The Church Of New France

Colonial women in the mid-1600s were very limited in religious activities. They were expected to remain compliant and not allowed to speak out in church. (pg. 96). As time progressed, women were afford more rights in this regard. They eventually outnumbered men in the church. They used this platform to promote their beliefs and “influence morals (pg. 96).”

The role of religion in the colonies of New England and the Spanish were incredibly different. Both the Spanish that fled and the New England colonists that fled from England fled from the church, but the English that fled wanted to change the Church completely and the Spaniards were fleeing from the religious conflict between the Catholics and the Muslims. In the New England colonies, the colonists had Anglican beliefs. The colonists were split into mainly two groups, the Separatists and the Puritans. The Separatists wanted to split from the Roman Catholic Church (Anglican

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

New England’s motive to settle there was for freedom of religion due to being in England if they worshiped other religions not been the Church of England, consequences would be imprisonment, fees, discrimination, and even execution. They had two main religious established, Pilgrims and Puritans, been two different religions. Pilgrims were the first permanent settlers on New England.1

Religion helped define boarders and gave people an identity thought the North American colonies. From New England to The South, colonist tolerance for others shaped the development of not only government polices but also social and economic movements as well. Although the colonies went through rapid growth and development, Protestantism still dominated the region.

Most colonists that came in the early 1600’s were Christians, a religion that has very specific rules and rigid regulations that must be followed to be a “saved” person destined for a paradisiacal after life. Within these restrictions were the directions to “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). It seems clear that from the first the Christian religion was telling the colonists to “help” the natives by making them conform to the culture of the colonists and destroying their own. This was always done with a sense of Native American natural inferiority. In most cases, the Native Americans were not told the entire nature of their conversion. A Jesuit described the tactics used in converting Native Americans, “The outward splendor with which we endeavor to surround the Ceremonies of the Church…with a magnificence surpassing anything that the eyes of our savages have ever beheld – all these things produce an impression on their minds” (Le pays reneverse by denys delage 168). For those truly religious souls, coming to the New World meant a chance to bring salvation and Christianity to new

The Spanish and the New England Colonies from 1492 to 1700 were considerably different in the role religion had on the colony. The two colonies were similar in the fact that both were started on Catholic religious principles that converted the Native Americans in the area. Even though both were started on Catholic religion, the role that the church took on was much different in the separate colonies. In Spanish colonies, the Friars were sent by the Roman Catholic Church to convert Native Americans to Catholicism no matter if it was wanted or not and used Missions as places where Friars would send Natives for hard labor. Here the enslaved natives lived about 12 years due to the harsh conditions. In the New England colony of Massachusetts, there were Praying Towns used for when natives decided to convert, not by force but by free will. This difference in the role of religion is because with Spain, the Roman Catholic Church went hand and hand with the government to control what happened with the colony, but with Massachusetts, the people of the colony set the religion and government guidelines for their colony. Furthermore, the Puritans believed themselves to be pure, and as John Winthrop put it in his City Upon a Hill sermon, he wanted Massachusetts to be where all other Christians around the world could

During the mid-1500’s when Queen Elizabeth I was ruling there was a power struggle over the England as to what religion was going to be recognized nationally (Schultz, 2009). While England’s foundation was Catholicism, there had been a large-scale transition to Protestant style beliefs, including Queen Elizabeth I. Furthermore, with Spain still staunchly Catholic the upheaval in England was a chance for them to attempt a political coup in the name of religious fervor which ultimately failed. Consequently, after this attempt at a coup, the Queen realizing Spain’s attempt to colonize the New World tasked Sir Walter Raleigh to also start English colonies in the New World. Additionally, one reason for this was the fact that Queen Elizabeth I did not want the Spanish to convert the natives of the New World to Catholicism, and instead chose to attempt the advancement of Protestantism among other reasons (Schultz, 2009).

