Excommunicated from the Union

Book excerpt: “Concise, engaging . . . [A] superb study of the US Catholic community in the Civil War era.” —Civil War Book Review Anti-Catholicism has had a long presence in American history. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, many Catholic Americans considered it a chance to prove their patriotism once and for all. Exploring how Catholics sought to use their participation in the war to counteract religious and political nativism in the United States, Excommunicated from the Union reveals that while the war was an alienating experience for many of the 200,000 Catholics who served, they still strove to construct a positive memory of their experiences—in order to show that their religion was no barrier to their being loyal American citizens. “[A] masterful interrogation of the fusion of faith, national crisis, and ethnic identity at a critical moment in American history. This is a notable and welcome contribution to Catholic, Civil War, and immigrant history.”? Journal of Southern History