Anglicanism and the British Empire, c.1700-1850 [Hardcover]

Between 1700 and 1850 the Church of England was the among the most powerful and influential religious, social, and political forces in Britain. This was also a momentous time for the British Empire, during which it developed and then lost the North American colonies, extended into India, and settled the colonies of Australia and New Zealand. Public understanding of this expanding empire was influentially created and promulgated by the Church of England as a consequence of its missionary engagement with these colonies, and its role in providing churches for British settlers. Rowan Strong examines how that Anglican Christian understanding of the British Empire shaped the identities both of the people living in British colonies in North America, Bengal, Australia, and New Zealand during this period - including colonists, indigenous peoples, and Negro slaves - and of the English in Britain.

Strong makes his points with admirable clarity, and, partly because of a valuable historiographical introduction, students will find the book as accessible as it is useful. We now understand the relationship of church, state, and empire much better. --D.W. Bebbington,American Historical Review

Srong has assembled a valuable analysis of mainstream Anglican thinking on religion, the state, empire, and missions... This book is a welcome contribution to the scholarship on religion, nation, and empire. --Journal of British Studies

Rowan Strong is Senior Lecturer in Church History, Murdoch University, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.