God and Race in American Politics This page intentionally left blank Mark A. Noll God and Race in American Politics A Short History p r i n c e t o n u n i v e r s i t y p r e s s p r i n c e t o n a n d ox f o r d Copyright © 2008 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Noll, Mark A., 1946– God and race in American politics : a short history / Mark A. Noll. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-691-12536-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. United States—Race relations—Political aspects. 2. Christianity and politics—United States—History. 3. African Americans—Civil rights— History. 4. African Americans—Religion. 5. African Americans— Intellectual life. 6. United States—Politics and government—19th century. 7. United States—Politics and government—20th century. 8. United States—Politics and government—2001–. I. Title. E185.N65 2008 305.800973—dc22 2008016456 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Janson Printed on acid-free paper. ∞ press.princeton.edu Printed in the United States of America 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 To David and Bethany This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Chapter I The Bible, Slavery, and the “Irrepressible Conflict” 13 Chapter II The Origins of African-American Religious Agency 47 Chapter III The Churches, “Redemption,” and Jim Crow 60 Chapter IV Religion and the Civil Rights Movement 102 viii contents Chapter V The Civil Rights Movement as the Fulcrum of Recent Political History 136 Theological Conclusion 176 Notes 183 Index 203 Illustrations Figures Figure 1.1 State Democratic Vote as Percentage of National Democratic Vote, 1836–2004 15 Figure 3.1 State Democratic Vote as Percentage of National Democratic Vote, 1880–1956 92 Figure 5.1 State Democratic Vote as Percentage of National Democratic Vote, 1964–2004 154 Tables Table 1.1 Democratic Victories in Presidential Elections, 1880–2004 (by state) 18 Table 1.2 National Distribution of African-American Population (percentage) 20 Table 3.1 Changes in Primary Practical Support for American Democratic-Republican Government 64 Table 3.2 Baptist and Methodist Proportions of Church Populations, 1890 (by state) 88 Table 3.3 State Voter Turnout as a Percentage of National Voter Turnout (fifteen lowest percentages, plus ties) 91 Table 5.1 Vote of Religious Segments of U.S. Population as a Percentage Higher or Lower Than National Republican Vote 155