Morality and the Mail in Nineteenth-Century America by Wayne E. Fuller

From the Publisher

Morality and the Mail in Nineteenth-Century America explores the evolution of the postal innovation that sparked a communication revolution. Wayne E. Fuller examines how evangelical Protestants, the nation's dominant religious group, struggled against the transformations in American society wrought by the postal revolution, transformations that they believed threatened to paganize the Christian nation they were determined to save. Largely ignored by historians, this facet of American religious and social development spans the national culture. Drawing on House and Senate documents, postmasters general reports, and the Congressional Record, as well as sermons, speeches, and articles from numerous religious and secular periodicals, Fuller skillfully illuminates the problems a changed postal system posed for evangelicals. Among them were Sunday mail delivery, Sunday newspapers, and the avalanche of unseemly material that improved mail service and reduced postage prices brought into American homes. Fuller offers perspectives on the church and state controversy, as well as on publishing, politics, birth control, the lottery, censorship, Congress's postal power, and the waning of evangelical Protestant influence at the end of the nineteenth century.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents