“Come into the Habits of Civilized Life:” Nineteenth Century Catholic and Protestant Missionaries in Upper Michigan

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Seelye, James E., Jr.
Language:English
Published: University of Toledo / OhioLINK 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1271078733
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-toledo12710787332021-08-03T06:07:33Z “Come into the Habits of Civilized Life:” Nineteenth Century Catholic and Protestant Missionaries in Upper Michigan Seelye, James E., Jr. Native Americans This dissertation is, in part, a study of the missionary mind-set. I study three missionaries of different denominations, Frederic Baraga, Abel Bingham, and John Pitezel, who worked with the Ojibwa of Upper Michigan during the Nineteenth Century. I am interested in what they said their goals as missionaries were – just why did they conduct missionary work? What drove these men to spend time as missionaries? Furthermore, how much did they matter? What impact and what ongoing influence did they ultimately have upon the Ojibwa of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula? It is sometimes believed that missionaries wished to save Native Americans from their own darkness by transforming them into whites culturally and spiritually. Others felt that they needed to be saved from white influences. Moreover, some missionaries felt that Native Americans had to be saved not only from paganism, but from other Christian denominations. This was particularly true in encounters between Catholics and Protestants, and this fact will become clear as you read on. While Protestants were sometimes willing to work with each other – Bingham and Pitezel preached together on occasion – Protestants and Catholics generally loathed and distrusted one another.I will also analyze various ways missionaries differed in their theology. The final piece of the puzzle concerns missionary hagiography. Most writings about missionaries glorify missionaries while they vilify Native Americans. The reality of the situation was far more complex than this simple dichotomy allows. Only by carefully examining the sources and creating a balanced narrative can we hope to fully understand the relationships between Native Americans and missionaries. 2010-06-14 English text University of Toledo / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1271078733 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1271078733 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Native Americans
spellingShingle Native Americans
Seelye, James E., Jr.
“Come into the Habits of Civilized Life:” Nineteenth Century Catholic and Protestant Missionaries in Upper Michigan
author Seelye, James E., Jr.
author_facet Seelye, James E., Jr.
author_sort Seelye, James E., Jr.
title “Come into the Habits of Civilized Life:” Nineteenth Century Catholic and Protestant Missionaries in Upper Michigan
title_short “Come into the Habits of Civilized Life:” Nineteenth Century Catholic and Protestant Missionaries in Upper Michigan
title_full “Come into the Habits of Civilized Life:” Nineteenth Century Catholic and Protestant Missionaries in Upper Michigan
title_fullStr “Come into the Habits of Civilized Life:” Nineteenth Century Catholic and Protestant Missionaries in Upper Michigan
title_full_unstemmed “Come into the Habits of Civilized Life:” Nineteenth Century Catholic and Protestant Missionaries in Upper Michigan
title_sort “come into the habits of civilized life:” nineteenth century catholic and protestant missionaries in upper michigan
publisher University of Toledo / OhioLINK
publishDate 2010
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1271078733
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