Christian Reconstruction: The American Missionary Association and Southern Blacks, 1861–1890 by Joe M. Richardson (review)

308 Shorter Book Reviews commitment to the politics of motherhood notjust as an ideological smokescreen for women's liberation, but as the vehicle for presentation of issues of permanent value themselves. Like the WCTU she shaped so much, Willard did notresolve the contradictions between motherhood and sisterhood. Bordin' s treatment of Willard's international campaign is stronger thaninher earlier study, but as in other issues, she sees Willard's thought as essentially progressive rather than contradictory, and she underplays the strong element of cultural imperialism involved in Willard's Anglo-American alliance. Theseand other questions of judgment that will concern the specialist of the nineteenthcentury temperance movement do not detract from the contributions of this volume, however. We will not need another biography of Frances Willardfora very long time. Ian Tyrrell School of History The University of New South Wales Joe M. Richardson. Christian Reconstruction: The American Missionary Association and Southern Blacks, 1861-1890. Athens, Georgia: The Universityof Georgia Press, 1986. ix + 348 pp. Illus. In this extremely well-researched and balanced account, Professor Richardson chronicles the work of the American Missionary Association (AMA) in the southern United States during the Civil War and throughout the Reconstruction period. It is an account of heroic self-sacrifice and toil by whites and blacks,men and women, Northerners and Southerners to bring religion and educationtothe former slaves during this repressive period. The AMA was remarkably dedicated in its commitment to end not only slavery, but also the entire system of caste.As one of the largest and most successful freedman relief agencies, its historyfonns a proud chapter in the Reconstruction South. The AMA was a federation of evangelical, anti-slavery missionary groups formed in 1846. Its centre of strength was the "Burned-over District" of New York, Ohio and Michigan, although its clear theological and denominationalheart was transplanted New England Congregationalism. With this combinat10n,and the author may well have looked more closely at these revivalistic and' 'enthusiastic " roots, the Association moved with the fervour of the righteous to establish some churches and many schools throughout the South in order to raise upand "civilize" the black population. The book follows a topical approach which, although it means a fair amount of repetition, allows each chapter to stand on its own. It also permits the authorto cover the relations of the AMA with nearly the whole range of Southern black experience and with the host white society as well. ShorterBook Reviews 309 The author's major, though still muted, criticism of the AMA is that it was paternalisticand shared too many of the racial biases of its generation. While this isundoubtedly true, it was still well ahead of its time in accepting and fostering blackparticipation and in calling for social as well as legal equality. In a way, the author'scriticism of the AMA views the Association too much in light of current blackhistory and perhaps not enough as an evangelical missionary society. In fact,few contemporary missionary societies were as enlightened in their dealings with''heathen'' or ''sinful'' elements-whether in urban slums or heathen China. Thefervour that permitted such heroic sacrifices cannot be easily separated from thebelief in the moral and cultural superiority of Protestant, white civilization in fosteringthe "Righteous Nation" imbued with democratic virtue. Inall, a well-crafted and important contribution to the rich literature on blackwhiterelations in nineteenth-century America. Neil Semple Victoria University Archives Toronto KentonJ. Clymer. Protestant Missionaries in the Philippines, 1898-1916: An Inquiry into the American Colonial Mentality. hlrbana: University of Illinois Press, 1986. xi + 267 pp. ProfessorClymer has produced a remarkably succinct yet rich and subtle analysis ofthe ambivalent role of the first generation of Protestant missionaries who were attemptingto "civilize" the Philippines. Gone is the romantic portrait of heroic self-sacrificeand the noble unity of Protestants in carrying the white man's burden to the degenerate world. What emerges is a complex paternalistic and racist responseto the native population and to local nationalistic impulses. The book alsocritically analyses missionary competition and relations with the colonial governmentand other agents of American imperialism. The evangelistic work was founded on the well-accepted assumption of the providential responsibility of Protestant America to free this territory from...