A Christian century: Liberal Protestantism, the New Deal, and the origins of post-war American politics

This study pioneers a church-centered approach to American political development with specific reference to the New Deal. The record of liberal Protestant political action demonstrates that the New Deal was a Protestant project. The scope and timing of reform had much to do with the extent of liberal Protestant efforts that emerged out of the Social Gospel Movement. Liberal Protestants began efforts towards racial equality in the 1920s with anti-lynching campaigns and advocated for fair employment in the 1930s. In the 1940s, liberal Protestants indicted segregation and helped build the organizational basis for the Civil Rights Movement. Regarding labor policy, liberal Protestants were early advocates for collective bargaining rights and lobbied for the National Labor Relations Act in 1935. As labor power grew, liberal Protestants changed from championing the labor movement to criticizing labor's limited goals. Simultaneously, neo-conservative evangelicals began organizing to save the country from perceived immorality in the New Deal and specifically to control the growth of organized labor. On foreign policy, liberal Protestants advocated outlawing war and reducing armaments in the 1920s and 1930s. During WWII they articulated broad ideas about political reconstruction of the international system and were led by John Foster Dulles. Their efforts built support for the United Nations. After WWII, religion became a Cold War weapon as policymakers sought to use religion to advance American foreign policy goals. While the New Deal and its aftermath were influenced by a variety of secular actors, few rivaled Protestantism in terms of breadth, scope and duration of efforts. As this study demonstrates, religious institutions are significant sources of authority in American politics. Comprehensive accounts of American political development must include religion. Historical institutional scholarship should include non-state actors. Qualitative research was conducted at political and religious archives for three case studies on labor, race and foreign policy. The origins of American post-war politics can be understood through a church-centered approach. The growth of neo-conservative evangelical organizations that challenged the New Deal originated in 1930s, much earlier than commonly thought. Key coalitions, organizations, and advocacies were developed during the New Deal and institutionalized by the early 1950s.