Rebecca Reed's Six Months in a Convent: A Review

Throughout the mid-nineteenth century, Catholic population immensely increased due to the rapid growth of immigration from Germany and Ireland. As Catholics began to play a more influential role in society, violence against Catholics escalated. In early 1834, Rebecca Reed, a young protestant woman, published a tell-all book about the Ursuline convent in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The convent, according to Reed, housed young Protestant women who were imprisoned and brutally abused by the nuns. Nonetheless, Rebecca Reed’s book was a notable best seller that was well circulated. An angry mob of Protestants burned the convent and all its surroundings down to the ground. Reed’s Six Months in a Convent was simply a justification for the Protestants to act with vengeance towards their arch nemesis, the Catholics. Throughout the history of America, hate crimes hate have played prevalent roles within the battle for religious prominence, especially towards the Catholics and the Jews. The root causes of anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism in America was the fight for political and economic power.

Though anti-Semitism was prominent throughout the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, it sadly still exists today. Only 95 years ago, Leo Frank, a prominent Jewish businessman was accused of murdering a girl who worked at the pencil factory he managed in Georgia. Jewish Americans were alarmed because they knew Frank was innocent, but because he was a Jew, he was convicted. Though the Judge dropped the death penalty to a life-time sentencing, an angry Christian mob yanked him out of the prison and immediately lynched him. Though Frank was later proved innocent, his lynching still caused a ripple of fear across Jewish Americans. Jewish people are stereo-typed as always being wealthy and arrogant, this frightened the Christians and made them fearful of the Jews attempting to take over the economy and embezzle their political positions, even though the Jewish people had no such intentions. Many Jewish people were extremely wealthy, but they never intended to overrun society. This entire anti-semitism movement was cause by the Christians fear of loosing their influence upon the economy and politics.

As America was being settled, it was known as the “Promise Land” because it opened up countless opportunities; a new beginning, bottomless land, religious freedom, etc. The foremost reason people began to settle America was to escape religious persecution that was occuring in Europe. Being previous victims of religious scrutiny, the Protestants traveled to America in hopes of escaping; instead they became the aggressors of religious persecution. The Protestants were among the first groups to settle in America, therefore they believed that they were the ultimate power and controlled all economics and politics. For instance, as the Catholics began to settle in America, the Protestants wouldn’t allow Catholics to settle near them because they believed they were better than Catholics and the Catholics would try to steal everything they had. Protestants believed that they were better than everyone and they should decide the guidelines people are to follow. For instance, in the 1840’s, daily lessons from the King James Bible were required by law in Philladelphia, called the “Bible law.” Catholics were tremendously upset because they used a Christian version of the bible that was prohibited in Philadelphia. Irish immigrants in the Philly area were poor and hadn’t yet established strong political influence, therefore they had little say. Though a Catholic bishop petitioned the school board to allow Catholic students to read the Christian bible, which was granted, religious tention was forming. The Protestants, claimed the “rising tide of immigrants threatened the long-standing political, economic, social and religious institutions of “native Americans”(Carnes 42.) The rivalry between the Protestants and Catholics became dreadfully violent, both sides started protesting one another that would eventually turn into a vicious skirmish. The Protestants were fed up with the Catholics and wanted them out of “their land” and their way of sending that message was to burn down the Philadelphia convent. The Protestants weren’t willing to hand over their political and economic power.

Even though it has been over a century since these specific events have occurred, religious discrimination still occurs today. Hopefully, people can learn from these terrible events of anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism. Both of these discrimination movements were a fight over political and economic power; neither of which had anything to do with religion.