Religion and the American West: Belief, Violence, and Resilience from 1800 to Today

by Jessica Lauren Nelson (Editor), John Vanausdall (Foreword by)

Overview

Religion and the American West offers a lavishly illustrated and comprehensive overview of the ways religion has shaped the idea of the American West and how the region has influenced broader religious and racial categories. Starting when the concept of the "American West" emerged in the early nineteenth century and continuing through modern times, Religion and the American West explores the interplay between a wide range of American belief systems, from established world religions to new spiritual innovations.

A stunning selection of material and print culture illustrates the varied range of religious expressions across the history of the American West. Taken as a whole, the contributors challenge longstanding definitions of the American West and provide a new narrative that recenters our attention on the lived experiences of diverse peoples and communities. The book also serves as the companion publication for the New-York Historical Society's traveling exhibition "Acts of Faith." Religion and the American West is a story of vibrant innovation and tragic conflict, showcasing how historical actors and modern-day readers wrestle with the meaning of religious belief in the American West.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826365118
Publisher:	University of New Mexico Press
Publication date:	09/01/2023
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jessica Lauren Nelson is the Director of Religion and Cultural Initiatives at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art as well as a lecturer in history at Lake Forest College.

Table of Contents

Foreword
John Vanausdall
Introduction
Jessica Lauren Nelson

Chapter One. Sacred Spaces: Religion, Land, and Identity in the Trans-Appalachian West (1800-1840)
Jessica Lauren Nelson
Chapter Two. Religion and Empire: Mythic Trails, Stolen Homelands, and Forced Migration in the Antebellum West (1840-1860)
Danae Jacobson
Chapter Three. Frontier Violence: Making Americans and the Myth of the West (1860-1890)
Konden Smith Hansen
Chapter Four. Religion Here and Now
Daisy Vargas

Conclusion. A Visual Epigraph
Jessica Lauren Nelson
Bibliography
Contributors

Editorial Reviews

"Until now, few have explored how the forces of religion and the American West have created and transformed one another and the people and places they pervade. This insightful book and the stunning exhibition that it accompanies provide the visual and intellectual grounding to see the connections in myriad forms of tragedy and majesty."—Virginia Scharff, coauthor of Home Lands: How Women Made the West

"Religion and the American West brings together the best scholarship on the subject with a dizzying array of material evidence in order to tell the story of a multicultural, multidimensional American West—reflecting the American West not as it is imagined, but as it was."—Brandi Denison, author of Ute Land Religion in the American West, 1879-2009

"This wonderful book weaves together the threads of many different stories—intimate, diverse, and often haunting—in ways that set a new standard for the field. Religion emerges here as a product of encounter, inextricable from the material and often violent conditions of daily life, a way for all sorts of people to shape communities and (re)make homes throughout the American West. In the process, Nelson and her coauthors provide fresh illumination into the imperial history of this region and into its contested futures."—Tisa Wenger, author of Religious Freedom: The Contested History of an American Ideal

"This lavishly illustrated collection of essays on religion and the American West is an original, effective introduction to a fascinating field. The authors deftly encapsulate the millennia of human history, and the millions of square miles of human habitation and migration routes, into smart, innovative essays. Using vivid storytelling, they make sophisticated theoretical concepts and cutting-edge scholarship accessible to lay readers."—Quincy D. Newell, author of Your Sister in the Gospel: The Life of Jane Manning James, a Nineteenth-Century Black Mormon

"In clear, accessible language Nelson and her contributors boldly explore relationships between the American West and religion in ways that expanded my understanding of both."—Todd Kerstetter, author of God's Country, Uncle Sam's Land: Faith and Conflict in the American West

From the Publisher