 1775, who had not yet divided into
two major Baptist groups (Northern and Southern),
were the smallest of all seven Protestant
denominations. Methodists were next to last. - What happened that caused this reversal?
64Why Did These Groups Grow Why Did the Order End
Up Reversed?
- Congregationalists whose congregational polity
was thought to be best fitted for the frontier
went though an Old Lights and New Lights
theological controversy followed by a geographic
comity agreement with Presbyterians concerning
frontier locations. Most of the time of both was
consumed by the controversy and neither of them
recovered from those choices. - Yet, it had been the Congregationalists, named
so in the USA, who brought the initial and major
political and religious group to the New Land
with a clearly stated religious manifesto. And,
even as late as 1900, Congregationalists had
1,000 missionaries on foreign fields, only to see
them dwindle during the 1900s to a very few. -
-
65Why Did These Groups Grow Why Did the Order End
Up Reversed?
- Anglican churches were identified with the
English colonizers and with the causes of the
Revolution. Anglicans never overcame that war
and colonial image. So, over time, their name
changed to The Episcopal Church to attempt to
shed that war image. - Also, few realize that many of the Puritans and
those today known as Low Church Anglicans had
gone with Wesley, forming the foundations of the
Methodist church in both England and in the
Colonies/USA. That departure actually took some
of the most conservative and evangelistic
Anglicans into Methodism in the USA. This hurt
the Anglicans. -
66Why Did These Groups Grow Why Did the Order End
Up Reversed?
- Presbyterians suffered from the comity
agreement between themselves and the
Congregationalists. Like the Episcopal churches,
even after their name change, their Presbyterian
institutional polity, their preference for land
and building, and their requirements for a
theologically trained, denominationally chosen
and installed pastor, kept them behind the edges
of the frontier. - The institutional and non-lay led denominations
lagged an average of 200 miles behind the
frontier where more settled communities were like
they were used to existed. And, only communities
some 200 miles behind the frontier were large
enough in population and affluent enough to
afford the more formal pastors and their
churches. It took established towns to support
those more formal and institutional
denominations. -
67Why Did These Groups Grow Why Did the Order End
Up Reversed?
- Lutherans seem to be the strange anomaly among
the six denominations. Lutherans did make it to
the frontier, even to the Mississippi river and
they did grow. However, it was persecution and
lack of a colony base in New England that pushed
Lutherans to the Missouri territory and northward
into Canada where they settled grew some
distance from persecution. They were the only
formal and highly structured and institutional
denomination found on the advanced edges of the
frontier.
68Why Did Groups Grow on the Western Frontier?
- Roman Catholics attention to and attitude
toward evangelization on the Western frontier can
be seen in following ad in 1800s - We offer you No salary. No recompense, no
holidays, no pensions. But hard work and a poor
dwelling, few consolations, many disappointments,
frequent sickness, a violent, lonely death, an
unknown grave. (Source Exhibit at South Dakota
Cultural Center, Pierre, SD provided by John
Guillatt of South Dakota Baptist Convention.)
69How did Methodists become First in 1850 and
Remain Second by 1950?
- Methodists had a strategy, a carefully defined
and carefully managed geographic circuit-rider
plan that fitted them for the frontier. Their
plan was the method found in the word
Methodist. That plan, designed by Wesley for
England, which was only partially accepted there,
was a perfect fit for the US frontier, at least
until about 1900. -
70How did Methodists become First in 1850 and
Remain Second in 1950?
- A Quote When the rigors of circuit riding in
the early days, as the Church moved over the
country, are brought before the mind and
imagination, the question is frequently asked,
How did they stand it? The answer is They
didnt. They died under it. No group of men
ever lived up more fully to the truth, He that
looseth his life shall find it. (pp. 42-43,
Halford E. Luccock, Endless Line of Splendor. The
Advance for Christ and His Church of The
Methodist Church publisher, Chicago, Illinois,
1950)
71How did Methodists become First in 1850 and
Remain Second in 1950?
- A Quote They died, most of them, before their
careers were much more than begun. Of the 650
preachers who had joined the Methodist itinerancy
by the opening of the 19th century, about 500 had
to locate, a term that was used for those too
worn-out to travel further. Many of the rest had
to take periods for recuperation. Others located
not because of health, but by reason of lack of
support and the desire to marry and establish a
home. (Luccock)
72How did Methodists become First in 1850 and
Remain Second in 1950?
- Of the first 737 circuit riders of the
Conferences to diethat is, all who died up to
1847 - 203 were between 25 and 35 years of age
- 121 between 35 and 45.
