Early Christianity in America by Jessica Keim

 Early Catholic Christianity in America: Catholic Influences on the Colonies and American Indians


    Catholic influence on early American Christianity is a subject that is fascinating. In 1855, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, an Irish Catholic and one-time clergy member, put together a series of his lectures on Catholicism in early America into a book form. His book is called The Catholic History of North America : Five Discourses :To Which are Added Two Discourses on the Relations of Ireland and America. The goal of his book is to demonstrate that Irish Catholicism paved the way for future development of the British Colonies to become the United States. McGee also writes that the Catholic Church was the best evangelism movement to the Native American Natives. Specifically, he mentions the case of Father Marquette and the Iroquois and the high conversion rates in the area which is now the state of Michigan (McGee 1855, 59). Next, McGee claims that since Christopher Columbus was a Catholic, Catholicism was responsible for the development of Christendom in North and South America (McGee 1855, 9). Following that, McGee lays out the importance of Catholics, some of them Irish, who fought on the Patriot side of the American Revolution, stating examples such as Colonel Stephen Moylan, a one-time aide-de-camp to Washington who was promoted to leader of a Patriot unit of Dragoons (McGee 1855, 79). Additionally, McGee names the signers of the Declaration of Independence who were Catholic to support his argument that the Revolution would not have been successful without Catholic influence (McGee 1855, 80). Going further, McGee asserts that the early American Republic would not have been successful with Catholicism spread by the Irish (McGee 1855, 100). In this area of his book, McGee begins to link his Irish pride with American history. McGee explains that in the late 18th century, Ireland experienced a Catholic revival of sorts, with several new dioceses being established, two new archdioceses, and many new churches (McGee 1855, 99). As a result, there was an influx of Catholic seminarians who found their way to America during and after the American Revolution, making inroads for Catholicism to spread rapidly after the Revolution (McGee 1855, 99). McGee then goes on to illustrate that Ireland and America were two very similar nations as they both had extensive grievances towards the British crown, and because both nations were pressuring King George III at the same time with similar grievances, it forced the British monarch to pick a side to try to crush. (McGee 1855, 123). The side King George III chose was the British Colonies in North America. Therefore, McGee argues, Ireland helped hasten the American Revolution and therefore, Irish Catholicism helped hasten the creation of America. (McGee 1855, 122). 

Analysis

    After reading through Thomas D'Arcy McGee's book, there are some issues that need to be addressed. First, there is clearly a very strong Catholic bias throughout the book. The book reads as if the Catholics and the Catholic Church could do not wrong. For example, the lengthy part of the book on Christopher Columbus fails to mention some of the brutality that Native American Indians suffered under Columbus. Columbus was a slave trader, and his "tribute system" forced on the Taino people caused many to be dismembered if they could not come up with enough wealth with which to pay Columbus and his men (Tinker, Freeland 2008, 26). Secondly, not much of the book is devoted to Catholic Loyalists to the Crown
who continued to participate in the slave trade in areas out of the early United States after the American Revolution (Kehoe 2018, 130). While McGee's book is engaging and very interesting to read, the bias is so strong on each page that it nearly discredits his work.

Bibliography:

McGee, Thomas D'Arcy. The Catholic History of North America : Five Discourses :To Which are Added Two Discourses on the Relations of Ireland and America. In Sabin Americana. Boston: P. Donahue, 1855. The Catholic history of North America : five discourses : to which are added two discourses on the relations of Ireland and America - Document - Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926 (liberty.edu). 

Kehoe, Carly S. "Colonial Collaborators: Britain and the Catholic Church in Trinidad, 1820-1840." A Journal of Slave and Post-Slave Studies 40, No. 1 (May 2018): 130-146. Full article: Colonial collaborators: Britain and the Catholic Church in Trinidad, c. 1820–1840 (liberty.edu)

Tinker, T. and Mark Freeland. “Thief, Slave Trader, Murderer: Christopher Columbus and Caribbean Population Decline.” Wicazo Sa Review 23, No. 1 (2008): 25–50. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30131245.

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