The Legacy Of The Civil War - 1556 Words

Religion along with race today impacts America in people’s daily lives, viewpoints, and relationships. In American history, religion has made a significant impact. When race joined in, the impact led to shaping America’s political development. Mark A. Noll’s God and Race in American Politics, reveals the profound role of religion in American political history and in American discourse on race. Noll argues that race has been among the most influential elements in American political history, religion has always been crucial for the workings of race in American politics, and together, race and religion make up the nation’s deepest and most enduring political influence. I was pleased that Noll put in graphs and charts in a way to inform†¦show more content†¦The federal government did little to enforce racial equality. Slavery ended, but racism did not. Noll also explains the way in which race drove party alliance, particularly in the South, following the Civil War. Southern Democrats were white and favored state control over local municipalities, solemnly renouncing federal oversight. Democrats’ white dominance meant that blacks were mostly Republican, or would have been had they been allowed to vote. The black vote would not switch to the Democrats until Roosevelt and The New Deal. The most important effect of this political split, in Noll’s estimation, is that the South had a much larger population than it had registered voters. Whites electing white politicians who made sure that blacks stayed in their place and away from the polls is racism continuing itself. The bearing of race on American politics is visible for issues concerning the exercise of central government authority. For both matters, to think of American politics and not also to think about race is to miss what actually went on. The question of slavery became a religious concern, not just a social issue and a test of the freedom to which this nation claims to aspire. The book opens with the statement, â€Å"Events from antebellum America have decisively shaped all subsequent American history in large part because of pervasive interconnections between religion, politics, slavery, and race† (Noll, 13). Noll places the use of