Va-Hist Subscribers:

This book review recently appeared on the H-Net H-South discussion list and
should be of interest to many of us. Ed Bond's book is one of the most
important books on colonial Virginia to be published in several years and
the most important book on early Virginia's intellectual history in several
decades.

Please respect the letter and spirit of the copyright notice at the end of
the review.

Brent Tarter
The Library of Virginia
[log in to unmask]

Visit the Library of Virginia's web site at http://www.lva.lib.va.us

-----Original Message-----
From: H-South Review Editor Ian Binnington [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 06 September, 2001 2:20 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: H-South Review: Langston on Bond, _Damned Souls in a Tobacco
Colony_


H-NET BOOK REVIEW
Published by [log in to unmask] (September, 2001)

Edward L. Bond. _Damned Souls in a Tobacco Colony: Religion in
Seventeenth-Century Virginia_. Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2000.
xi + 330pp. $35.00 (cloth), ISBN 0-86554-708-4.

Reviewed for H-South by Scott M. Langston, [log in to unmask], Department
of Biblical Studies, Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar, Mo.

The Economic and Political Elements of Religious Identity

Edward L. Bond has made an important contribution to the study of both
southern and colonial religion. The importance of his book arises from its
treatment of a relatively neglected time period in the study of southern
religion. Seventeenth-century southern religion has not received the same
consideration by scholars as has that of the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries. Admittedly, the latter two centuries have produced more source
material for scholars to explore. Bond, however, has demonstrated the rich
potential of the seventeenth century. Furthermore, while
seventeenth-century religion among the northern colonies has garnered
tremendous attention, the same topic among southern colonies needs much
more work.

Bond, therefore, has helped fill in some of the chronological and regional
gaps in the field of American religion. In doing so, he constructs a
picture of Virginians who undoubtedly understood themselves as English
citizens, but who almost immediately began to carve out a religious
identity distinct from their mother country. The intertwining of religion
with the economic and political structures of the colony furthered the
creation and transformation of English citizens living in Virginia into
Virginians.

Emphasizing religion as "a relationship with the divine," Bond describes
the seventeenth-century Christian's goal as relating to a personal deity
with the hopes of attaining eternal salvation (p. viii). This understanding
made the institutional church a means to an end, rather than an end in
itself. It also contributed to the construction of a broad understanding of
the English as God's friends. Those in England who favored colonization,
therefore, contended that God desired England to colonize North America. In
order to cooperate with God, Virginia's colonial leaders sought to design a
polity that would please him and simultaneously establish an English
presence in North America.

Suggestions regarding how this might be accomplished highlighted belief and
behavior as important factors. One faction argued for a shared faith, while
a second contended for a shared behavior as the organizing principle for
Virginia's polity. Unifying the population through a shared belief would be
difficult, but a common behavioral norm proved more promising. Contrary to
the traditional European model that bound belief systems to state identity,
Virginia's leaders based their polity on behavior as expressed in the
_Lawes Divine, Morall, and Martiall_. True Virginians, therefore, valued
labor, worship, and Christian morality more than Christian doctrine.

Not only did Virginians create a polity foundationally different from that
in England, but the geography of North America, as well as the colony's
economy, played important roles in shaping Virginia's religious identity.
Contrary to English settlement patterns centered in compact urban areas,
colonists spread out by obtaining readily available land in order to raise
tobacco. This further weakened the influence of the institutional church
because people often would have to travel great distances to attend
services. The shortage of clergy also contributed to the church's weakness.
All of these factors, as well as the threat posed by Native Americans and
their culture, combined to make the theological controversies raging in
Europe during the mid-1600s of little interest to most Virginians.

Instead, they developed what Bond has termed an infant religious
toleration; it was not complete religious toleration or freedom, but a
small move towards it. This polity minimized religious strife by making
faith primarily a private matter. Common economic interests (primarily the
cultivation and marketing of tobacco) united the colony and lessened the
potential threat of religious disagreements. By the end of the century,
Virginians distinguished between people who were Christians and those who
were not, rather than between those who professed true or false doctrine.
Christian behavior and economic concerns, therefore, became more important
than Christian belief.

Many issues raised in the book warrant further consideration. Bond's
contention that economic interests proved more important in unifying the
colony than religion raises a question regarding the role and nature of
religion in the personal and public lives of Virginians. Crassly stated,
were Virginians wanting to please God out of a sense of devotion to him or
did they attempt to use (manipulate) God in order to achieve their
objectives? Discussing the union of Puritan and Anglican Virginians against
Charles I's efforts to prevent Virginia's trade with his Roundhead and
Cavalier enemies, Bond noted, "Virginians were happy to avoid divisive
religious questions and trade their tobacco with anyone willing to offer
payment. Domestic tranquility made good business sense" (p. 176). Religious
toleration, therefore, apparently reflected more a desire for economic
prosperity than a wish to serve God according to personal preference. This
implication calls for more investigation.

Virginians also used their religious identity to order their relationships
with Native Americans and African slaves. While colonists as a whole
probably served God for their own benefit, as well as that of the divine,
this state of affairs highlights the complexity of understanding religion
in its public and private roles. Bond demonstrates how the mingling of the
religious, political, and economic spheres impacted Virginians' expression
of religion. This line of analysis could have been pursued even further by
noting how the non-religious factors influenced the biblical
interpretations of Virginians. At the same time, it challenges students and
teachers of religion, colonial America, political and economic history, or
biblical studies to consider such issues from a broader perspective than
that of their particular disciplines.

The book carries the subtitle, _Religion in Seventeenth-Century Virginia_.
A more apt description might be Christianity or Anglicanism in
seventeenth-century Virginia. While Bond addresses native culture, as well
as evangelicals, non-conformists, and Africans, the book is a thorough
study of Anglicanism. This is understandable since the Anglican Church was
the established church in Virginia. A study of the religious environment in
Virginia, however, would warrant a more detailed analysis of these other
groups. Such groups are described from the Anglican perspective, but
viewing the religious situation from their viewpoint would provide a more
comprehensive picture.

Bond makes a convincing case for the creation by Virginians of a different
identity from that found in England. To fully appreciate this facet of
Virginia, some comparison to other seventeenth-century British colonies
could have been made. Bond comes closest to this when discussing the
religious turmoil of the trans-Atlantic world during the period
encompassing the 1630s through the 1660s. This, however, does not address
the forging of religious identity. One wonders if other colonies developed
religious identities markedly different from that of their mother country
and, if so, how did these processes compare and contrast with Virginia's?

Despite these few suggestions, Edward L. Bond has written a helpful book
that not only furthers the understanding of religious life in
seventeenth-century Virginia, but also generates questions for further
research and discussion (certainly one mark of a book's value). The book
sits firmly on the foundation of extensive research in primary documents
and interaction with secondary resources. Students and teachers of
religion, colonial America, and biblical studies will find it useful and
stimulating.

Copyright (c) 2001 by H-NET, all rights reserved. This work may be copied
for non-profit educational use if proper credit is given to the author and
the list. For other permission, please contact [log in to unmask]

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html