- Nearly half died before they were 30 years old.
- Of 672 of those first preachers whose records
fully exist, - two-thirds died before they had been able to
render 12 years of service. - Just one less than 200 died within the first five
years. (Luccock)
73How did Methodists become First in 1850 and
Remain Second by 1950?
- A Quote Many circuits were from 300 to 600
miles in lengthFor instance, in 1791, Freeborn
Garrettson was assigned to a circuit which
included almost half of what is now the state of
New YorkIn 1814 James B. Finley, on the Cross
Creek Circuit, Ohio, had a circuit covering more
than two counties, and preached 32 times on every
round. The salary schedule has an eloquence of
its own. Cash was almost unknown. In 1821
Benjamin T. Crouch records receiving only 38
toward his years allowance. The same year Peter
Cartwright received the highest salary in the
Kentucky Conference--238. But when he moved,
with his wife and six children, to the Sangamon
Circuit, Illinois, he received 40, all told, for
the year. (pp. 44-45, Luccock)
74How did Baptists become Second in 1850 and Grow
to First by 1950?
- Methodism grew fast until after 1850, but
Baptist growth from 1800 to 1960 is unparalleled.
From a little over 100,000 in 1800, Baptists
were approaching 20 million by 1960. (Gaustad
1962 as quoted by Neil Braun) - The basic reason is that Baptist theology and
polity fitted them better for the frontier than
any other denomination of churches. -
75Growth Characteristics of Baptists
- Each local church was autonomous
- Churches were congregational in polity
- Lay, often uneducated, Baptist church members
going west were encouraged to plant a church at
sites where they settled if no Baptist church
existed there - Churches that did emerge met in homes, saloons,
hardware stores, barns, stables, school rooms,
under trees, etc.
76Growth Characteristics of Baptists
- Local churches found their pastor within the
maturing believers in their emerging new church
body - Local churches recognized and ordained their own
pastors - Often the settler who started a new church ended
up being called by the emerging new church to
be their pastor. Many laymen became pastors that
way. - Laymen who did become pastors tended to
itinerate, pastoring 2-4 churches
77Growth Characteristics of Baptists
- As churches were planted, laymen within those
churches with a burden for the lost tended to
emerge who preached in the outlying areas
wherever a group of people lived - Consequently, lay evangelists were common in
Baptist churches and this trend persisted well
into the early to mid-1900s - As frontier towns settled in and grew, a few
churches sought pastors from more settled
frontier towns to the east
78Growth Characteristics of Baptists
- By the mid to late 1800s, requests for training
arose among frontier pastors who settled in for a
longer tenure in the more settled, behind the
frontiers leading edge, towns - As pastors saw their churches increase in
membership size and stability, and as they faced
more complex pastoral duties, they called for
training assistance - This led to Baptist schools being started from
the Atlantic to the Mississippi River. This is
why and how the many Baptist colleges and SBC
seminaries started. These were on-demand
schools. Local churches started them and paid
for them. Subsidy was an unknown habit on the
frontier for over 100 hundred years. Subsidy was
less among Baptists than among Methodists and
Methodist subsidy, as seen earlier, was very
meager when it was provided.
79The Most Common Growth Reasons
- Sweet, Herberg, Latourette, Braun and multiple
other social and religious historians said that
the three most common growth factors were 1) the
starting of churches in homes where land and
building for a church was not a condition for
having and being a church 2) lay preachers and
pastors, most of whom were bi-vocational and 3)
a congregational polity that allowed local
churches to start and function autonomously
without approval from a leadership hierarchy.
80The Lay of the Land Discerned
- Over time, for sure by the early 1900s, as new
church starts and membership growth continued to
occur, as religious status became the leading
characteristic of an American, the Bible Belt had
formed across the southern USA. The American
culture was developing a stronger Christian
ethic, with Christian values as its base. This
base was in practice for some, and only in the
awareness or conscience, ought-to stage for
others. It is out of this base that the terms
WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) and
Judeo-Christian emerged in the mid-1900s.
(Comments cited from Herberg, Handlin and others)
Even then, the typical American by the 1900s
favored and spoke of America as a moral Christian
society. -
81The Major Concern of the Immigrants by the 1900s
- Their big concern was the preservation of
their way of life above all, the transplanting
of their churches. (pp. 10-11, Herberg.) - In his footnotes Herberg quotes Marcus L.
