From "Jacobinical Clamor" to the "One True Church": The Conversion of Stephen Cleveland Blyth and Political Discourse in the Early Republic

One of the few Catholic conversion narratives published in the early nineteenth century, the Apology for the Conversion of Stephen Cleveland Blyth has received little scholarly attention. This singular narrative, however, has the potential to shed light on the political and religious tensions present in the Early Republic. This paper will attempt to make a connection between Blyth's religious exploration and his search for an ideal society, linking in particular Blyth's embrace of Catholicism and his repudiation of the majority culture. When he converted, he not only rejected a splintered Protestant church, but republican politics as well. Blyth's conversion served as a means of criticizing perceived subjectivity in the political discourse of the Early Republic.