Monday, December 28, 2020

Superstition and Magic in Medieval Europe

Primitive Traditions Have Survived Into the 21st Century

Dec 17, 2008 Michael Streich

Superstition, magic, and the infusion of early Christian traditions resulted in a rich tradition that still upholds seasonal practices and sustains individual faith.

Every year during the period of Advent, the townspeople of Gelnhausen, in Hesse Germany, celebrate a mythical past built on Grimm’s fairy tales and other stories that, in some cases, hearken back to pre-Christian days. Europeans still follow superstitions and traditions as old as early pagan civilization, later imbued with Catholicism. On February 5th, people still bake “Agatha bread,” blessed bread honoring St. Agatha. In Northern German, people eat kale for good luck in the New Year while in parts of Spain people eat twelve grapes, one for each month of the year, in order to ensure good luck. “Good luck” and “blessed” foods are rooted in Europe’s medieval blend of magic, superstition, and Christianity.

Paganism, Superstition, and Magic

Andrew Greeley [1] writes that midwives were often permitted to baptize new born infants in the absence of priests. Often unaware of the sacramental particulars, they baptized “in the name of Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar,” referring to the legendary three kings that brought gifts to the baby Jesus. The primitive allusion is not lost. No doubt midwives, often the communities' “cunning” women – later dubbed witches, associated the sacrament with the three men that were most visible at Christ’s birth.

In another source, Greeley [2] states that, “Until the last century, the Irish used to make love in the fields outside a house where there was a wake and thus asserted that life was stronger than death.” Scholars of the pre-Christian period in Europe point out that similar activity took place among the so-called barbarians on North Germany in December. Making love under fir trees was tied to good harvests in the next year, the fir tree being the forerunner of today’s decorated Christmas tree.

Gerald Strauss [3] analyzed 16th Century Lutheran “Visitation Reports” and found that despite the best efforts of Lutheran pastors, local superstitions prevailed and, in many cases, existed side by side with religious teachings. Greeley [4] questions the extent of any “Christian” lifestyle among Europe’s peasants into the 20th century. Using the example of the St. Christopher medal, he notes that still today people rely on a blend of superstition and religious sacramentals.

Christian Tradition and Medieval and Pre-Medieval Superstition

Every major Christian holiday, from Christmas to Easter, has roots in old pagan traditions and beliefs. R. W. Scribner [5] details the Christian medieval Church cycle around which European peasant life revolved. Official feast days of the saints ranged from 50 to 100, depending upon the diocese. It all began on September 29th with the feast of St. Michael and followed the farming year.

Christmas fell during the old Roman and pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. It was a time of carnival and revelry that featured “Lords of misrule” and “boy bishops” – a practice recently revived in both the Catholic and Lutheran churches.

The use of candles as protective magic is well documented. Candles during the medieval period were blessed on February 2nd, the feast of the Purification of the Virgin, also known as Candlemas. Large house candles were used to ward off evil spirits or lit at times of death. Slim, red candles were used during child birth to protect against demons and other threatening spirits. Crosses made from wax blessed at Candlemas were placed on farm equipment and barns.

The 21st century still looks back to an earlier period when fearful peasants, with the help of the church, contrived symbols and sacramental aids to overcome everyday problems. Greeley asks, “to what extent…was the rosary a reminder of the mysteries of the life of Jesus and to what extent was it a good luck charm?” Ultimately, in terms of faith, it may not matter.

Sources:

[1] Andrew Greeley, “Magic in the Age of Faith,” America (October 4, 1993) p.8ff.

[2] Andrew Greeley, The Catholic Imagination(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000) p.49.

[3] Gerald Strauss, Luther’s House of Learning: Indoctrination of the Young in the German Reformation (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978)

[4] Greeley, “Magic in the Age of Faith.”

[5] R.W. Scribner, Popular Culture and Popular Movements in Reformation Germany (London: The Hambledon Press, 1987).

A Church Festival Ending Christmas Dated to the Early 4th Century

Dec 21, 2008

Twelfth Night has long been associated with the visitation of Magi from the East, but Epiphany also recounts the baptism of Jesus and his first miracle at Cana.

