Christine Heyrman discusses the appearance of early American evangelicalism, which stressed piety and religious feeling, just after the Revolutionary War with the immigration southward of Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists into Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, and the western Carolinas. Significant aspects of the movement continue into the late twentieth century with the carryover of rituals such as revivals; emphasis on biblical literalism; and the importance of charismatic figures. Among the differences between some branches of modern evangelicalism and its beginnings is that most early evangelicals were well-educated and, in fact, started many colleges in the South.
In the second segment [14:30], Donald Scott says that the turn of the nineteenth century in the United States marks a democratization of knowledge from being the preserve of a social elite to entering the public domain. By way of incipient mass media, knowledge became a crucial American commodity, creating what Scott calls an interpretive imperative.
At the time of this interview, Hyerman, a Fellow at the National Humanities Center (1985-86), was professor of history at Brandeis University.
Scott, a Fellow at the Center (1985-86), was professor of history at the New School for Social Research.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