Hansens research in The Problem of the Third
Generation Immigrant (Augustana Historical
Society, Rock Island, Ill., 1938, p. 15 who said
The church was the first, the most important,
and the most significant institution that the
immigrants established. Their churches went to
the frontier with them. Those churches that fit
the frontier and that were comfortable on the
frontier won the frontier.
82By 1950, Who Was an American?
- By the early 1900s being an American came out
of a degree of melding of three generations of
ethnic groups into being Americans--Anglos - Herbergs research discovered that by the 1930s,
A Triple Melting Pot situation in the US had
developed as the norm. Ethnic migration saw
their language and some of their culture receed
somewhat to the background. English had become a
practical acquisition of most ethnics, but their
religion persisted to become the ethnics major
identity.
83By 1950, Who Was an American?
- The singular most identifying characteristic
among most ethnics who migrated to the USA from
1775 to 1924 was their religious status. As
their language became mostly English and as they
gave up some of their cultural identity, the sum
of their status as Americans settled into one
of three acceptable identifying religious
markersProtestant, Catholic or Jew. (Herberg) - So, by the 1950s in the USA the identification
of an American was according to one of these
three categoriesProtestant, Catholic or Jew. To
not be one of these three categories was not to
be an American.
84Section 4A Look At Culture and Religion in the
USA1945 to 1960The Golden Age of Christianity
in USA
- Again, the three primary researchers and authors
of this era concerning American immigration were
Herberg, Handlin Hansen. - Their works are seen as classic writings today.
- They cited this period as the span of years when
Christianity was at its highest peak from 1775 to
1950.
85By 1950, Who Was an American?
- In review of what went before, the singular
most identifying characteristic among most
ethnics who migrated to the USA from 1775 to 1924
was their religious status. As their language
became mostly English and as they gave up some of
their cultural identity, the sum of their status
as Americans settled into three acceptable
identifying religious markersProtestant,
Catholic or Jew. - So, by the 1950s in the USA the identification
of an American was according to one of these
three categoriesProtestant, Catholic or Jew.
86The USA Religious Scene in 1950
- In 1775 church members were from 10 to 12 of the
US population - By 1910 church members had grown to 43
- By 1960 church members had grown to 60
(pp.33-34, Herberg) - Beyond the category of church members at least
75-80 of all Americans said they were adherents
of Christianity - By the 1950s denominationalism had developed, was
clearly established, active and very strong in
term of loyalties and influence in America - Evidences of denominational solidarity follow
87The USA Religious Scene in 1950 A Consideration
of Conversions
- Conversions from one community (denomination
or category) to the other take place, but they
seem to be very small and do not appreciably
affect the over-all picture. (Herberg, p. 160)
(Herberg quotes the Yearbook of American
Churches, edition for 1960, pp. 261-262 for his
data. In the research Herberg quotes 140,414 as
the Catholics record of conversions to
Catholicism from Protestantism. He used The 1959
National Catholic Almanac, p. 407 for this
information. This data is for the year 1957.
For a more in-depth study, see Thomas J.M.
Burkes Did Four Million Catholics Become
Protestants?, America, April 10, 1954.
88Religion in USA in the 1950s A Consideration of
Conversions
- Burkes article, a survey by the American
Institute of Public Opinion (a Gallup poll) in
1955 indicated that of an adult population of
96,000,000, only about 4 per cent no longer
belonged to the religious community of their
birth of these 1,400,000 were Protestants who
had originally been Catholics, and 1,400,000 were
Catholics who had originally been Protestants,
and about 1,000,000 had made changes of some
other kind. See also John A. OBrien, You Too
Can Win Souls (Macmillan, 1955). (Cited in
Herbergs footnotes on pages 170-171.)
89Religion in America from 1945-1960
- Even beneath the surface of the American melting
pot one could still see the persistence of
ethnic identities when studying marriage and
church affiliations. - On the surface citizens in the USA were
Americans, known as Anglo-Saxons, but beneath the
surface their ethne had not been totally erased.
Notice the following data.
90A Study of Marriage Patterns from 1870 to 1940
- In the early 1940s, Ruby Jo Kennedy undertook
an investigation of intermarriage trends in New
Haven from 1870 to 1940. She published her
findings in the American Journal of Sociology for
January 1944 under the significant title, Single
or Triple Melting Pot?The years 1870, 1900,
1930, and 1940 were isolated for detailed
examinationThe large nationality groups in New
Haven, Mrs. Kennedy found, represent a triple
division on religious grounds Jewish, Protestant
(British-American, German, and Scandinavian), and
Catholic (Irish, Italian, and Polish) In its
early immigrant days, each of these ethnic groups
tended to be endogamous with the years, however,
people began to marry outside the group.
