Citizens of a Christian Nation: Evangelical Missions and the Problem of Race in the Nineteenth Century
Derek Chang
In America after the Civil War, the emancipation of four million slaves and the explosion of Chinese immigration fundamentally challenged traditional ideas about who belonged in the national polity. As Americans struggled to redefine citizenship in the United States, the "Negro Problem" and the "Chinese Question" dominated the debate.
During this turbulent period, which witnessed the Supreme Court's Plessy v. Ferguson decision and passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, among other restrictive measures, American Baptists promoted religion instead of race as the primary marker of citizenship. Through its domestic missionary wing, the American Baptist Home Missionary Society, Baptists ministered ... Read more
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About Derek Chang
Reviews for Citizens of a Christian Nation: Evangelical Missions and the Problem of Race in the Nineteenth Century
Journal of American History
"Ambitious and erudite. . . . It is rare to find a work of such bold comparison within the United States or to ... Read more