392 Religion and Race in Early America

What does history have to tell us about how we, as Americans, came to define people by their race; the visual ways we have grouped people together based on their skin color, facial features, hair texture, and ancestry?

As you might imagine, history has a LOT to tell us about this question! So today, we’re going to explore one aspect of the answer to this question by focusing on some of the ways religion shaped European and early American ideas about race and racial groupings.

Kathryn Gin Lum is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University. She’s also the author of Heathen: Religion and Race in American History.

Show Notes:https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/392 Sponsor Links

• Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
• The Power of Place: The Centennial Campaign for Colonial Williamsburg
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Complementary Episodes

• Episode 047: Christian Imperialism: Converting the World in the Early American Republic
• Episode 109: The American Enlightenment & Cadwallader Colden
• Episode 139: Indian Enslavement in the Americas
• Episode 311: Religion and the American Revolution
• Episode 334: Missions and Mission Building in New Spain
• Episode 367: The Brafferton Indian School, Part 1
• Episode 376: Cotton Mather’s Spanish Lessons

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