2010/09/01 by Heath W. Carter · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Religion and Society Interactions #American Constitutional Law and Politics #Race, History, and American Society
paper · doi:10.1080/14664658.2010.520930
openalex publication_date 2010/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Throughout 1894, Chicago's churches were as divided by class as the nation itself. During the Pullman strike and boycott, the city's leading Protestant and Catholic authorities hewed to an ideology of contract freedom that precluded support for the American Railway Union. Meanwhile, a handful of young Protestant ministers championed the strikers, echoing the criticisms of those working-class Protestants who had long decried the established churches’ ties to capital. This latter bloc expressed its frustration not merely with words but also through uprisings within local churches and even by founding a church of its own. In light of these findings, the author argues that a grassroots social Christianity preceded an elite Social Gospel; and furthermore, that the participation of working-class persons in the contests over the shape of modern Christianity demands a rethinking of the boundaries of both religious and working-class history.