Methodists in nineteenth-century Ontario and Quebec, like all British subjects, existed as satellites of an influential empire. Transatlantic Methodists uncovers how the Methodist ministry and laity in these colonies, whether they were British, American, or native-born, came to define themselves as transplanted Britons and Wesleyans, in response to their changing, often contentious relationship with the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Britain. Revising the nationalist framework that has dominated much of the scholarship on Methodism in central Canada, Todd Webb argues that a transatlantic perspective is necessary to understand the process of cultural formation among nineteenth-century Methodists. He shows that the Wesleyan Methodists in Britain played a key role in determining the identities of their colonial counterparts through disputes over the meaning of political loyalty, how Methodism should be governed, who should control church finances, and the nature and value of religious revivalism. At the same time, Methodists in Ontario and Quebec threatened to disrupt the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Britain and helped to trigger the largest division in its history. Methodists on both sides of the Atlantic shaped - and were shaped by - the larger British world in which they lived. Drawing on insights from new research in British, Atlantic, and imperial history, Transatlantic Methodists is a comprehensive study of how the nineteenth-century British world operated and of Methodism's place within it.

Todd Webb is assistant professor of history at Laurentian University.

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“Transatlantic Methodists steps across the abyss that separates pre-Confederation and post-Confederation historians, presenting an opportunity to assess the nineteenth century more holistically. It will appeal strongly to those with an interest in British Atlantic history, Atlantic history, and the British Empire.” Robynne Healey, Department of History, Trinity Western University

“Transatlantic Methodists is an important study, the most comprehensive of its kind. Webb draws upon an impressive array of material from both sides of the Atlantic – personal papers, magazines, correspondence, minutes, journals, pamphlets, and published works – and handles it with skill and sophistication.” Gordon Heath, McMaster Divinity College, McMaster University

“Todd Webb’s superbly researched analysis in Transatlantic Methodists adds a great deal to our knowledge. Webb looks at well-established themes in Methodist historiography differently [from earlier works], since he is alive to the trans-Atlantic world that Methodism in Canada was a part of. This excellent book is an update of J.M.S. Careless’ now-classic metropolitan thesis. In fact, Webb has reinvigorated our understanding of the dynamic relationship between metropolis and hinterland by integrating the new historiography of Methodism in Britain and the trans-Atlantic world into his meticulous research into Methodism in Canada.” Canadian Historical Review