With Atlanta now safely in Union hands, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is able to rest a bit easier. The capture of the Southern city bolsters the president’s re-election prospects, and, assuming Lincoln’s re-election (which is not yet a given, despite Atlanta) almost assures a United States victory over the rebellious Southern states. Against this backdrop,…
The fight over slavery has escalated religious rhetoric in the North. Emancipation of African slaves is viewed by many Northern Christians as a religious, moral, and patriotic crusade. And although Sunday is not set aside by the government as a holy day (America’s heritage of church state separation precludes such government observances; mail is yet…
White Southern Baptists continue debating what the Confederate States of America has done wrong to invoke chastisement — in the form of a drawn-out war and the hardships associated thereof — from God. The slave-based Confederacy acknowledges itself as a Christian nation: the national motto is “Deo Vindice” (Under God, Our Vindicator), while the constitution…