The American Indian as Participant in the Civil War
THE AMERICAN INDIAN AS PARTICIPANT IN THE CIVIL WAR BY ANNIE HELOISE ABEL, Ph.D. _Professor of History, Smith College_ 1919 To My former colleagues and students at Goucher College and in the College Courses for Teachers, Johns Hopkins University this book is affectionately dedicated CONTENTS I THE BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE, OR ELKHORN AND ITS MORE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS 13
Moses Mendelssohn said that, when in the company of a Christian friend,
he never felt the remotest desire to convert him to Judaism. This is the
explanation of the effect on the Jews of the combined belief in God as
the God of Israel, and also as the God of all men. At one time Judaism
was certainly a missionary religion. But after the loss of nationality
this quality was practically dormant. Belief was not necessary to
salvation. 'The pious of all nations have a part in the world to come'
may have been but a casual utterance of an ancient Rabbi, but it rose
into a settled conviction of later Judaism. Moreover, it was dangerous
for Jews to attempt any religious propaganda in the Middle Ages, and
thus the pressure of fact came to the support of theory. Mendelssohn
even held that the same religion was not necessarily good for all,
just as the same form of government may not fit equally all the various
national idiosyncrasies. Judaism for the Jew may almost be claimed as
a principle of orthodox Judaism. It says to the outsider: You may come
in if you will, but we warn you what it means. At all events it does
not seek to attract. It is not strange that this attitude has led to
unpopularity. The reason of this resentment is not that men wish to be
invited to join Judaism; it lies rather in the sense that the absence
of invitation implies an arrogant reserve. To some extent this is the
case. The old-fashioned Jew is inclined to think himself superior to
other men. Such a thought has its pathos.
On the other hand, the national as contrasted with the universal aspect
of Judaism is on the wane. Many Jewish liturgies have, for instance,
THE AMERICAN INDIAN AS PARTICIPANT IN THE CIVIL WAR BY ANNIE HELOISE ABEL, Ph.D. _Professor of History, Smith College_ 1919 To My former colleagues and students at Goucher College and in the College Courses for Teachers, Johns Hopkins University this book is affectionately dedicated CONTENTS I THE BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE, OR ELKHORN AND ITS MORE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS 13