Celebrated on January 6th, Epiphany represents one of the three most important Christian holidays in the church cycle. Most directly, Epiphany recalls the visit of the Magi or “Wise men” from the east, but it is also associated with the baptism of Jesus as well as the first miracle, performed at the wedding in Cana. Celebrated as early as the 4th Century, scholars have traced January 6th as a direct reference to Christ’s baptism to the 2nd century.

Development of the Festival

Historians have traced the first Epiphany celebrations to the eastern Mediterranean region in the early 4th century. Significantly, the festival appeared to parallel a pagan festival centered around Alexandria in Egypt that was tied to the winter solstice. This pagan festival celebrated the birth of the god Aeon in the temple of Kore. [1]

Charles Panati [2] asserts that, “Whereas the solstice caused the banks of the Nile to overflow, the sacred birth caused water in royal and public fountains to miraculously turn into wine.” Hence, January 6th was equated by the Christian Church with the date of the Cana wedding feast when Jesus turned water into wine.

The presence of the Bethlehem star that led the Magi to Christ also figures prominently in the evolution of Epiphany in the church. Sometimes called the Festival of the Lights, it marks that cycle in the church leading from the winter solstice to the return of the sun. R. W. Scribner [3] details this cycle of lights as it expanded in medieval Europe, moving from mid January to February 1st, the feast of St. Bridget, “…a suitable introduction to the feast of the Purification or Lichtmess (Candlemas).”

The Magi from the East

The story of the “wisemen” or Magi (magoi in Greek) is recounted in the second chapter of Matthew. Contrary to tradition, Matthew does not state how many there were. Settling on the number three appears to come, according to most commentaries, from the three separate gifts enumerated in the Gospel: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In the ancient world, all three of the gifts were considered kingly.

Although depicted as kings in church tradition, there is no indication that they actually were. The Greek term magoi (used also in Acts) can refer to sorcery and magic. In this case, since they came from the east following a particular star, it is believed that they were Persian astrologers from the Mesopotamian region. It should also be noted that they were non-Jews.

Whereas Luke has Christ born in a manager, the Magi found Christ in a “house.” Bible commentators speculate that their arrival was anywhere from 6 months to a year after his birth. This would also explain Herod’s order to have all infants two years or younger slain.

Light versus Darkness and Good versus Evil

Just as the Magi represent goodness and the fulfillment of prophecy (see Isaiah 60.6), Herod’s response represented evil. James Frazer identifies the “period of twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany” as a “witching time” [4] when Europeans burned wood to ward off evil. “The last day of the mystic twelve days is Epiphany or Twelfth Night, and it has been selected as a proper season for the expulsion of the powers of evil in various parts of Europe.”

For some Eastern Church faith tradition, such as the Armenians, the Epiphany is the true day of Christmas. The traditions see December 25th as having explicit pagan connotations, something Augustine and other church fathers seem to admit. Epiphany celebrates the visit of the Magi, Christ's baptism, and the Cana miracle.

Sources and Notes:

[1]Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church 3rd Ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970) p. 154.

[2] Charles Panati, Sacred Origins of Profound Things: the Storoes Behind the Rites and Rituals of the World’s Religions (New York: Penguin, 1999) pp. 217-219.

[3] R.W. Scribner, Popular Culture and Popular Movements in Reformation Germany (London: the Hambledon Press, 1987) pp. 4-5.

[4] James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1966) p. 650.

The copyright of the article Development and Celebration of Epiphany in Catholic Mass & Holy Days is owned by Michael Streich. Permission to republish Development and Celebration of Epiphany in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Traditional Christmas

Thursday, December 24, 2020

St. John of Patmos in Current Times

The Message of Hope and the Example of Perseverance

Feb 28, 2009

St. John's life and his writings in both the Fourth Gospel and the Revelation provide inspiration and hope during uncertain times, promising a better time in the future.

During times of uncertainty and severe economic downturns, it is common to see people, searching for answers and some degree of hope, turning to spiritual solutions. In many cases this includes apocalyptic themes relevant to the coming of the end of the world, Christ’s Second Coming, or a violent conflagration engulfing human life either as a result of nuclear war or natural disasters. In all of this, people turn most often to John of Patmos whose New Testament book, The Revelation of St. John, is thought to include a blueprint of the end of time.

