Reflecting on his past, President John Adams mused that it was religion that had shaped his family's fortunes and young America's future. For the nineteenth century's first family, the Adamses of Massachusetts, the history of how they lived religion was dynamic and well-documented. Christianity supplied the language that Abigail used to interpret husband John's political setbacks. Scripture armed their son John Quincy to act as father, statesman, and antislavery advocate. Unitarianism gave Abigail's Victorian grandson, Charles Francis, the religious confidence to persevere in political battles on the Civil War homefront. By contrast, his son Henry found religion hollow and repellent compared to the purity of modern science. Religion helped Abigail's great-grandson Brooks, a Gilded Age critic of capitalism, to prophesy two world wars. Globe-trotters who chronicled their religious journeys extensively, the Adamses ultimately developed a cosmopolitan Christianity that blended discovery and criticism, faith and doubt. Drawing from their rich archive of art and letters, Sara Georgini, the series editor for The Papers of John Adams, demonstrates how pivotal Christianity--as the different generations understood it--was in shaping the family's decisions, great and small. Spanning nearly four centuries of faith from Puritan New England to the Jazz Age, Household Gods tells a new story of American religion, as the president's family lived it.

About the Author
Sara Georgini, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., earned her doctorate in history from Boston University. She is series editor for The Papers of John Adams, part of the Adams Papers editorial project based at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston.

Reviews
Its sweep through generations allows readers to feel the change of centuries in the intimate ruminations of thoughtful people. It offers a clear narrative that students can learn much from, particularly when they compare the voices of the Adamses with those of the many Americans who disputed their vantage point on U.S. Christianity. * Katherine Carte, William and Mary Quarterly *
Students and teachers of American religious history and political culture alike should find this factually rich, insightful, and artfully written study interesting and profitable. * Journal of American History *
This work draws on a treasure trove of fascinating material and is a splendid showcase for the Adams papers (of which Georgini is also the series editor), and readers interested in the subject may find the book most useful as a guide to which sections of the papers would be worth investigating. * Melissa Dow, University of Dallas, Religiour Studies Review *
Sara Georgini has the knack of making dry history as interesting as a novel can be... It is a must-read for everybody who is interested in American history. * Washington Book Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9780190882587
Author Sara Georgini
Format Hardback
Page Count 296
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 640g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 236mm * 28mm