Synopses & Reviews
"Distinguishing between Catholic and Protestant 'theologies' of race and of marriage, Botham gives us a fresh, provocative look at the history of laws against 'interracial' marriage in the United States, why they were constructed and maintained, and how they were brought down."--Peter Wallenstein, author of
Tell the Court I Love My Wife: Race, Marriage, and Law--An American History"Botham's attention to Protestant-Catholic difference makes a bold, original,
and salient contribution to our understanding of antimiscegenation law. Thoroughly researched and engagingly written, Almighty God Created the Races will be of interest to scholars in a variety of fields."--Tracy Fessenden, author of Culture and Redemption: Religion, the Secular, and American Literature
Synopsis
In this cultural history of interracial marriage and its legal regulation in the United States, Fay Botham argues that religion--specifically, Protestant and Catholic beliefs about marriage and race--had a significant effect on legal decisions concerning miscegenation and marriage in the century following the Civil War. She contends that the white southern Protestant notion that God "dispersed" the races and the American Catholic emphasis on human unity and common origins point to ways that religion influenced the course of litigation and illuminate the religious bases for Christian racist and antiracist movements.
About the Author
Fay Botham is visiting assistant professor in the American Indian and Native Studies Program and in American Studies at the University of Iowa.
Table of Contents
Catholic California : the historic junction of religion, region, and law in Perez v. Lippold -- The historical origins of American laws on interracial sex and marriage : the role of religion and region -- Church