Abstract:
This thesis describes a gendered conflict between missionaries at the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) station in Chuuk, Micronesia from 1884
to 1899. A thorough investigation of the missionaries’ correspondence illustrates that
conflict over the place of women in American Christianity played out internationally as
well as domestically. This thesis supports an extant body of literature regarding the
fragility of American masculinity at the beginning of the twentieth century, and shows
how a fractured Christian community aligned based on material offerings. The thesis
seeks to illustrate that the conflict in American religious circles to determine the place of
women played out internationally as well as domestically. In this context, a fractured
Christian community aligned based on material offerings. This dispute in Chuuk also
serves to highlight the limits of ABCFM authority.
