Religion and the working class in antebellum America
Book Description
Through meticulous examination of church records, personal diaries, and community documents, historian Jama Lazerow unveils a fascinating paradox at the heart of early American spirituality and social change. This groundbreaking study reveals how Christian faith served as both a powerful force for social critique and an unexpected barrier to collective action among working people in pre-Civil War America.
Drawing from extensive research across diverse communities from Massachusetts mill towns to Delaware industrial centers, Lazerow demonstrates how religious institutions, rituals, and language permeated the earliest expressions of labor protest. Workers found in their faith a compelling framework for challenging the harsh realities of industrialization, yet this same spiritual foundation often prevented them from developing unified class consciousness.
The book reconstructs the rich social and cultural landscape of antebellum working communities, offering readers insight into how ordinary people navigated the tension between spiritual conviction and economic struggle. Through detailed portraits of communities in Fall River, Boston, Rochester, and beyond, this work illuminates the complex relationship between religious belief and social transformation.
For those interested in understanding how faith shapes social movements and personal identity, this study provides valuable perspective on the enduring interplay between spiritual conviction and collective action. Lazerow's research challenges conventional wisdom about early American labor history while revealing the profound influence of religious thought on working-class experience.
Who Is This For?
📖 Reading Level: Medium (200-400 pages) (~10 hours)
📄 Length: 353 pages
What You'll Discover
- ✓ Explore Labor movement
- ✓ Explore Working class
- ✓ Explore Labor
- ✓ Explore Religious aspects
- ✓ Explore Church and labor
- ✓ Explore Labor, religious aspects
- ✓ Explore Christianity
- ✓ Explore Working class, united states
