Civil War Religion: Timothy D. Grundmeier on Lutheranism, the Civil War Era, and American Culture

About this episode

Timothy D. Grundmeier discusses the role of Lutheranism in 19th century American religion and its impact during the Civil War era.

Lutherans are a strange denomination in American religious history and culture. For Catholics they are certainly Protestants. For Protestants they are crypto-Catholics. While they have been around since the Swedes established their short-lived colony on the Delaware River, they have typically received as much attention in the American imagination as the short-lived Swedish colony on the Delaware River. But my guest Timothy D. Grundmeier has a different point of view. He argues in his new book Lutheranism and American Culture: The Making of a Distinctive Faith that Lutheranism was a central component of nineteenth-century American religion and of the era of the Civil War. This is because Lutherans were numerous, the nation’s fourth largest denomination by 1900; they were uniquely positioned in the American religious landscape; and they almost invariably expressed the opinion of the “moderate majority” in Union states outside the Northeast. And, as with every other aspect of American society, Lutheranism was reshaped by the struggle of the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Timothy D. Grundmeier is professor of history at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota. Lutheranism and…

People in this episode

Host: Al Zambone

Guest: Timothy D. Grundmeier

Topics covered

• Lutheranism
• Civil War
• American religion
• 19th century culture
• Reconstruction

Keywords

• Lutheranism
• Civil War
• American culture
• 19th century
• religious history
• Reconstruction
• Timothy D. Grundmeier

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Martin Luther College

Books & works: Lutheranism and American Culture: The Making of a Distinctive Faith

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