Friends of the Unrighteous Mammon
Northern Christians and Market Capitalism, 1815-1860
9780226137063
9780226137087
Friends of the Unrighteous Mammon
Northern Christians and Market Capitalism, 1815-1860
What did Protestants in America think about capitalism when capitalism was first something to be thought about? The Bible told antebellum Christians that they could not serve both God and mammon, but in the midst of the market revolution most of them simultaneously held on to their faith while working furiously to make a place for themselves in a changing economic landscape. In Friends of the Unrighteous Mammom, Stewart Davenport explores this paradoxical partnership of transcendent religious values and earthly, pragmatic objectives, ultimately concluding that religious and ethical commitments, rather than political or social forces, shaped responses to market capitalism in the northern states in the antebellum period.
Drawing on diverse primary sources, Davenport identifies three distinct Christian responses to market capitalism: assurance from clerical economists who believed in the righteousness of economic development; opposition from contrarians who resisted the changes around them; and adaptation by the pastoral moralists who modified their faith to meet the ethical challenges of the changing economy. Delving into the minds of antebellum Christians as they considered themselves, their God, and their developing American economy, Friends of the Unrighteous Mammon is an ambitious intellectual history of an important development in American religious and economic life.
Drawing on diverse primary sources, Davenport identifies three distinct Christian responses to market capitalism: assurance from clerical economists who believed in the righteousness of economic development; opposition from contrarians who resisted the changes around them; and adaptation by the pastoral moralists who modified their faith to meet the ethical challenges of the changing economy. Delving into the minds of antebellum Christians as they considered themselves, their God, and their developing American economy, Friends of the Unrighteous Mammon is an ambitious intellectual history of an important development in American religious and economic life.
256 pages | 6 x 9 | © 2008
History: American History
Religion: American Religions, Religion and Society
Reviews
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Self and Society in an American Modernity
I “ASSURED”—THE CLERICAL ECONOMISTS
1 Originally Sinful: “Das Adam Smith Problem” and the “Dismal Science”
2 People and Project
3 Motivations
4 Moral Problems, Scientific Solutions
5 Utilitarian Conclusions—Moral Man, Moral Economy
II UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS
6 The Inconsistently Virtuous Economy 7 The Problem of the Poor
III “OPPOSED”—THE CONTRARIANS
8 Stephen Colwell
9 Orestes Brownson Before 1840
10 Orestes Brownson After 1840
11 Some Comparisons and Preliminary Conclusions
IV “ADAPTED"—THE PASTORAL MORALISTS
12 Paradox, People, and Project
13 Boundaries, Balance, and Faculty Psychology
14 Of Competition and Liberalism, Luxury and Speculation
15 Divine Retribution and “Das Adam Smith Problem” Revisited
Conclusion: Friends of the Unrighteous Mammon
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Introduction: Self and Society in an American Modernity
I “ASSURED”—THE CLERICAL ECONOMISTS
1 Originally Sinful: “Das Adam Smith Problem” and the “Dismal Science”
2 People and Project
3 Motivations
4 Moral Problems, Scientific Solutions
5 Utilitarian Conclusions—Moral Man, Moral Economy
II UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS
6 The Inconsistently Virtuous Economy 7 The Problem of the Poor
III “OPPOSED”—THE CONTRARIANS
8 Stephen Colwell
9 Orestes Brownson Before 1840
10 Orestes Brownson After 1840
11 Some Comparisons and Preliminary Conclusions
IV “ADAPTED"—THE PASTORAL MORALISTS
12 Paradox, People, and Project
13 Boundaries, Balance, and Faculty Psychology
14 Of Competition and Liberalism, Luxury and Speculation
15 Divine Retribution and “Das Adam Smith Problem” Revisited
Conclusion: Friends of the Unrighteous Mammon
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Be the first to know
Get the latest updates on new releases, special offers, and media highlights when you subscribe to our email lists!