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concept, and his religious views transcended denominational differences. More importantly, he constructed a religious ideology that upheld the southern social structure. 166 Although his faith was rooted within northern evangelical Protestantism, Turner used it to build a southern national civil religion. Turner’s southern civil religion was a public religion for the Confederacy that encompassed the devotion of white Christian southerners through a commonly held set of beliefs, rituals and symbols, including fasting and prayer days, the Confederate seal, and charitable support for the poor and needy. Turner’s civil religion can be read throughout the pages of The Countryman, as he denounced sectarian differences, advocated southern virtue, condemned sinfulness, recognized God’s purpose in sacrifice and suffering, and reminded southerners that they were God’s chosen people. Turner used The Countryman to influence devotion, not only to God, but also to their southern cause. Devotion to the Confederacy, according to Turner, was both secular and sacred and it encompassed every aspect of southern life. 164 Joseph Addison Turner, “Atheist,” The Countryman (Jun 2, 1863): 41. 165 Joseph Addison Turner, “Atheism,” The Countryman (Jun 20, 1865): 302. 166 Autobiography of Joseph Addison Turner, Robert Woodruff Library Microforms, Emory University, Emory, Georgia, 21-26. 61 The Folly of Fanaticism During the Second Great Awakening, evangelicals used revivals as the primary method of salvation. Social prayer lay at the heart of evangelicalism. While conversion, prayer, salvation, and redemption were once powerfully private matters, the emergence of revivals transformed them into intensely public and social events. 167 According to the Methodist circuit rider Peter Cartwright’s writings in the early 1800s, revivals were a place where “hundreds fell prostrate under the mighty power of God, as men slain in battle.” Revivals represented, in many cases, the only religious outlet for people living outside urban areas. With a pulpit, an altar, several preachers, and thousands seeking God’s forgiveness, a large country field or few acres of land became transformed. People from miles around packed up their food and supplies for these multi-day religious events. Preaching went on hour after hour well into the night and early morning. Praying, singing, shouting, and weeping were heard in every corner of the camp meeting. Afterward, ministers bragged about the number of proselytes, often inflating not only the number of saved souls, but also their egos. 168 In the spring of 1839, Turner was the tender age of thirteen when he experienced his first revival at the Philadelphia Methodist Church near his home in Eatonton, Georgia. As he recounted in his personal journal, on the first day of the revival the entire family attended, except for Turner. Upon their return, the family’s overseer Archibald Davis described to him the day’s activities including the conversion of many of Turner’s school friends. He condemned his associates as he believed them to be too young to participate. 167 Paul Johnson, A Shopkeeper’s Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 18151837 (New York: Hill and Wang, 2004), 96-97. 168 Autobiography of Peter Cartwright, ed. Charles L. Wallis (Abingdon: Abingdon Press, 1984), 3334. 62 Nonetheless, on the Sunday of the revival, Turner attended in order to witness it firsthand. There, he found himself caught up in the excitement with the rest of the congregation. When mourners were invited to the altar, Turner was drawn to it with several other children “in paroxysms and convulsions of groans, tears, and shouts.” 169 It did not end there. Turner was in a state of “languor and lassitude” when he passed out. Carried into a tent and surrounded by his family and preachers, he shouted, then lay lethargic until the cycle started again. Turner wrote that, “During my intense excitement my muscles and ligaments became so cramped that for a little while convulsions would have been the result.” 170 After Turner’s conversion, his parents, friends, and fellow parishioners encouraged him to further seek out his religion. However, Turner noted that he was ashamed of his conversion and appalled by his emotional reaction, which he termed the “folly of fanaticism.” 171 By reading Turner’s personal journal entries, one can immediately deduce his opinions not only towards revivals, but denominational faith in general. Turner, for example, noted his dislike of preachers calling them the “greatest fanatics” he ever met. He also challenged the insecurity of the children who attended the altar with him that day. While Turner recognized the emotional frenzy that caused his conversion, he understood that others too were easily fooled and were unable to see the conversion for the folly it really was. He claimed they were compelled by the preacher’s threat of hell and damnation if they failed to repent and convert. Turner, on the other 169 Autobiography of Joseph Addison Turner, Robert Woodruff Library Microforms. Emory University, Emory, Georgia, 21-26. 170 Autobiography of Joseph Addison Turner, Robert Woodruff Library Microforms. Emory University, Emory, Georgia, 21-26. 171 Autobiography of Joseph Addison Turner, Robert Woodruff Library Microforms. Emory University, Emory, Georgia, 21-26. 63 hand, confessed that he had no fears of hell or eternal damnation. Instead, he claimed that he approached the altar out of sympathy to the others who experienced anguish and moral dilemmas. Yet, Turner announced his self-proclaimed sympathy in hindsight. He must have realized the emotional excitement it stirred in him as it did in the others. 172 Soon after, at the age of fourteen, Turner renounced his faith in Methodism. He rejected the Methodist dogma and adopted what he called “more liberal religious views.” Unfortunately, he remained under his father’s charge and was required to perform his familial religious duties. But by nineteen years old, Turner “threw off the yoke” and officially withdrew his membership from the Methodist Church. 173 Turner found denominational religion caused more harm than good amongst its believers by focusing on specific practices and rites, instead of teaching Christian morals and faith in God. For example, he wrote in his personal journal that “[I] looked upon repentance as an instrument of torture by whose castigation we are to merit salvation; I regard it as simply a change from good to bad.” 174 Turner believed religion was not a supernatural occurrence whereby men and women suddenly have a positive change of heart. Instead, he understood it to be a partnership with God to cease doing evil and live by the tenets of the Bible. Religion was a principle or rule on which to base one’s life. It was a guiding compass that led to a positive and fulfilling life. Denominational religion, on the other 172 Autobiography of Joseph Addison Turner, Robert Woodruff Library Microforms. Emory University, Emory, Georgia, 21-26. 173 Autobiography of Joseph Addison Turner, Robert Woodruff Library Microforms. Emory University, Emory, Georgia, 21-26. 174 Autobiography of Joseph Addison Turner, Robert Woodruff Library Microforms. Emory University, Emory, Georgia, 21-26. 64 hand, was based on tracts and rituals that claimed to save souls, which Turner

The Countryman: Joseph Addison Turner and the Cultural Construction of Confederate Nationalism