Transcript Class 35 Am Church 1..

Class 35: Catholic Church in
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America, 16 – 19 C
Ann T. Orlando
26 April 2006
Back to the
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C
Southern tier of United States explored and
proselytized by Spanish missionaries
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Florida, Georgia, South Carolina
Texas
New Mexico
Arizona
Ponce de Leon, first expedition to Florida 1513
French Huguenots established a colony at
Jacksonville
Spanish attacked and destroyed French in 1565
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Franciscans, then Jesuits in St. Augustine in 1565
Jesuits extend missions to Georgia and South Carolina
1685 Map of Spanish Florida
www.h-net.org/~latam/powerpoints/spanish_florida2.pdf
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In 1655 there were 400
missionaries; 26,000 Indian
converts
War of Spanish Succession;
Queen Anne’s War (17011714)
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English in North America
attack Spanish, destroy
Spanish missions in Florida,
Georgia, South Carolina
In 1711, ~20 missionaries
and 400 converts in Florida
Spanish Missions in SW and California
nmtourism.org/go/loc/favorites/page/attractions-missions.html
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Coronado expedition 1540-1542
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Spanish exploration and
colonization of California late 18th C
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Junipero Serra, 21 missions from
San Diego to San Francisco
Mexican American War 1846-1848
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Through New Mexico, Colorado,
Texas panhandle to Kansas
Permanent colonies in New Mexico
by 1600
All lands north of Gila and Rio
Grande Rivers ceded to US by
Mexico
California Gold Rush of 1849
dilutes (destroys) Spanish Catholic
and Indian dominant culture in
California
French in Canada
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Jacques Cartier explores eastern Canada 1534-1535
First permanent missions in Canada in1606; primarily trading
company
 Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries 1611
 French population in Canada only 2,000 by 1650; mostly around
Quebec City
Difficult relation with Indians and English
 Series of wars and disputes over boundaries
 Culminates in French and Indian War (Seven Years War in
Europe) 1755-1762
 English victorious; claim all of Canada
Note: First Catholics in New England were French Canadians
(mid-17th C); poor French Catholic Canadians migrate to New
England in 19th C to work in mills
French in Louisiana
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Exploration down Mississippi late 17th C
French claimed entire middle 2/3 of what is now US
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But it is so under populated that not practical
Except for a few isolated places; especially southern
Louisiana at mouth of Mississippi (New Orleans, ‘high
ground’ closest to mouth of river)
French surrendered Louisiana to Spanish at end of
Seven Year’s War, 1763
When Napoleon conquers Spain in 1801, claims
Louisiana territory
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Sells it to Thomas Jefferson in 1803
English Catholics
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Recall that Charles I was married to a Catholic and
had Catholic sympathies
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Granted land along the Chesapeake to his Catholic friend
Lord Baltimore
First English Catholic settlement in 1634 at St. Mary’s City
Although Catholics were tolerated and prospered in
Maryland, they were not the majority
In addition to Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York
welcomed Catholics in the 17th C
Catholics During the Revolutionary War
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Charles Carroll of Maryland, prominent Catholic
signed Declaration of Independence
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Continental Army was especially welcoming to
Catholics from Canada and Ireland
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John Carroll, SJ, first Bishop in United States
Over 25% of Washington’s army (soldiers and officers)
were Irish
Decisive role of French Navy against British at
Yorktown
New country needed colonists who did not have
loyalist sympathies
Relation between French and American
revolutionary figures
The
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C Irish in America
Several major waves of Irish immigrants
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Between 1830 – 1860, 3 M Irish immigrated to US
 Total US population in 1860 ~ 30M (including all
territories and 4 M slaves)
Irish potato famine 1845-1850
Suppressed economic and political opportunities for
Catholics in Ireland during British rule
Irish quickly became leaders in American Church
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Immigration to 19th C power centers in Northeastern US
(New York and Boston)
How the 19th C Irish Immigration was
Different from Previous Immigrations
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First time that such a large number from one
country immigrated in such a short time
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By 1850, New York was the largest ‘Irish’ city in
the world
Harbinger for Italian, Jewish and Polish
immigration in late 19th, early 20th C
Social realities of such large numbers
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Welcome source of very cheap labor in Northern
manufacturing and railroad centers
Pressure on urban social systems; rise in crime
19th C Protestant American Reaction
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As numbers of Catholic (Irish) immigrants increase,
reaction and prejudice increases
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Ghettos of poor Irish in large cities
Civil unrest;
Too few low paying jobs; “No Irish Need Apply” ;
resentment over jobs lost
Ursuline convent burned in Charlestown 1834
Know-Nothing Party
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Secret Order of Star Spangled Banner
Millard Fillmore ran as their candidate for president in 1856
and lost
Catholics and the Civil War
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Know Nothing Party dissolved and most joined the Republican Party
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Catholics concerned by political liberalism of European revolutions of
1848, and economic liberalism; tended to reject big government
Poor Northern Irish concerned about freed slaves moving North and
taking their jobs
Thus Catholicism in North often seen as supporting slavery
Many Irish Catholics fought on both sides of Civil War
As war dragged on, Lincoln called for forced conscription, March 1863
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Opposed to slavery and ‘popery’
Catholicism seen as another type of slavery
Allowed wealthy to buy their way out
Deeply resented by Irish
Three days of rioting, focused on terrorizing blacks in New York
Federal troops called in to quell the riots
As a result, Catholics, Irish especially, became (and remain) staunch
Democrats
After American Civil War
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Immigration continues
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Germans 1880
Italians 1907
Polish 1921
Immigrants (predominantly Catholic and Jewish)
become cheap labor source in American factories
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Church develops close ties to labor unions
Ethnic Churches developed to minister to immigrant
communities in their own language and their own customs
Conflicts develop between older Irish Catholics and newer
immigrants
Development of American Catholic
Institutions
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Education
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Parochial schools, 40% of parishes had schools as early as
1880
Colleges and Universities;
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Jesuits play a major role
Georgetown 1789
Holy Cross founded 1843; BC founded 1863
Hospitals and orphanages
Catholic societies
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Ancient Order of Hibernians 1836
Knights of Columbus 1882
Catholic Schools Controversy
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Thomas Nast, 1875
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www.harpweek.com/09Cartoon/BrowseByD
ateCartoon.asp?Year=2003&Month=May&D
ate=8
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After war, Catholicism seen
as threat to unity of nation,
especially by Republicans
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Supported Bismark’s
Kulturkampf
Many laws passed with
support of Presidents Grant,
Garfield, Hayes, denying
any public support to
Catholic schools
Syllabus of Errors used to
show that Catholics were
opposed to individual
freedom, progress and the
American way
Modernist “Americanist Heresy”
Controversy
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The issue: the ‘Americanization’ of religion, especially
Catholicism
Progressive American Catholics; embraced separation of Church
and State; American democracy
 Isaac Hecker, founder of Paulists, emphasis on social action;
French translation of his biography was modernist
 Archbishop John Ireland (St. Paul) , a rare Catholic Republican
who identified American civic virtues with Gospel
 Bishop John McQuaid, Bishop of Rochester; opposed definition
of Papal infallibility at Vatican I
Opposition, ‘traditionalists’: American governmental system may
be best for America, but not necessarily universally; Catholics in
America should not see themselves as part of a national church
 Leo XIII Longinqua Oceani, 1895; apostolic letter addressed to
American bishops