Hellfire nation
Subtitle: the politics of sin in American history
By: James A. Morone.
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2003
Place of publication: New Haven
Language: eng
Number of pages: 575
Subjects: Religion and politics -- United States -- History; United States -- Politics and government; United States -- Moral conditions; United States -- Social conditions
Description: "The American Constitution firmly separates church and state. Yet religion lies at the heart of American polities. How did America become a nation with the soul of a church? In Hellfire Nation, James Morone recasts American history as a moral epic. From the colonial era to the present day, Americans embraced a Providential mission, tangled with devils, and aspired to save the world.".

"Moral fervor ignited our fiercest social conflicts - but it also moved dreamers to remake the nation in the name of social justice. Moral crusades inspired abolition, woman suffrage, and civil rights, even as they led Americans to hand witches, enslave Africans, and ban liquor. Today moral arguments influence everything from abortion to impeachment, from education to foreign policy."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Us : the city on a hill; title: Them : heretic, heathen, and witch; title: The Puritans become America; title: The wrath of God in Black and white; title: Abolition!; title: South : the proslavery argument; title: North : the ragged chorus of the Union; title: Purity and the woman's sphere; title: White slaves and the modern witch- hunt; title: Temperance : crucible of race and class; title: Prohibition and the rise of big government; title: The New Deal call to alms; title: Manifest destiny in Cold War; title: The sixties; title: Modern morals.