Religious Tolerance Dbq

In the 1700s the extent of religion was not very vast and many people were prosecuted for their religious beliefs, however there were colonies that allowed people to have their own beliefs and this helped pave the way for religious freedoms in the colonies.

The New England colonists, except for Rhode Island, were predominantly Puritans who practiced very strict religious lives. The civil government in these colonies dealt quite harshly with those who dared to disagree with the Puritan church. People were being exiled for speaking out against Puritanism. They whipped baptists. They cropped, or cut off, the ears of Quakers. They even went as far as to hang Quaker missionaries. They did all of this in an order to proselytize and convert people to be Puritan.

The Maryland Toleration Act was repealed with the assistance of Protestant assemblymen and a new law barring Catholics from openly practicing their religion was passed. The animosity between Protestants and Catholics in the United States of America, also called ‘American Anti-Catholicism’, resulted from the English Reformation. British colonists were determined to establish a truly reformed church in the

Maryland was founded in 1634 and was the first proprietary colony, given by the king to Sir George Calvert, a prominent Englishman, for creation of a Catholic haven. Eventually, growth of Protestants meant Catholics became a minority; Catholics feared loss of religious freedom leading to the adoption of the Act of Toleration in 1649, guaranteeing tolerance to all Christians. Catholics sought to protect their faith by granting a certain degree of religious freedom with Maryland becoming the largest haven for Catholics in the British American colonies. After England’s “Glorious Revolution” of 1688, which established the Protestant faith in England, Catholicism was outlawed in Maryland until after the Revolutionary War. The Puritan government

The Peace of Augsburg and Martin Luther were very important in the shift of Europe after the Reformation.

In 1649, The Maryland legislature adopted this law known as ‘‘An Act Concerning Religion.’’ The Maryland Toleration Act is considered as the beginning of religious freedom in America. This law granted freedom of conscience to all Christians, it law was designed to protect Christians in the Maryland colony. The Maryland Toleration Act said that “no person or persons whatsoever within this Province, professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth be any ways troubled, Molested or discountenanced for or in respect of his or her religion nor in the free exercise thereof.’’ At the time, Catholics faced severe persecution in England. This law would show that the Catholics and Protestants could live in harmony unknown in Europe. Thus,

The original settlers of America practiced Puritanism. Tocqueville considers Puritanism itself almost a form of politics. The Puritans founded the land based mostly on intellectual prowess over aristocracy. They were seeking shelter due to religious conflict in their motherland. The Puritans were of a mind to preserve their genetic culture, but as society progressed, the discontent with the English monarchal government festered. In fact, England was the driving force behind American democracy which really began with Puritan democracy. Puritan democracy was based on a sense of morality, but the downside was the religious intolerance that they founded their settlements on. The idea of a dissenter was distasteful and the Puritans had no problem fining or even executing anyone they thought were breaking their religious code, which for a settlement founded on freedom of religion and freedom itself, contradicts the ideals of both.

It reflected the framers’ desire to ensure that the religious persecution suffered under British rule would not be tolerated in this new government. Puritans limited Protestants’ religious freedom in Massachusetts (1684), so King James II temporarily revoked their royal charter. This is an early example of belief in religious freedom. Forrest Church, author of The Separation of Church and State, asserts that religious liberty was mostly due to two things; Enlightenment values and “Christian imperatives.” Christian imperatives were a set of goals that were supposed to guide your life. The Enlightenment values were a set of shared principles instead of a religious-type belief system. Many important people of the time believed in the Enlightenment values including John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James

Catholicism was not widely practiced in England and members of the Roman Catholic Church were frequently persecuted. Quakers, members of another religion, believed in the equality of all people and that the source of all religious authority was a person’s soul. They, similarly, were persecuted in England for their beliefs, and took refuge in the freedom of the New World. In the colonies, many Christian denominations reigned, and the Act of Toleration allowed all Christians to practice their religion freely so long as they do not denounce the divinity of Jesus. In England, religious freedom was unheard of and persecution was common, but in the colonies, the settlers rid themselves of most religious

Religious toleration declared one Virginia patriot, was part of “the common cause of Freedom.” There’s already seen that some colonies, for example like Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, had long made a practice of toleration. But for freedom of worship before revolution past more from the reality of religious pluralism than from well-developed theory of religious liberty. The authorities in England had occasionally presses the religion’s rulers to become more toleration, but the revolution most colonies supported religious institutions with public funds and discriminated in voting and office holding against Catholics, Jews, and even dissenting

New England was founded for religious purposes. (Doc. A) The Puritans were seeking religious freedom from England. Puritans believed in “an all-powerful God” and that God would decide their destiny. Their practice consisted of conversion and those who converted were considered saints. Separatists believed that the Church of England would never break free from the Catholic practices, so they formed their own congregation creating the Plymouth Colony. Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower and headed for America from England landing near the Massachusetts Bay. They all signed a document that bound them to abide by decisions made by the majority. This document is known as the Mayflower Compact.

Cromwell soon realized he couldn’t control the country alone, and as more rebellious groups sprung up he decided to create a new parliament. Cromwell tried to pass new laws about religion but his new parliament questioned him. Cromwell didn’t like this so in 1655, he closed his new parliament down too. Cromwell allowed most people to have religious freedom for the first time since 1290. In addition Jews were allowed to live in England. People felt Cromwell’s modern ways were changing the country but they did not mind accepting different religions. However, as Cromwell was a strong puritan, he later banned all Catholic services which he believed was what God wanted him to do. He took out stained glass windows and lavish decorations from the churches and told the priest all services had to be protestant. This created a divide in opinions about Cromwell. Although Protestants were glad they had

The nonconformists had issues with the standardization process. And they protested and stood against the Uniformity Act. This continued until the 1688 Toleration Act, which allowed dissenters to have some level of freedom of worship. This is how the nonconformist movement was born and became a part of the English society. Since the movement was born out of the rebellion and need to challenge the Church of England, it continued to demand alternative approaches to spreading religion and carrying out activities to promote the best interests of the society and the community including poor people who were treated as serfs. This allowed Christianity

Every person is born with a moral compass, the knowledge of right and wrong. As we grow and experience life, we get to choose what we believe is right and wrong. This becomes the foundation of your life; it’s why we do what we do. And as every person grows up and discovers his or her own principles, it’s easy to meet a person with different values, especially as Christians.

In the search for higher consciousness, one must allow for a higher power, though, not, necessarily, a god. Therefore, within in that allowance, as a person transcends, tolerance is a characteristic that, undoubtedly, will be developing along with other positive attributes. Philosophically, moral ethics is a term that partly defines the person who is developing a tolerant personality toward other fellow homo-sapiens and all other connections that are a part of the search for transcendence..