St. John of Patmos In Current Times

Although John’s visions are interpreted many different ways and may have had historical basis at the time he was living, two significant elements stand apart from the specifics of his visions: John offers a promise of hope amidst chaos and his personal life is an example of perseverance in the face of turmoil and persecution. If nothing else, these two elements sustain people of any faith tradition as they seek comfort from fear and despair.

According to the accepted Eastern tradition, John of Patmos was the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” the one who he commended his mother’s care to at the crucifixion. At the time of Jerusalem’s destruction by the hands of Titus in AD 70, John took the Virgin Mary and relocated to Ephesus, as did many Christians, still associated as a fringe sect within the greater Jewish faith communities. Ephesus contained the largest early Christian community and would be the recipient of John’s first letter in his Apocalypse.

Tradition further states that during the reign of the Emperor Domitian, John was arrested and sent to Rome where he performed miracles, including drinking a cup filled with poison. Domitian, impressed, exiled John to the barren Aegean Island of Patmos where he would receive his visions. Domitian was the first emperor to deify himself as a “living god,” something Christians could not accept. Hence, they were persecuted, especially at Ephesus where a temple to Domitian had been erected.

The End and Example of John’s Long Life

Upon Domitian’s death, John returned to Patmos, having completed both his Revelation and the Fourth Gospel. Among the many traditions, John was thought to have died c AD 100, having lived for 120 years. Regardless of which tradition is to be believed as accurate, it is the example of his long life that radiates hope and joy, especially throughout his Gospel. The Revelation was both an assessment of the small Christian communities in Anatolia as well as a more detailed, albeit allegorical, vision of the end. In part, this may have come from the disappointment felt by a newer generation of Christians that the return of Christ had not yet occurred.

Ultimately, the message to these Christians was that good would triumph over evil and with persecution comes reward, no doubt referencing Domitian’s attempts to reign-in these Christians communities, all of which (in terms of the Seven Churches) existed in Hellenized Roman cities. Echoing Jesus in Matthew 24, John characterized a time of great famine, wars, natural disasters, and events so calamitous that only the intervention of God would restore order and bring a new heaven and earth.

For centuries people have interpreted different periods as harbingers of the end times. Whether the persecutions of Julian the Apostate in the fourth century, or the bubonic plague in the fourteenth, the words of John reverberated among theologians eager to interpret them in the light of contemporary events. The same is true today. What should be taken from John’s life and his writings is the element of hope and personal example amidst persecution and seemingly uncontrollable negative life events. These may be his most applicable contributions.

Fatih Cimok, A Guide to the Seven Churches (Istanbul: A Turizm Yayinlari, 2001).

Anna G. Edmonds, Turkey’s Religious Sites 2nd Ed. (Istanbul: Damko, 1998).

Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church 3rd Ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970).

The copyright of the article St. John of Patmos in Current Times in Protestantism is owned by Michael Streich. Permission to republish St. John of Patmos in Current Times in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Temple of Domitian,Ephesus

St. Francis' Attributes Reflect Christmas Truths

Humility, Compassion & the Spirit of Poverty at the Christmas Creche

Dec 6, 2008

The life of St. Francis is the true imitation of Christ, yet it is at the manager of that first Christmas in Bethlehem were Francis points to the attributes of Jesus.

On Christmas Eve 1223, in a small Umbrian church, Francis of Assisi celebrated midnight Mass and established the practice of exhibiting a crèche or presepio, reminding all who would come to the manger that Jesus had a humble birth. The attributes of Francis, chronicled by his biographer Bonaventure, parallel those of the Christ child: humility, compassion, and a spirit of poverty. Referred to as the “second Christ” by Pope Pius XI, Francis’ life was a true imitation of the life of Christ.

From Material Comfort to Poverty

Born Giovanni di Bernardone in 1181, Francis experienced a comfortable life as the son of a wealthy Assisi merchant. His hopes and dreams were much like others born into similar wealth and prestige. He left Assisi to fight in a war but returned with profound inner yearnings that led him through a spiritual journey at the end of which he rejected the norms associated with his social class.

