A Southeastern Catholic in King Cotton's Court

One could argue that America’s most turbulent years were that of the antebellum period. Nestled between the American Revolutionary War and the American Civil War, the antebellum period saw the young republic debate and fight to determine what the new republic would become. 

Hidden within the chaos of the antebellum period was the Roman Catholic Church. Once banned under English colonial law, Catholics fought to defend their new religious freedoms granted to them under the U.S Constitution. However, their continuous effort to become a part of antebellum society leads both clergy and laity down a dark path of injustice.

Despite forming the Church of England in 1534, under King Henry VIII, a significant portion of the English population was still Catholic. As a result, centuries of bloodshed between Protestants and Catholics raged across the British Isles. Events such as the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 would only deepen the distrust Protestants held against Catholics. As a result, a series of anti-Catholic laws were implemented by the British government. These laws barred Catholics from government positions, government aid, and other disadvantages to force eventual conversion. This series of penal laws is known today as the Test Act and was implemented in the British Isles and the British colonies.

A clear example of the Test Act in practice occurred in the fall of 1755. During the Expulsion of the Acadians during the French and Indian War, more than a thousand French Acadians from eastern Canada sought refuge in the Charleston area. When arriving in the Southern Colony, the Catholic Acadians were denied the free land and cash given to other European immigrants wanting to settle in the colony. With little help from the colonial government and social ostracization in the local Carolinian communities, hundreds died in the following winter of 1766. Most of those who survived the winter fled to French Saint Domingue, Louisiana, or Canada.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances- Constitution of the United States

This first wave of Anti-Catholicism was quickly defeated once the U.S became an independent nation. Throughout the struggle for independence, Catholic clergy and laity fought to ensure the demons of the past would not continue into the new era.

Due to years of poor governance on behalf of the British government, The European Potato Blight hit hardest in Ireland. The Irish Potato Famine contributed to one of America's largest immigration waves. While some Irish immigrants in the 1840s were Protestant, the vast majority of Irish immigrants were Catholic due to the United Kingdom's discriminatory laws. While most immigrants settled in the more industrialized cities of the North and Midwest, Southeastern cities such as Baltimore, Richmond, Charleston, and Savannah all saw waves of Catholic immigration.

Alongside a massive increase in the Catholic population, the Irish immigration wave of the 1840s drastically changes the dichotomy of American Catholicism. Before, most American Catholics in America existed in smaller populations but usually possessed higher education or civil standings. By 1840, most American Catholics had been born and raised in the United States. Those that had immigrated often did so with the aid of some form of financial stability. In contrast, the Irish Potato Famine saw Catholic immigrants fleeing a situation that spelled only financial ruin, if not death. Thus, the American Catholic population went from a small educated, generally wealthy population to a larger, working class.

While some politicians chose to appeal to the new Catholic population, others used the fear of immigrants as a divisive political mobilization tool. In high concentrations of Catholic populations, politicians leaned heavily into the past's anti-Catholic rhetoric to paint Irish Catholics as an invading hoard serving as puppets for the Pope. These nativists claimed that Irish and German Catholics eroded the very foundation of liberty and imposed a threat to the American way of life itself. Thus the Second Anti-Catholic Era began. This nativist sentiment manifested in the 1850s as the American Party, also known as the Know-Nothing Party. Founded in 1844, the Know-Nothings and their Nativist allies became notorious for their violence. With emotions running high in Antebellum America, it often took only a charismatic preacher, a local election, or a large number of Catholic immigrates to light the powder keg.

