That churches are one of the most important cornerstones of black
political organization is a commonplace. In this history of African
American Protestantism and American politics at the end of the Civil
War, Nicole Myers Turner challenges the idea of black churches as having
always been politically engaged. Using local archives, church and
convention minutes, and innovative Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
mapping, Turner reveals how freedpeople in Virginia adapted strategies
for pursuing the freedom of their souls to worship as they saw fit--and
to participate in society completely in the evolving landscape of
emancipation.
Freedpeople, for both evangelical and electoral reasons, were well aware
of the significance of the physical territory they occupied, and they
sought to organize the geographies that they could in favor of their
religious and political agendas at the outset of Reconstruction. As
emancipation included opportunities to purchase properties, establish
black families, and reconfigure gender roles, the ministry became
predominantly male, a development that affected not only discourses
around family life but also the political project of crafting, defining,
and teaching freedom. After freedmen obtained the right to vote, an
array of black-controlled institutions increasingly became centers for
political organizing on the basis of networks that mirrored those
established earlier by church associations.
We are proud to announce that this book will also be published as an
enhanced open-access e-book on a companion website hosted by Fulcrum, an
innovative publishing platform launched by Michigan Publishing at the
University of Michigan Library. The Fulcrum version of the book can be
located using this link: https: //doi.org/10.5149/9781469655253_Turner.
