How Did Religion Influence English Colonization

Colonial America was a time of great change and discovery. The era was a time of conflict between people’s secular desires as innovation boomed and their spiritual growth as they discovered more about God and explored new religious ideas. In his essay, Worlds of Wonder in the Northern Colonies, David D. Hall accurately argues that despite the secular advances of the Colonial Era, religion was undoubtedly the most prevalent area of Americans’ focus because the power of God was being manifested into their lives in so many irrefutable ways.

Patricia Bonomi’s Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America was not only well written, but also a very interesting read. She kept the writing style easy to comprehend, but not excessively simple while keeping a good grasp on the subject at hand. Bonomi gives us her view on not only religious argumentation, but also the religious events that kindled the flames of the American Revolution. She discredits the past historiography of the eighteenth century, in which there was a theorized religious decline, placing a rationalist century between the seventeenth century ruled by Puritans and the eighteenth century that revolved around Revivalists, which wouldn’t make sense. While Bonomi relies on many local studies

Butler, J. (2007). . In New Worl Faiths: Religion in Colonial America. [ebrary book]. Retrieved from http://lrps>wgu.edu/provision/17908228

Today’s world portrays countries that each have distinct characteristics religiously as well as economically. In the British colonies before 1700, the colonies could be dispersed into two distinct regions, the Chesapeake colonies, and New England colonies. Both areas varied in religion and economy, and thrived in different ways. For the New England colonies, the offering of religious freedom and an end to persecution in England caused many Puritans to sail to New England. However, the main motivation for people going to the Chesapeake colonies was to get rich fast, as well as other economic goals. All in all, the distinct traits of different regions of the continental British colonies caused the creation of two very distinct territories.

What role did religious intolerance play in the founding of New England colonies other than Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay and in the founding of some

The Protestant Reformation made some really big impacts on the settlement of the New World and the Western Hemisphere. One factor that helped push the settlement of the New World was all of the religious conflicts going on at that time. The Reformation was mainly focused on reforming the Catholic Church. Before the Reformation Catholicism was the most widespread and accepted religion in Europe. Martin Luther was a Catholic church that saw the corruption of the church He gained many followers of the Protestant movement simply by posting his 95-theses on the door of a church. In his 95-theses he spoke of how he thought it was wrong that people’s sins could be hidden or bought off of God with money. He believed that everyone should be allowed

It affected them geographically, by sparking an interest into getting rich, and it also threw light on the idea of trade routes/ trading, which gave people the reality of “ striking rich”. The colonists were also affected economically. Once the colonists were introduced to mercantilism. Soon, Merchants believed that the world's wealth was finite and that one nation could only grow rich at the expense of another. The merchants practiced this by extracting and importing wealth from foreign lands while exporting little wealth from home. Much of the growth of the American colonies came from religious groups. There were many problems between catholics and protestants, such as when Lord Baltimore ( business owner) adopted a policy of religious

The differences in political ideologies also kept the Anglo-American debate on the move. The British officials and the American Loyalists never quite understood why the colonial Americans valued the presence of a strong moral component in both public and private affairs. It is difficult to trace back the American outlook on a highly religious civil government.

The era from 1450 CE to 1900 CE encompasses two periods in history. The early modern period between 1450 and 1750 CE is characterized by the age of commercial revolution and the beginning of European dominance. The second period between 1750 and 1900 CE represents an era of Atlantic and Industrial Revolutions as well as the Age of Imperialism. During both these periods, British domination based on sea trade, colonization, and major land-based empires in Asia impacted long-distance trade and shaped economic conditions in North America and China.

Within the colony of Massachusetts, religion played an important role in shaping the community’s people and interests. The reason for the Puritans move to North America was to escape the convictions the Christians of England were placing on them (Divine, 89). Winthrop and his followers believed that in this new land they must create a place where they could come together as a people and build the perfect religious society (Divine, 90). In a speech about his vision for the land, John Winthrop said, “We must delight in each

Religions in the American colonies have always occupied an important position. For example, Puritans are holding a dominant position in New England area, especially in Massachusetts Bay Colony. In addition, in the 17th century, the government controlled almost everything. According to the article, “Puritan ministers were compelled—upon pain of imprisonment—to wear the surplice and use the Book of Common Prayer, and their congregants were compelled to participate in what they regarded as rote

In the seventeenth century, religious persecution ran rampant throughout Europe. In attempt to escape the oppression, many fled to less critical countries and territories. One of the popular refuges was colonial America. Settling in the north, these religious refugees made up a majority in the New England population, endeavoring to use it to form their Ideal society. They could use the new land to implement a new civilization reflective of their beliefs.

As a small island country with a strong sense of superiority to natives, Britain focused more on establishing permanent settlements for its booming population rather than religious conversion of natives or diplomacy in its colonization of the New World. This bled into the American ideals of western expansion and disregard for those who stand in their way.

Economically, a large amount of money was spent on building new churches and financial aid was given to ministers. Massachusetts was the first colony to tax residents to support the Congressionalist Church. Also, during the Great Awakening, churches were making attempts to return those individuals who roamed away from the church. The Great Awakening was a revival caused by Jonathon Edwards during the enlightenment time period. The purpose of this revival was to inspire communities to become more religiously involved as pastors were feeling distant from god because of the lack of interest in religion at the time. The Great Awakening undermined the Old Clergy and increased both the number and competiveness of churches. Thousands of books were published and sold to bring the churches profit and therefore allowed more money to aid in the churches construction. Socially, religion brought people together. People of the same religion often worked better together which resulted in a stronger and closer community. Schools were developed for children to learn to read the bible and to teach young men leadership. In the New England region, dominance was shown with an impressive number of graduates, greatly excelling the southern colonies. Religion was so vital to these early colonists that it greatly affected social development, schooling, and even various basic rights we take for granted today. In Colonial America, one must have been a member

     Religion was a very important part of everyday life in colonial America. Sometimes people were not allowed to question what they were taught, and if they did so they were punished accordingly. Before 1700 some colonies had more religious freedom then others. While others colonies only allowed religious freedom to a select group, others allowed religious freedom to all different kinds of religions. In the overall there was quite a bit of religious freedom in colonial America