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Sectarianism And Citizenship: Church And State Debates In Nineteenth Century New York, Sean Mcgonigle

American Studies Senior Theses

My senior thesis for American Studies, entitled “Sectarianism and Citizenship: Church and State Debates in Nineteenth Century New York,” examines the origins of Catholic integration into mainstream American Society, particularly by looking into the changing landscape in New York during the mid-1800’s. American citizenship was defined in terms of Protestant nationalism, and, as such, American institutions also had strains of American Protestantism. I contend that this American Protestant hegemony was challenged in New York by the growing presence of Catholics in the city. Through natural birth rates and immigration, the Catholic population in New York dramatically increased, and forced the …