(Herbergs quote of Kennedy data on page 33)
91A Study of Marriage Patterns from 1870 to 1940
- Kennedy found Irish in-marriage was 93.05
per cent in 1870 74.75 per cent in 1900, 74.25
per cent in 1930, and 45.06 per cent in 1940
German in-marriage was 86.67 per cent in 1870,
55.26 per cent in 1900, 39.84 per cent in 1930,
and 27.19 per cent in 1940 for the Italians and
the Poles, the comparable figures were 97.71 per
cent and 100 per cent respectively in 1900,
86.71 and 68.04 per cent in 1930, and 81.89 per
cent and 52.78 per cent in 1940. But, while
strict ethnic endogamy is loosening, religious
endogamy is persisting (Herbergs quote of
Kennedy data on page 33)
92The USA Religious Scene in 1950 A Consideration
of Inter-Marriage
- By the 1950s, religion not only divided into
the three pools but those in each religious
category tended to marry only within their pool.
Hollingshead found in a study that - 97.1 of Jewish pool married only Jewish spouses
- 93.8 of Catholics married only Catholic spouses
- 74.4 of Protestants married only Protestant
spouses (pp.33-34, Herberg. He is quoting the
study of Hollingshead.)
93A Study of Marriage Patterns from 1870 to 1940
- Members of Catholic stocks married Catholics in
95.35 per cent of the cases in 1870, 85.78 per
cent in 1900, 82.05 per cent in 1930, and 83.71
in 1940 members of Protestant stocks married
Protestants in 99.11 per cent of the cases in
1870, 90.66 per cent in 1900, 78.19 per cent in
1930, and 79.72 per cent in 1940 Jews married
Jews in 100 per cent of the cases in 1870, 98.82
per cent in 1900, 97.01 per cent in 1930, and
94.32 per cent in 1940. Future cleavages, in
Mrs. Kennedys opinion, will therefore be along
religious lines rather than along nationality
lines as in the past.Cultural i.e. ethnic
lines may fade, but religious barriers are
holding fast.When marriage crosses religious
barriers, as it often does, religion still plays
a prominent role, especially among Catholics, in
that such marriages are often conditioned upon,
and result in, one of the partners being brought
into the religious community of the other. (pp.
32-33, Herberg)
94A Study of Marriage Patterns from 1870 to 1940
- The traditional single melting pot idea must
now be abandoned, and a new conception, which we
term the triple melting pot theory of American
assimilation, will take its place, as the true
expression of what is happening to the various
nationality groups in the United States.The
triple melting pot type of assimilation is
occurring through intermarriage, with
Catholicism, Protestantism, and Judaism serving
as the three fundamental bulwarksThe different
nationalities are merging, but within three
religious compartments rather than
indiscriminatelyA triple religious cleavage,
rather than a multilinear nationality cleavage,
therefore seems likely to characterize American
society in the future. (pp. 32-33, Herberg)
95The Breadth and Depth (Evidences) of these
Religious Characteristics
- By 1950, ones personal identity, political
qualification, social status, marriage, and a few
other functional American characteristics were
primarily determined by their identify with one
of the three religions that was most appropriate
for ethnic background and geographic location in
the USA. - (See Will Herbergs Protestant-Catholic-Jew.)
- At the beginning of this era Franklin
Roosevelt regularly and publically expressed his
religious beliefs and prayers.
96The Consequences of this Religious Environment
- It was beginning to be true in the late 1930s,
increased as being true in the 1940s, throughout
the 1950s and into the early1960s that, to be
elected to a significant state and national
office in the USA, the candidate had to
represent, or make the public think they
represented, Judeo-Christian values or he or she
would seldom ever be elected to a significant
political office. - This was especially true in the Bible Belt of
the USA. And, except in pervasively Catholic
areas, it was difficult for a Roman Catholic to
be elected to a national office. - Religious credentials were important for
business leaders, salesmen and community leaders.
97The Consequences of this Religious Environment
- Pastors, Rabbis and Priests were at the top of
the list of the most respected persons in
American life. - Those Judeo-Christian values that can be seen
in the background of the US Constitution, had
emerged as the broad American ideal by the
mid-1800s and were commonly taught and nourished
in the US public schools from the 1800s to the
early 1970s. - Prayers were said in the schools, prior to the
beginning of any sports events, Ten Commandments
posted in public pl