ABSTRACT
The post-Civil War era witnessed an “Athletic Revival” which became linked with the continued strength of evangelical Christianity. Harvey Green summarized the underlying pattern of this development as follows:
In the Northeast in particular, middle-class and wealthy Americans heeded the advocates of exercise and athletic competition because their environment had changed so radically from that of 1830. By 1860 nearly half the population of the Northeast lived in cities and towns. Many worked in sedentary, “brain work” occupations. The argument that theirs was a position superior to that of people of less developed civilizations appealed to them, as did the idea that physical activity–a positive action–would alleviate the ill effects of this advanced station. The idea that united the advocates and devotees of calisthenics, gymnastics, physical education, and sports was that the body was more than simply a container for the soul that should be kept free from disease; its form could be altered and perfected, and by doing so people could increase their energy and improve their life and, implicitly, their afterlife. Perfection of the body was an essential part of Christian morality in this system of thought and was perhaps the most vivid expression of the prewar millennial spirit, which had promoted the idea that human action could determine individual and social salvation.
