'A free people in the American air': The evolution of German Lutherans from British subjects to Pennsylvania citizens, 1740-1790

The German Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania was born out of an ongoing theological conflict between various branches of German Protestantism over which was the legitimate spiritual heir to Martin Luther and the true custodian of his reformational doctrine. Founded as an exclusionist and monopolistic association of ordained pietist pastors, the Lutheran ministerium introduced hierarchical and autocratic structures into the congregations that were alien to both the Lutheran principle of parochial autonomy and the American concept of the church as a body of independent, self-governed parishes of volunteers. Endeavoring to oust their rivals from the pulpits and to bring law and order to the congregations, the preachers established the colonial church as an extension and a protectorate of the pietist missionary institutions in Halle, Germany.;The pastors did not enthusiastically embrace the American Revolution. As the course of the war made victory for the United States ever more likely, however, they soon came to terms with the new political reality and transferred their allegiance from the British king to the Pennsylvania republic. Despite widespread scruples about breaking the oath sworn to the British crown, the German Lutheran laity were loyal to the new state and supported American independence. However, they did not hesitate to challenge the new authorities whenever they felt their rights and liberties as equal citizens jeopardized by governmental action.;The Revolution accomplished the legal emancipation of Germans in general. Having secured them an unprecedented scope of representation in public office, it ushered in an era of stagnating German engagement in politics and of declining Lutheran influence on government and administration. The establishment of the new republic, though, did not immediately solve the long-standing problem of fully integrating the Germans into Pennsylvania society, as this group continued to reassert its ethnic pride and distinction. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).;The authoritarian and oligarchic structure of the German Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania and its religious practices were instrumental in politicizing the laity and helped make them receptive to the revolutionary rhetoric of freedom, popular government, and independence. This internal structure also prevented German Lutherans from producing political leaders. Nevertheless, the German Lutheran clergy meddled with politics more often than has previously been acknowledged. They tried to emancipate themselves from the superintendence of their patrons in London and Halle while continuing friendly and cooperative relations with their European benefactors.