ABSTRACT
Introduction to Chapter 1: The second half of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of religious organizations in the United States and in denominational membership. This coincided with a growth in the population of the nation from 31 million in 1860 to over 92 million in 1900, of whom over 25 million were immigrants – 16 million arriving between 1890 and 1914 alone! Moreover, most came from southern and eastern Europe, in contrast to prior arrivals who tended to migrate from northern and western Europe, with a significant number arriving from Latin America and China. The influx of this new population included people of different faiths or different faith traditions within already established churches – Italian Catholics, for example. Also occurring were schisms among denominations already present in the United States, the combined developments of which spawned new religious communities who clung to their own ethnic and/or theological identities. The result was a greater multicultural flavor for American religion as well as heightened concern for ecclesiastical as well as national unity. Two other important developments in this period to be considered were the Third Great Awakening and the World’s Parliament of Religions.