Francis soon came to know the Jesus of that first Christmas in Bethlehem. Through visions and prayers, Francis stove to follow God’s call to rebuild His church. It was a time of conflict and crisis, of crusades and heretics. There was great wealth and great poverty and the institutions of the time offered little hope of security and direction.

Little wonder Francis attracted others seeking a deeper understanding of the Christian experience, from a mere handful to many thousands over the course of the first years of his ministry. Above all, Francis stressed poverty. Preaching that first midnight Mass in 1223, Francis referred to the “birth of the poor King.”

Poverty, Humility, and Compassion

The Rule of Francis was nothing less than the Gospels: “If any one wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up the cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16.24) The imitation of Christ rested on the human attributes of Jesus. Many times the Gospels record that Jesus had compassion for the crowds that followed him and sought answers for their own inadequacies.

All of these attributes were evident at the birth of Jesus and this was highlighted by Francis. Jesus was born in a humble setting among stable animals. His first visitors were humble shepherds. The Magi or kings that followed the Bethlehem star demonstrated the superiority of poverty and humility over wealth and power.

The Marks of Jesus

Nine months after preaching the midnight Mass, Francis received a glorious vision of Christ while on a solitary retreat. It was here that he received the marks of Christ, the first person to be granted the stigmata. Even with this singular gift, Francis was humble. His life reflected those attributes Christians associate most with during the Christmas season: poverty, humility, and compassion for those with needs.

The great medieval pope, Innocent III, formally approved the order of St. Francis after a dream in which Francis was holding up the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Francis would rebuild the church but not with bricks and mortar.

The Saint for Christmas and Beyond

Christians celebrate Christmas with gifts to each other as well as to the poor. Compassion invokes charity, given in the spirit of humility. Even Francis’ call to poverty reminds Christians that excess is gluttony. Francis’ example is a tacit reminder that just as Jesus was fully God, he was also fully man and herein lays the challenge to follow the life of the Son of God who identifies with creation and has compassion for it.

Francis would remind us that the Christmas crèche is not seasonal, but is a constant call to those attributes that gather together the lost and abandoned and secure them in happiness and joy. The prayer of St. Francis reflects his own humble simplicity: “Make me an instrument of your peace…”

The copyright of the article St. Francis' Attributes Reflect Christmas Truths in Catholic Mass & Holy Days is owned by Michael Streich. Permission to republish St. Francis' Attributes Reflect Christmas Truths in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Franciscan at Assisi Shares the Story of Francis

The Bells of Bethlehem Ring Christmas Peace

The Suspension of War Once a Year on the Eve of Silent Night

Michael Streich

December 25, 2008 First published in Suite101

Updated December 25, 2020

Every year at Christmas, the bells of Bethlehem ring, reminding the world of the birth of the “prince of peace.” Millions of greeting cards are emblazoned with the message “peace on earth,” perhaps as a once-a-year reminder that peace continues to be elusive in our communities and in the world. The reconciliation between war and peace may be the most difficult for mankind to achieve. Mark Twain wrote that man, in the “intervals between campaigns…washes the blood off his hands and works for the ‘universal brotherhood of man’ --- with his mouth.” [1]

In Time of the Breaking of Nations

Thomas Hardy’s 1915 poem came as World War One entered its second, bloody year. It is both an affirmation that humankind will continue, though dynasties may fall, as well as an observation that war will always be a part of that existence. In was during this war that soldiers left their trenches during the 1914 “Christmas Truce” and sang hymns like “Silent Night.” John McCutcheon’s captured the mood in a 2006 CD titled “Christmas in the Trenches.”

Similarly, during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, German and American soldiers sought shelter in a home occupied by a mother and her young daughter. After convincing the soldiers to leave their weapons outside, and pleading with them that this was the holiest of all nights, she fixed them a meal. Together they sang “Silent Night,” and in the morning, they left the house to return to their battle lines.

