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The Anti-Slavery War on Evangelicalism: A Critical Interrogation of Abolitionism, Evangelicalism, and Apocalypticism

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Bibliographic Details
Title: The Anti-Slavery War on Evangelicalism: A Critical Interrogation of Abolitionism, Evangelicalism, and Apocalypticism
Authors: N/A
Committee Members: Burton, Kevin M. (author); Corrigan, John, 1952- (professor directing dissertation); Piehler, G. Kurt (university representative); McVicar, Michael J. (committee member); Hazard, Sonia (committee member); Florida State University (degree granting institution); College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college); Department of Religion (degree granting department)
Summary: This dissertation examines the dynamic relationship between apocalypticism and social reform as manifested within the abolitionist movement in antebellum America. A prevalent argument contends that during the nineteenth century a liberal postmillennialism made the evangelical majority a dominant force in social justice causes, such as anti-slavery. This liberal socio-political character supposedly defined evangelicalism until it was coopted by a pessimistically conservative premillennialism that drew the collective away from social reform. This "Great Reversal" narrative is supported by a theorized dichotomy between premillennialism and postmillennialism that pervades the academic discourse. The Adventists (also known as Millerites) have provided some of the strongest evidence scholars have used to craft and perpetuate the premillennial-postmillennial binary that informs a wide body of scholarship. However, I argue in this dissertation that the Adventists have been misrepresented as ex-abolitionists. During the 1830s and 1840s, Adventism was primarily disseminated through abolitionist networks. Though the long anti-slavery schism disrupted former associations, the Adventists remained active within the movement and made many contributions to the cause as new tactics for combating slavery and "Jim Crow" emerged. While the Adventists were activated by their immediate premillennialism the evangelical majority used their gradual postmillennialism to either abstain from anti-slavery activism or remain anti-abolitionists. For this reason, the Adventists joined other apocalyptic abolitionists in launching a non-violent war on evangelicalism and came out of "Babylon" in a mass exodus once they realized that the evangelical churches could not be reformed. This history challenges binary socio-political understandings of apocalypticism and exposes the fictitious nature of the "Great Reversal" theory by demonstrating that the evangelical majority has always been conservative.
Database: OpenDissertations
Description
Abstract:This dissertation examines the dynamic relationship between apocalypticism and social reform as manifested within the abolitionist movement in antebellum America. A prevalent argument contends that during the nineteenth century a liberal postmillennialism made the evangelical majority a dominant force in social justice causes, such as anti-slavery. This liberal socio-political character supposedly defined evangelicalism until it was coopted by a pessimistically conservative premillennialism that drew the collective away from social reform. This "Great Reversal" narrative is supported by a theorized dichotomy between premillennialism and postmillennialism that pervades the academic discourse. The Adventists (also known as Millerites) have provided some of the strongest evidence scholars have used to craft and perpetuate the premillennial-postmillennial binary that informs a wide body of scholarship. However, I argue in this dissertation that the Adventists have been misrepresented as ex-abolitionists. During the 1830s and 1840s, Adventism was primarily disseminated through abolitionist networks. Though the long anti-slavery schism disrupted former associations, the Adventists remained active within the movement and made many contributions to the cause as new tactics for combating slavery and "Jim Crow" emerged. While the Adventists were activated by their immediate premillennialism the evangelical majority used their gradual postmillennialism to either abstain from anti-slavery activism or remain anti-abolitionists. For this reason, the Adventists joined other apocalyptic abolitionists in launching a non-violent war on evangelicalism and came out of "Babylon" in a mass exodus once they realized that the evangelical churches could not be reformed. This history challenges binary socio-political understandings of apocalypticism and exposes the fictitious nature of the "Great Reversal" theory by demonstrating that the evangelical majority has always been conservative.