Subject Area
History
Abstract
The American Revolution shaped religious life across the colonies battling for their independence, but different regions experienced that process in distinct ways. This dissertation examines how Congregationalism in the Connecticut Valley responded to the social upheaval and violence of the American Revolution. It takes the Connecticut Valley as a distinctive region and asks how its semi-sheltered experience of the war affected religious life on the local level. The Revolution shook religion in the Connecticut Valley, particularly its sense of regional cohesion. Indeed, Congregationalism in the Connecticut Valley emerged from the war much more locally oriented than it had been before the war. But that does not mean that the Revolution undermined Congregationalism in the Connecticut Valley. Using the ministry of Rev. Stephen Williams in Longmeadow, Massachusetts as a case study to examine local experience in the Connecticut Valley, the dissertation shows how the Revolution threatened his religious world. In response, Williams pursued personal and community piety in such a way that the war did not undermine Longmeadow’s Congregational commitment, even though it did reorient the regional nature of Congregationalism in the Valley to a local one.
Degree Date
Spring 2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
History
Advisor
Katherine Carté
Second Advisor
Brian Franklin
Third Advisor
Ariel Ron
Fourth Advisor
Shelby Balik
Number of Pages
356
Format
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Walton, Christopher, "“God in the Darkness”: Stephen Williams and the Challenges of Congregationalism in the Connecticut River Valley During the American Revolution" (2026). History Theses and Dissertations. 23.
https://scholar.smu.edu/hum_sci_history_etds/23
Included in
History of Christianity Commons, History of Religion Commons, United States History Commons
