 | Moral Geography: Maps, Missionaries, and the American Frontier Subjects: Western Reserve (Ohio) -- Church history -- 19th century; Missions -- Ohio -- Western Reserve -- History -- 19century; Christianity and geography -- Ohio -- Western Reserve -- History -- 19th century; Congregational churches -- Connecticut -- Missions --; Moral Geography traces the development of a moral basis for American expansionism, as Protestant missionaries, using biblical language and metaphors, imaginatively conjoined the cultivation of souls with the cultivation of land and made space sacred. While the political implications of the mapping of American expansion have been much studied, this is the first major study of the close and complex relationship between mapping and missionizing on the American frontier. Amy DeRogatis is assistant professor of religious studies at Michigan State University. |
