Overview

In the fascinating Catholics' Lost Cause, Adam Tate argues that the primary goal of clerical leaders in antebellum South Carolina was to build a rapprochement between Catholicism and southern culture that would aid them in rooting Catholic institutions in the region in order to both sustain and spread their faith. A small minority in an era of prevalent anti-Catholicism, the Catholic clergy of South Carolina engaged with the culture around them, hoping to build an indigenous southern Catholicism. Tate's book describes the challenges to antebellum Catholics in defending their unique religious and ethnic identities while struggling not to alienate their overwhelmingly Protestant counterparts. In particular, Tate cites the work of three antebellum bishops of the Charleston diocese, John England, Ignatius Reynolds, and Patrick Lynch, who sought to build a southern Catholicism in tune with their specific regional surroundings. As tensions escalated and the sectional crisis deepened in the 1850s, South Carolina Catholic leaders supported the Confederate States of America, thus aligning themselves and their flocks to the losing side of the Civil War. The war devastated Catholic institutions and finances in South Carolina, leaving postbellum clerical leaders to rebuild within a much different context. Scholars of American Catholic history, southern history, and American history will be thoroughly engrossed in this largely overlooked era of American Catholicism.

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Reviews

Tate presents an engaging, well-written monograph that explores the complicated relationship among antebellum Roman Catholics in South Carolina, southern identity, South Carolina politics, and much more. Ultimately, this is a study of the unique southern Catholic identity that existed in the antebellum south. This is a much needed, long overdue study. Tate demonstrates a solid grasp of the secondary literature in religious and antebellum southern history. - Katherine E. Rohrer, University of North Georgia This is a well written, well-researched account of the difficulties and dilemmas the Catholic Church faced in South Carolina from 1820 through the end of the Civil War. In addition to mining the volumes of manuscripts of two remarkable prelates, John England and Patrick Lynch, Tate has used other primary documents of the period, including the valuable United States Catholic Miscellany, the first Catholic newspaper in America. - James M. Woods, Georgia Southern University

Tate presents an engaging, well-written monograph that explores the complicated relationship among antebellum Roman Catholics in South Carolina, southern identity, South Carolina politics, and much more. Ultimately, this is a study of the unique southern Catholic identity that existed in the antebellum south. This is a much needed, long overdue study. Tate demonstrates a solid grasp of the secondary literature in religious and antebellum southern history. --Katherine E. Rohrer, University of North Georgia This is a well written, well-researched account of the difficulties and dilemmas the Catholic Church faced in South Carolina from 1820 through the end of the Civil War. In addition to mining the volumes of manuscripts of two remarkable prelates, John England and Patrick Lynch, Tate has used other primary documents of the period, including the valuable United States Catholic Miscellany, the first Catholic newspaper in America. --James M. Woods, Georgia Southern University

This is a well written, well-researched account of the difficulties and dilemmas the Catholic Church faced in South Carolina from 1820 through the end of the Civil War. In addition to mining the volumes of manuscripts of two remarkable prelates, John England and Patrick Lynch, Tate has used other primary documents of the period, including the valuable United States Catholic Miscellany, the first Catholic newspaper in America. -- James M. Woods, Georgia Southern University Tate presents an engaging, well-written monograph that explores the complicated relationship among antebellum Roman Catholics in South Carolina, southern identity, South Carolina politics, and much more. Ultimately, this is a study of the unique southern Catholic identity that existed in the antebellum south. This is a much needed, long overdue study. Tate demonstrates a solid grasp of the secondary literature in religious and antebellum southern history. -- Katherine E. Rohrer, University of North Georgia Adam Tate's work is a valuable addition to the growing body of literature on Catholicism in the American South. . . . The clarity of Tate's style renders even such complex subjects easily accessible to readers without a background in the field, while his work doubtlessly will be of great interest to specialists. -- <i>American Catholic Studies</i> In this masterful study of Catholics in antebellum South Carolina, Adam Tate notes that many people see a 'natural affinity between Catholicism and the South' . . . Tate's book is engaging and draws on a wealth of primary and secondary sources. -- <i>Catholic Social Science Review</i> Adam Tate's new book Catholics' Lost Cause is a welcome addition to the scholarship on the history of religion in the South. -- <i>Post and Courier</i> According to Tate, the loyalty of South Carolina Catholics to their Southern identity resulted in their participation in a Catholic version of the lost cause. Tate's argument is well supported and the story is engaging. -- <i>Choice</i>