In the official 1856 Know-Nothing platform, 16 points are given. Of the 16, six points can be directly connected to anti-Catholics. Three of the most blatant points include:

"War to the hilt, on political Romanism"

"Hostility to all Papal influences, when brought to bear against the Republic"

"Eternal enmity to all those who attempt to carry out the principles of a foreign Church or State

The American Party posed a threat to Catholics within the Southwest and their attempts to become a part of Antebellum society. If Know-Nothing Party could create a strong enough platform in the Southeast, the actions of the Dioceses of Baltimore, Charleston, Richmond, and Savannah would be completely undermined. The American Party's first meeting occurred in Baltimore on August 18, 1853, with approximately 5,000 attendance. The following year, the American or Know-Nothing Party achieved one of its first victories in Baltimore, Maryland, with Mayor Samuel Hinks' successful election. After Hinks' term as mayor, the nativist would see victory again with Baltimore's next mayor Thomas Swann in 1856.

Compared to the North, the Know-Nothing Party saw only limited success through the Southeast. While other Know-Nothings focused on the nativist or anti-Catholicism of the North, the Southerners were forced to unite under a different goal, anti-Southern Democratism. The patchworking of the Know-Nothings reflected the party’s weakness in the Southeast and Catholic success in courting allies. Nowhere is this more visible than in the Charleston Mayoral election of 1855. 

After defeating a Catholic candidate for Charleston sheriff, the Know-Nothings nominated F. D. Richardson for the Charleston SC mayoral election of 1855. In November, F. D. Richardson only obtained 40% of the vote and was defeated by a Catholic allied collision of local Democrats and Democratic Southern Righters. Dubbed the "Anti-Know-Nothing Party," the Catholic allies elected William Porcher Miles. Not only was Miles an ally to Charleston's Catholics, but Mile's was also an infamous "fire-eater" and later designer of the Confederate battle flag.

The Catholic alliance with the Antebellum political machine came with a cost. In order to stay in the good graces of the Southern Democrats and minor Democratic Southern Rights Party, Southeastern Catholics were required to align with the parties’ platforms. If Catholics wanted to keep safe in the shadow of the Southern Democratic political machine, the clergy could not inhibit the machine’s fuel, slavery

Within the Church, different factions held diffing opinions on slavery. While some were against the peculiar institution, many actively participated in the trade.

Across the early Nineteenth Century, the Catholic communities of the Chesapeake Region's rapid growth were aided by the Roman Catholic religious order called The Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits. While the order built and maintained places of learning, the Chesapeake Jesuits also owned several estates and farms, all of which were ran by enslaved labor. In 1824, the Jesuits possessed 12,000 acres of property in the Chesapeake area. This property included four estates in the counties of Prince George, Charles, and Saint Mary's and two smaller plantations on the eastern section of the state. By 1838, the combined properties contained 275 enslaved persons.

By the 1830s, the Jesuits had founded and maintained some of Maryland's most prestigious colleges. Amongst the list of schools includes St. Mary's College and Georgetown University. However, by the 1830s, many of the universities were in severe debt. With an ever-increasing debt and a plantation system that struggled to turn a profit, Jesuits decided to separate the local chapter from slavery as a whole by selling off all 275 enslaved to various plantations in the Louisiana area.

Another Catholic order was taking on slavery and its effects were the Oblate Sisters of Providence. Founded in 1829 by two Haitian immigrants, James Mary Hector Nicholas Joubert de la Muraille and Elizabeth Lange, the Baltimore order of nuns was formed as a reaction to the lack of primary education within the Afro-Caribbean and African American populations. While unable to serve an enslaved individual, the Oblate Sisters of Providence became the first Catholic religious order to serve black and mixed Americans and be entirely run by black and mixed Catholic women.

Despite religious orders both participating in slavery and promoting the well-being of the freedmen population, the most significant influence on slavery's role in the Catholic Church would not come from within. Frequently, the debate on slavery would be decided by the outside influence of Antebellum society.

In the summer of 1835, the American Anti-Slavery Society mailed thousands of anti-slavery pamphlets to the South. The goal was to send these pamphlets to prominent individuals in the states around the South. However, the Southerners feared that the pamphlets were intended for enslaved people they owned, leading to a possible slave rebellion. The American Anti-Slavery Society's real goal was to convince the owners to free their slaves.

