Praise the Confederacy-Hallelujah!

My Junior Theme topic is the Development of Evangelism in the South. It began with me having a pretty basic, not-too-complicated observation: Christianity is a big part of the South's culture. From there it morphed into why. Why is the South so Christian? Specifically, why is the South mostly associated with Evangelical Christianity.

I have learned a lot from my research. But what I didn't realize is how connected the development of Christianity in the South is to everything we have learned in class so far. In a blog I wrote earlier this year, I Pledge Allegiance, To The Flag, Of The Confederacy , I spoke of the rampant Confederate flag seen throughout the South and Southern culture today. I linked this to the Reconstruction- Are the reconstruction plans we had in part to blame?

After my research, I learned a lot more about the post Civil War South. In part to reaffirm their identity, and in part to ensure their wartime losses and efforts weren't in vain; the South maintained Confederate rituals well into twentieth century. They dedicated monuments to Confederate heroes, issued a Confederate Memorial Day, and had a vast array of art idolizing the Confederate army. The organizations, such as the still-exisiting United Daughters of The Confederacy, also glorified the Confederacy.

And how is religion tied in? Confederate heroes were preachers at revival meetings and viewed as martyrs. The civil war wasn't just a war for freedom, it was a war for Jesus. It is interesting how everything is tied together. This project doesn't just answer the question we initially asked. In my quest to answer that one question, I have found answers to questions we have been asking all year long in American Studies.