Introduction

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Editorial Method xi
4. Introduction 1
5. Part I Settlement
6. Introduction 15
7. One. Treaty with the Six Nations 19
8. Two. A General View of New York 26
9. Three. New York Population Growth 29
10. Four. New York’s Environmental Transformation 34
11. Part II Missionaries
12. Introduction 37
13. Five. Timothy Mather Cooley’s Missionary Journal 39
14. Six. Rev. Jacob Cram’s Mission 69
15. Seven. Sagoyewatha’s Reply to Rev. Jacob Cram 73
16. Eight. Constitution of the Waterloo Missionary Society 79
17. Nine. Reports of Episcopal Missionaries 83
18. Ten. Missionaries to Sailors and Canal Workers 91
19. Part III Revivals
20. Introduction 99
21. Eleven. Charles Finney’s Argument for Religious Revivals 103
22. Twelve. Revivals at Marcellus and Amber 117
23. Thirteen. Report of New York Revivals 119
24. Fourteen. Bradford King’s Conversion 122
25. Fifteen. Nancy Alexander Tracy’s Conversion 124
26. Sixteen. A Convention to Regulate Revivals 128
27. Seventeen. Theodore Weld on a Revival’s Aftermath 144
28. Eighteen. Theodore Weld on Revivals and Women’s Rights 150
29. Nineteen. The Grimké Sisters on the Limits of Revivalism and Reform 155
30. Part IV Church Development
31. Introduction 159
32. Twenty. Brothertown and Religious Autonomy 161
33. Twenty-one. A Baptist Constitution 166
34. Twenty-two. Baptist Trustee Minutes 170
35. Twenty-three. Methodist Population Report 177
36. Twenty-four. Proposal for a Methodist College 179
37. Twenty-five. Building the First Wesleyan Methodist Church of Seneca Falls 184
38. Twenty-six. The Growth of Presbyterianism in the Synod of Geneva 190
39. Twenty-seven. A Presbyterian Congregation’s Confession of Faith and Covenant 195
40. Twenty-eight. Race and Ministry in Wayne County 198
41. Part V Kingdoms of God
42. Introduction 205
43. Twenty-nine. Joseph Smith’s Visions 211
44. Thirty. Mormonism’s Early Critics 218
45. Thirty-one. Parley P. Pratt Encounters the Book of Mormon 223
46. Thirty-two. William Miller’s Biblical Calculations 228
47. Thirty-three. William Miller Defends His Prediction 235
48. Thirty-four.A Historical Rebuttal of Millerism 238
49. Thirty-five. Matthias the Prophet 245
50. Part VI Intentional Communities
51. Introduction 253
52. Thirty-six. Shaker Charity 257
53. Thirty-seven. The Church Family at Watervliet 260
54. Thirty-eight. Account of the Shaker Settlement of Sodus Bay 262
55. Thirty-nine. Indenture of Susan Remer to the Shakers of Watervliet 266
56. Forty. Shakers and the Education of Children 270
57. Forty-one. A Shaker Hymn 274
58. Forty-two. Complex Marriage 277
59. Forty-three. John Humphrey Noyes’s Home Talks 281
60. Forty-four. A Rebuttal of Noyes and Perfectionism 285
61. Part VII Religion and New York Politics
62. Introduction 291
63. Forty-five. Abijah Beckwith’s Reflections on a Political Career 293
64. Forty-six. Selections from New York’s 1821 Constitution 296
65. Forty-seven. An Anti-Masonic Declaration of Independence 298
66. Forty-eight. Report of the Cayuga County Temperance Society 302
67. Forty-nine. A Sabbatarian Convention 314
68. Fifty. The Anti-Rent Wars 322
69. Fifty-one. Selections from New York’s 1846 Constitution 324
70. Fifty-two. Abijah Beckwith’s Consideration of Civil Rights for Women 328
71. Part VIII Abolitionism and Ultraism in the Burned-over District
72. Introduction 333
73. Fifty-three. Rev. Thomas James on Antislavery Activism 337
74. Fifty-four. New York Governor William L. Marcy Denounces Abolitionism 340
75. Fifty-five. New York Methodists on Abolitionism 347
76. Fifty-six. Establishing an Antislavery Newspaper 350
77. Fifty-seven. Resolutions of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society 355
78. Fifty-eight. Creating Antislavery Petitions 362
79. Fifty-nine. How to Be an Abolitionist 368
80. Sixty. Gerrit Smith’s Critique of the Clergy on Abolitionism 370
81. Sixty-one. The Jerry Rescue 373
82. Conclusion. The Legacy of the Burned-over District 381
83. Acknowledgments 387
84. Selected Bibliography 389
85. Index 397