Despite the best efforts of peacemakers, the wars of the twenty-first century appear to replicate those of all prior centuries. India and Pakistan, both nations with nuclear arsenals, are poised again to go to war in the aftermath of the Mumbai attack thirty days ago. In Israel, Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned of a “heavy price” in the wake of intensified attacks on Israeli citizens and soldiers. The bells of Bethlehem are not heard, however, in Jerusalem, in Islamabad, in Beirut, or in Washington, DC.

Peace on Earth is a Worthy Goal

The 1963 John Wayne movie Donovan’s Reef contains one of the best Christmas scenes of any movie ever made. On Christmas Eve, on an island in French Polynesia, the island’s governor reads aloud the story of Christ’s birth in a small Catholic Church filled with islanders, sailors from Australia, and American veterans that chose to remain there after the war.

As the governor comes to the visitation of the three kings, he introduces them as the King of Polynesia, the Emperor of China, and the King of the United States of America while the choir sings “Silent Night.” The symbolism is not lost. A common endeavor, perhaps the achievement of real world peace that is focused on a power greater than all of mankind, is a worthy goal.

It has been said that it takes a war to appreciate peace. Peace “binds that nation’s wounds,” as Lincoln said in his Second Inaugural Address. Yet how much better would the world be if the prayers of Christmas and the gold etched messages on greeting cards were reality? What might happen if the bells of Bethlehem were heard by all, everywhere?

[1] from Mark Twain’s What Is Man?

In 2020 there are Christians who look toward Christmas as a door to hasten the coming of Jesus Christ despite the fact that of the time and hour knows no man but the Father Himself. Yet, the chaotic and often unbelievable political and social events witnessed almost daily seem to point to prophecy fulfillment, even from very obscure passage as in, for example the book of Kings following David. Jesus knew that his church would be side-tracked and preoccupied with prophecy. It happened almost immediately after his death and resurrection. Nero was the perfect antichrist candidate. Later emperors equally fulfilled the need for antichrist candidates. And did not Hadrian, whom we champion as a great emperor, help with the final destruction of Palestine and Jerusalem?

God has privileged me to travel to many world-wide religious sites. Some as simple as the House of Mary in Turkey on a hill outside of Ephesus where I drank from the holy well water, some as devoutly elaborate as St. Peter's Basilica or the pilgrimage sites of Assisi. Through all of this I was reminded, the kingdom of God is part of us. Prophecy and the often obscene conclusions of seemingly intelligent Christians detract and we miss the Kingdom of God. Jesus said, "Occupy till I come." Let us do our work, as his children, building the Kingdom of God he so well demonstrated in the Gospels.

Three Important Inaugurations in US History

Presidents at the Crossroad of Peril and Calamity Provide Hope

Dec 31, 2008 Michael Streich

Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy all entered the American Presidency at moments of great fear, yet each man led the nation to greater triumph.

Coming into the presidency at a moment of crisis and “maximum danger,” John F. Kennedy spoke of the trumpet summoning the American people again. Kennedy referred to past periods of significant danger to the Constitution and the American way of life. The inauguration of John F. Kennedy ranks as one of the three most important, beginning with Abraham Lincoln in 1861 and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. All three men faced tremendous obstacles that threatened the very nature of the democratic system, and all three men prevailed.

Abraham Lincoln in 1861

At the time Abraham Lincoln gave his Inaugural Address on March 4, 1861, seven Southern states had already left the Union to form a new nation, the Confederate States of America. With its own Constitution and government under the leadership of Jefferson Davis, the Confederacy provided President Lincoln with a threat no other president had ever had to face. The nation was split and Lincoln was keenly aware that other states might still bolt the Union.

The 1850s had been a decade of non-ending sectional strife over the issue of the expansion of slavery into the new territories. From the Compromise of 1850 to John Brown’s 1859 raid, the nation was both riveted and torn by violence. As Lincoln himself noted, “I enter upon the task…[of the Presidency]…under great and peculiar difficulty.”

Lincoln sought to calm the nation and reassure the South particularly that the new administration would not “endanger” the “peace and security” of that section. Further, he affirmed the right of slavery in the South. But the seeds of civil war were sown and President Lincoln would spend the rest of his presidency ending that Civil War.

Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933

Perhaps the greatest national crisis since the Civil War, the Great Depression signaled universal hopelessness. FDR, however, began his presidency saying on March 4, 1933, that the American people had nothing to fear but fear itself. “Our Constitution is so simple and practical,” FDR continued, “that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and government without loss of essential form.”

Harnessing all the powers available to him, Roosevelt immediately implemented the “New Deal” with bank reform, followed by other measures to put Americans back to work and stabilize the economy. Like Lincoln, he expanded presidential powers in order to preserve the Union. It was a time of uncertainty and some doubted democracy could survive. It did, under Franklin Roosevelt.

John F. Kennedy in 1961

Kennedy’s brief Inaugural Address highlighted fears of global catastrophe. Referring to the US and the USSR, John F. Kennedy told the world that both sides must begin anew “the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.”

It was a time of bomb shelters; a time of military escalation. It was the time of the “missile crisis” and dire warnings of a nuclear winter. The prospect of war went beyond battlefields and reverberated into the civil defense shelters advertised everywhere with yellow placards. During his brief tenure in office, John F. Kennedy steered the ship of state through rough waters never before tested.

Three Important Inaugurations

1861, 1933, and 1961 all represent significant watershed years, periods when, as Lincoln once said, the nation would experience a new birth of freedom, and that American government “shall not perish from the earth.” These presidents came from varying backgrounds, yet each one may have saved America from certain calamity.

2009 may again be a watershed year. FDR’s Inaugural Address begins with a description of the nation not unlike the United States today. Americans would do well to read his words as well as his antidote and promises of hope. They may be the same call to arms needed today.

Source:

The Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents, John Gabriel Hunt, editor (new York: Gramercy Books, 1997)

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Child Birth and Abortion in Gilded Age Cities

Social Purity in White Middle Class Families Limits Family Size

Jan 24, 2009 Michael Streich

While white middle class women represented a steady decline in birth rates, the new immigrants in urban centers exhibited dramatically higher birth rates.

Declining birth rates for white middle class women during the last two decades of the 1800s highlighted changing social patterns affected by growing industrialization and urbanization. At the same time, Victorian “social purity” contributed to a general lack of knowledge among middle class women regarding sexuality while birth rates among the “new” immigrant groups were high. Social engineers reacted with solutions that affected the American way of life well into the next century.

Industrialization and Urbanization

As migrants moved from rural communities to urban centers, the need for larger families became less apparent. Sexuality was still geared toward procreation as a primary motivation. Farm communities necessitated larger families. Moving into cities, however, this absolute need was no longer evident. White “nativist” Americans that began to form the growing middle class, resulting from industrialization, limited their families.

Sexual expectations within these families were also very limited. As a result, growing red light districts within urban enclaves functioned to service males of all classes. As D’Emillio and Freedman note, sex was a commodity. Brothels represented a business that satisfied needs frequently unavailable in the home. [1]

The growth of cities was due in large measure to the rapid influx of millions of new immigrants, many from Italy. These unskilled workers were, for the most part Catholic. Rejecting any notions of indirect family planning within families, their religion, culture, and experience bound them to accept as many children as possible. Additionally, just as in white rural communities, children represented an addition to the individual family workforce.

Response of Professionals and Government to Low Birth Rates

As Janet Brodie demonstrated in her book Contraception and Abortion in Nineteenth-Century America, physicians and a variety of social purity crusaders managed to criminalize abortion and severely limit birth control information. The motives appear to reflect growing fears that white-born American women were having fewer children while child rates among immigrants were rising.

The debate was neither religious nor moral. In fact, by the turn of the century, the debate focused on eugenics in which movement leaders like Margaret Sanger strove to undue the ban on abortion and contraceptives precisely for reasons of limiting child births among immigrant groups.

At the same time, physicians drew a correlation between growing numbers of men afflicted with venereal disease and brothel patronage. This became an important issue for the early twentieth-century Progressives who were successful in driving prostitution underground through the passage of local “Red Light Abatement Laws” that allowed communities to effectively shut down the houses.

American views of sexuality would change over the twentieth century, reflecting the national economy and periods of relative openness frequently followed by periods of sexual conservatism.