Acting out of anger and fear, a well-organized mob broke into the Charleston post office on July 29, 1835, and gathered all the anti-slavery pamphlets. The pamphlets would be taken to local parade grounds and then burned in a massive bonfire. With tensions already running high, some rumor stated that John England harbored more anti-slavery pamphlets at his residence. Two Catholics (either part of the riots or bystanders) overheard plans to storm John England's house, burn the pamphlets, and lynch England. After learning the plan, Bishop England sent a request to Catholic members of the city militia to protect him against the impending mob. Several Irish members responded to his request, along with several other members not of the Catholic faith.

For the next two days, no rioting crowd arrived at John England's residence. Although the Bishop was safe from a mob, the city still demanded that he close the two schools for free people of color. Fearing another possible attack on the Catholic Church, John England not only closed his buildings but encouraged other schools for free people of color in the city to close as well. Two days after the riot, every school for free people of color in the city of Charleston was closed by order of the City Council. Caving in to public pressure, England closed the schools.

The final event that propelled Southeastern Catholics into the complicacy of slavery came on December 3, 1839. In 1839, Pope Gregory XVI issued the papal bull In supremo apostolatus, in which he denounced both the trade and practice of slavery:

"No one in the future dare to bother unjustly, despoil of their possessions, or reduce to slavery Indians, Blacks or other such peoples." -Pope Gregory XVI, 1839

Despite clearly denouncing slavery and urging Catholics not to defend the practice, the Catholics of the American Southeast responded by doing exactly that. After the publication of Pope Gregory XVI's bull, many slaveholding Catholics would twist the bull's words to justify their "investments." Bishop John England became one of the voices that publicly supported America's use of slavery. After the debacle following the Charleston Post Office Riot, England could not risk his diocese being connected to anti-slavery ideology. In public newspapers and private letters to American politicians, Bishop England would water down In supremo apostolatus, stating that the Pope was attacking the Atlantic slave trade, not the domestic slave trade occurring in the American South.

For the remaining duration of the Antebellum South, the other Catholic leaders would mirror the actions and options of Bishop John England. While some chose to stay neutral on slavery, many Southeastern Catholics openly supported the institution. Eventually, the topic of slavery would rip the United States in two and embroil the nation in Civil War. When the Southeastern States rebelled against the United States following the 1860 Presidential election, many Southern Catholics followed suit. Several which played essential roles in the short-lived Confederacy:

In approximately 60 years, the Roman Catholic Church transformed itself from a primarily taboo religious community to become prominent members of Antebellum Society. While anti-Catholicism was far from defeated and would see a resurgence in the late Nineteenth Century, the Antebellum southern Catholic leaders still accomplished an impossible task. However, while Catholics were eventually welcomed into Antebellum Society, it was at the cost of their moral character. Between 1800-1865, Southeastern Catholics, both clergy and laity, either supported the institution of slavery or allowed it to continue unhindered until its end following the American Civil War. This duality created a sad paradox within the Antebellum Southeast. The Catholic bishops and immigrants fought for the right to practice their faith in freedom. However, in the process of saving their own souls, Southeastern Catholics harmed the souls of thousands more. Sadly, while Southeastern Catholics were eventually treated just like their Protestant neighbors, they also began to treat others as they did. The true testament of how Catholics assimilated into Antebellum society is best summarized not by a bishop but through an escaped slave named Edward. When asked about being held by a widow named "Betsy Brown" of Hartford county Maryland, he answered:

"She was a very bad person; would go to Church every Sunday, come home and go to fighting amongst the colored people; was never satisfied; she treated my mother very hard; would beat her with a walking stick, &c. She was an old woman and belong to the Catholic Church.

Southeastern Catholics won their battle against the Know-Nothings and the party's anti-Catholic rhetoric. Ironically the very armor that protected southeastern Catholics was made from the very thing they fought, discrimination.