This is a well written, well-researched account of the difficulties and dilemmas the Catholic Church faced in South Carolina from 1820 through the end of the Civil War. In addition to mining the volumes of manuscripts of two remarkable prelates, John England and Patrick Lynch, Tate has used other primary documents of the period, including the valuable United States Catholic Miscellany, the first Catholic newspaper in America. -- James M. Woods, Georgia Southern University Tate presents an engaging, well-written monograph that explores the complicated relationship among antebellum Roman Catholics in South Carolina, southern identity, South Carolina politics, and much more. Ultimately, this is a study of the unique southern Catholic identity that existed in the antebellum south. This is a much needed, long overdue study. Tate demonstrates a solid grasp of the secondary literature in religious and antebellum southern history. -- Katherine E. Rohrer, University of North Georgia Adam Tate's work is a valuable addition to the growing body of literature on Catholicism in the American South. . . . The clarity of Tate's style renders even such complex subjects easily accessible to readers without a background in the field, while his work doubtlessly will be of great interest to specialists. -- <i>American Catholic Studies</i> Tate raises a number of questions about the role of religious orders and parish priests in the story of southern Catholicism. Overall, Catholics' Lost Cause helps fill an important void in the scholarship on southern religion and U.S. Catholic history. -- <i>The Journal of Southern Religion</i> In this masterful study of Catholics in antebellum South Carolina, Adam Tate notes that many people see a 'natural affinity between Catholicism and the South' . . . Tate's book is engaging and draws on a wealth of primary and secondary sources. -- <i>Catholic Social Science Review</i> Adam Tate's new book Catholics' Lost Cause is a welcome addition to the scholarship on the history of religion in the South. -- <i>Post and Courier</i> According to Tate, the loyalty of South Carolina Catholics to their Southern identity resulted in their participation in a Catholic version of the lost cause. Tate's argument is well supported and the story is engaging. -- <i>Choice</i>

""Tate raises a number of questions about the role of religious orders and parish priests in the story of southern Catholicism. Overall, Catholics' Lost Cause helps fill an important void in the scholarship on southern religion and U.S. Catholic history. "" —The Journal of Southern Religion ""Adam Tate's work is a valuable addition to the growing body of literature on Catholicism in the American South. . . . The clarity of Tate's style renders even such complex subjects easily accessible to readers without a background in the field, while his work doubtlessly will be of great interest to specialists. "" —American Catholic Studies ""In this masterful study of Catholics in antebellum South Carolina, Adam Tate notes that many people see a 'natural affinity between Catholicism and the South' . . . Tate's book is engaging and draws on a wealth of primary and secondary sources."" —Catholic Social Science Review ""This is a well-written, well-researched account of the difficulties and dilemmas the Catholic Church faced in South Carolina from 1820 through the end of the Civil War. In addition to mining the volumes of manuscripts of two remarkable prelates, John England and Patrick Lynch, Tate has used other primary documents of the period, including the valuable United States Miscellany, the first Catholic newspaper in America.""—James M. Woods, Georgia Southern University ""Tate presents an engaging, well-written monograph that explores the complicated relationship among antebellum Roman Catholics in South Carolina, southern identity, South Carolina politics, and much more. Ultimately, this is a study of the unique southern Catholic identity that existed in the antebellum South. This is a much needed, long overdue study. Tate demonstrates a solid grasp of the secondary literature in religious and antebellum southern history.""—Katherine E. Rohrer, University of North Georgia ""Adam Tate's new book Catholics' Lost Cause is a welcome addition to the scholarship on the history of religion in the South."" —Post and Courier ""According to Tate, the loyalty of South Carolina Catholics to their Southern identity resulted in their participation in a Catholic version of the lost cause. Tate's argument is well supported and the story is engaging."" —Choice ""The book contains rich content and unveils textured episodes that will interest a cross-section of scholars. . . . Tate does an admirable job outlining the subtleties of the nullification crisis and the subsequent national breakdown over slavery."" —American Historical Review

Author Information

Adam L. Tate is a professor of history and chair of the Department of Humanities at Clayton State University.

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