Sources:

Janet Farrell Brodie, Contraception and Abortion in Nineteenth-Century America (Cornell University Press, 1997)

[1] John D’Emillio and Estelle B. Freedman, Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America Harper & Row Publishers, 1988) see chapter 8.

Voter Participation in America 1876-1920

Decreasing Percentages Highlight a Lack of Major Issues

Feb 5, 2009

With minor exception, American voters demonstrated growing apathy with the major political parties during presidential elections by staying at home on election day.

American voter participation in presidential elections between the end of Reconstruction in 1876 and the end of World War One in 1820 dropped significantly from 82% to 49% with two elections reflecting slight gains in 1896 and 1916. These statistics reflect what specific issues were important to Americans as well as voter apathy in the face of weak executive leadership during most of the post Civil War period. Additional factors include the personalities of the men chosen by their parties to lead the nation.

High Voter Participation in the Election of 1876

1876 represented a watershed year in late 19th-century politics. Although two reform governors were vying for the presidency, the issues included rampant government corruption and graft both on the federal level under Ulysses Grant and in local state and city governments. Additionally, northern voters had grown weary of Reconstruction, seeking to move on to new challenges associated with rising industrialization and urbanization.

The Election of 1876 was a dirty campaign. Propaganda and outright lies dominated the newspapers, mostly on behalf of Republican Rutherford B. Hayes. Although Samuel Tilden won the popular vote, he was denied the electoral vote through an extraordinary compromise between the parties. High voter participation reflected the pressures to put the Civil War and Reconstruction behind the national psyche.

The Decline in Voter Participation

Most historians of this period agree that the presidents between Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt were lackluster with Grover Cleveland being a “cut above.” Additionally, Congressional power and leadership grew at the expense of a weak executive branch. Further, there were few burning issues that separated the parties. Both major parties were intricately tied to the eastern banking establishment and the “trusts.”

Between 1894 and 1896, voter participation rose briefly to 79%. These elections produced significant gains for the Republican Party. Middle class voters responded to labor unrest characterized by violence such as the 1892 strike at the Homestead steel plant in Pennsylvania. In May 1894, just months before the mid-term election, the Pullman strike in Chicago suggested the influence of socialists. The strike, led by Eugene Debs, cost several lives and resulted in property destruction of nearly a half million dollars. Americans in 1894 and 1896 went to the polls to affirm law and order and identified the Republican Party as the best assurance of that goal.

Minor Increases in the Early 20th Century

The election of Teddy Roosevelt in 1904 saw an increase in voter participation to 65%. Roosevelt was highly popular and defeated Alton Parker by over two and a half million votes. His “Square Deal” resonated with the public and his leadership style broke with the previous centuries examples.

In 1916, Woodrow Wilson won reelection as 62% of voters went to the polls. Although the results were close and Republican Charles Evans Hughes initially thought he had won, Wilson’s slogan “he kept us out of war” as well as the progressive reforms coming out of his legislative nationalism enabled him to win. The Great War in Europe was a key issue for Americans and Hughes appeared to advocate a tougher stand on Germany.

By 1920, voter participation had fallen to the lowest level – 49%. Although neither candidate was popular or charismatic in any way, Warren Harding’s so-called “return to normalcy” trumped James Cox’s endorsement of the League of Nations. Americans were tired of war and tired of entangling alliances. There was no compelling issue to bring out the voters in great masses. Harding won a landslide victory.

Sources:

Statistics taken from America Past and Present by Robert Divine, T. H. Breen, and others, (Pearson/Longman, 2007) p. 676.

Paul F. Boller, Jr., Presidential Campaigns From George Washington to George W. Bush (Oxford University Press, 2004).

William A. DeGregorio, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents From George Washington to George W. Bush (New York: Gramercy Books, 2001).

Lewis L. Gould, The Most Exclusive Club: A History of the Modern United States Senate (Basic Books, 2005).

Page Smith, America Enters the World: A People’s History of the Progressive Era and World War I Vol. 7 (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1985).

The copyright of the article Voter Participation in America 1876-1920 in Modern US History is owned by Michael Streich. Permission to republish Voter Participation in America 1876-1920 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

A Civic Duty