Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: Religion and the Politics of Race in the Civil War Era and Beyond

Dundas, a retired U.S. Navy chaplain, debuts with an ambitious but underwhelming chronicle of religion and racism before and during the Civil War. Dundas purports to focus on Christianity’s role in the conflict, but he begins with an extensive preamble covering the founding of Jamestown, the arrival of the first slave ship in 1619, and manifest destiny’s justification for the mass killing of Native Americans. The narrative digresses frequently, as when the author delves into how “nationalism buttressed by religion” drove the 17th-century Thirty Years’ War or how proponents of slavery attempted to annex Cuba in the 1850s (religion’s role in the latter goes unmentioned). Even when Dundas sticks to his subject, his straightforward account of Southern preachers using Christianity to defend slavery and such Northerners as William Lloyd Garrison denouncing the “peculiar institution” from a Christian perspective will likely be familiar to casual readers of history. Additionally, the author’s lack of original analysis can make this feel like a compendium of quotes from historians and primary documents (an excerpt from the dissenting Supreme Court opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson takes up more than two full pages). Overstuffed and missing a fresh perspective, this doesn’t add much to the ample historical literature on racism and religion. (Oct.)