Review

General Books

In Immigration and American Religion, Jenna Weismann Joselit discusses the religious backgrounds and experiences of different waves of voluntary newcomers to America from the first European colonists to the most recent immigrants. She explains the religious natures and practices of various groups, as well as the role of religion in the evolution of the communities created by these new American residents. The book is thus a very useful brief survey of the religious history of the United States. The author synthesizes the scholarship on religion and immigration, particularly that produced in the last three decades, informed and influenced by social history. The study addresses a need expressed by Jay Nolan in a 1988 article, "Immigrants and Their Gods: A New Perspective in American Religious History," in which Nolan encouraged American religious historians to pay closer attention to the immigrant experience. Joselit, in addition to adding to the body of American religious studies generally, has contributed an important analysis of the complex relationship between religious liberty and tolerance in the United States. She uncovers how the particular American paradox (liberty and intolerance) established by the Puritans of New England became an organizing principle of American culture that continues to impact the lives of contemporary Americans. Essentially these English Calvinist Protestants fleeing from persecution in Anglican England constructed a New World Anglo Saxon Protestant cultural hierarchy.	1
The waves of immigrants, beginning in the nineteenth century with Catholics, particularly Irish Catholics, encountered substantial discrimination in the WASP establishment of America. For the next century religious prejudices merged with racial and ethnic biases as new groups arrived, and this culminated with the enactment of discriminatory legal measures. By the early twentieth century, immigration restriction imposed by Congress and other provisions retarded the growth or excluded outright the legal migration of various groups from Europe and Asia. Finally, following the repeal of these laws in the 1970s, new waves of immigration have resulted in increasing religious diversity in the United States.	2
Immigration and American Religion also whets the appetite for information about the rich religious experiences of two groups who were not among the immigrants or voluntary newcomers to America: the variety of indigenous people here before Columbus established a multifaceted cultural base. Their ongoing quest for cultural autonomy constitutes another dimension of the American paradox of liberty and intolerance. More importantly, Africans along with Europeans helped establish the new religious mix that served as the foundation for the unique American society that eventually emerged. In addition, the late twentieth century struggle of African Americans for inclusion initiated by the moral crusade led by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Black Nationalist movement ignited by the Nation of Islam has shaped a political revolution that has transformed the United States.	3
This book, written for young people from the age of twelve up and a general adult reading audience, is a very good resource and reference for information about religion in America. It should be in all middle and high school libraries, as well as libraries for adults. The discussion is sophisticated, perhaps too challenging for many early middle school students. Teachers of middle school students, however, will find Immigration and American Religion a very useful resource in constructing lessons for classroom sessions. In addition, teachers could recommend or assign Immigration and American Religion to more advanced middle school students who seek more detailed knowledge of this subject. This text should be used in high school and lower-level college classes, particularly in history, political science, and sociology courses.	4
University of North Florida Carolyn Williams

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