Throughout history, a variety of religions have came and gone due to dislike and uncomfort. Before 1492, a majority of Europe was a part of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church controlled every aspect of a human’s life, for example: education, social status, and family matters. In 1517, Martin Luther had created the Protestant Reformation, which limited the power of the Catholic Church. Europe was now religiously divided, which created a larger diversity of religion to the colonies. Reasons such as Henry VIII decisions with the Catholic Church, English immigrants, and religious groups affected the relationship between religion and the colonies.

The start-up of the New England colonies were religious, as they were making a pilgrimage from England as the only acceptable religion in England at the time was Anglicanism and most of these settlers were English puritans. Even though they left England for religious reasons, most of the New England settlers would only allow religions closest to their own, in order to settle with them. There weren’t any specific groups yet, knowing the fact that most people in New England were poor until the 1700’s.

It is a fairly well known fact that the colonization of the New World in general, and more specifically, what would become eventually become the United States of America, was heavily based upon commercial endeavors. However, it was also heavily influenced by the desire of people to possess and preserve religious independence. Placing the potential for commercial success aside and focusing on the religious aspects of colonization, the proliferation of various religions over the course of colonial history is quite extensive and, by proxy, its’ influence upon developing colonial societies was far-reaching. Because of the historical significance of many different religions throughout the colonies, it would also suggest that religious diversity was likely equally impactful in eliciting change. All of this leads this author to speculate about how much influence religion had upon colonial upheaval over time and whether or not the ensuing dissent was a major factor in the lead up to The French and Indian War and eventual revolution of the American colonies. To uncover the significance and role religion played in the American colonies, a number of different articles were reviewed, each representing different perspectives, points of view, and empirical evidence about religion in colonial America.

British colonies began with less interest in natives altogether than their European rivals. The British preferred to focus on their own settlements and goals without regard for the natives that had lived on their land before them. There was a centralized focus on establishing a permanent settlement; therefore, the British, like the Dutch, did not attempt to convert many natives to Christianity as it was a lesser concern. From the very start of Spanish and French colonization, one could see that religious conversion is a pressing goal for both empires, beginning with Columbus’s initial assessment of the natives’ ability to be converted to Christianity. Columbus wrote, “...in order that they may conceive affection, and furthermore be made Christian; for they are inclined to the love and service of their Highnesses...” (Columbus 6). He emphasizes that they are easily convertible and that they already hold affection for the Spanish. This is similar to the French colonization method in theory but not in practice. Both France and Spain had large mission systems, France through close-proximity Jesuit missions and Spain through

Religion had a big impact in shaping what America is today. Religion still has a big role in modern American society, even with the emergence of Scientific belief systems which would have been condemned in colonial America. Religion has the capability of shaping its follower’s entire lives, countless people lived and died to preserve their spot in the afterlife. One of the key reasons many chose to immigrate to America was for freedom of religion. Religion is the belief of something beyond what is scientifically proven. Many different religious sects moved to America for various reasons. In this essay, we will examine some of the major religious groups of Colonial America and their effect on shaping America.

First, I think that the colonists’ religion had to do with the Salem Witch trials. In the 1690s, the people who immigrated into Salem were all puritans. They had only reason they had all moved to Salem was to practice Christianity in a purer way because the puritans did not agree with how it was practiced in England. As you can see, these people took religion very seriously and made sure everything was done as a pope or the Bible said. When they first started hearing about all of the rumors about witches in their

When the French came to the New World, they went further up north to Canada rather than staying in the south like the Spanish. When they found the natives, they were friendly with the natives and respected them. The French learned the natives’ language, and taught the natives their language. The French showed the natives their religion, and a good deal of the natives converted to Christianity. Considering that most of the French were men that travelled to the New World, they would marry the newly Christian women, and have families with them. The natives also helped the French with their fur trading business, showing them where to go to obtain the fur. The French people were the most accepting of the natives and their cultures than the other countries that travelled to the new world.