The Role Of Religion In Colonial America

The Puritan community of the Massachusetts Bay colony was primarily focused around church and faith. In 1630, a mass exodus of Puritans moved from England to the colonies in an attempt to isolate themselves and focus on their own religion. Puritans believed that they had a covenant with God, meaning they were predestined for heaven.

Although European colonists traveled to colonial New England for a variety of reasons, they embraced Christianity as the primary purpose for their journeys. Furthermore, religion had a profound effect on everyday society and political hierarchies. From enforced morality to Indian conflicts, religion tended to destabilize numerous colonies and even led to unjustifiable atrocities like the Salem Witch Trials. Nevertheless, without a religious influence, the timeline of New World progression and territory would have been suspended indefinitely. Because religion primarily influenced the establishment of the colonies and numerous aspects of politics, it played an integral role in colonial New England society.

Compare the ways in which religion shaped the development of colonial society (to 1740) in TWO of the following regions: New England

or the Anglican Church, which was headed by the king of England. Henry’s actions stimulated

Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of

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.

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.

Once the new world was discovered, it took over a century before England successful began to colonize. When the first town, Jamestown, was established, more towns sprouted up, and eventually colonies were formed along the Atlantic coast. As time went on, these colonies could be grouped by regions. The regions of the New world, though sharing general similarities, had major differences in religion, social organization, economy and ethnic patterns, which set the path for colonial sectionalism at the time.

Religious freedom was a main reason why the colony’s went to the New World. Many places did not have freedom. People wanted be live in whatever religion they wanted, not just in the church of England. Many colonies were founded for religious freedom. Some of the main religious groups were Catholics, Puritans and Puritans. Most of the colonies were founded for religious freedom. In the 1600’s, many of the first and last colonies were founded for religious freedom.

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.

There were many different religious groups in new England, from the north to the south you could find people that believed in many different gods and ways to get to heaven. In the northern colonies they were much stricter on religion. However in the colonies that were there you could still find religious freedom and throughout the rest of New England many people set up colonies with religious freedom. Therefore people could practice whatever religion they wanted and serve whichever god they wanted.

Jaden Ackerman Mrs. Auble APUSH Block 3 August 11, 2015 UNIT ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: 4. Summarize the role of religion in the colonies during the 1600s Religion played a huge roll in the colonies in the 1600s especially since each colony had a different religion. The New England Colonies were primarily puritans and had little tolerance for other religions. The exception was Rhode Island who was religiously open and was founded by a Massachusetts exile named Roger Williams. Roger Williams founded the first Baptist Church in the colonies in Rhode Island.

Early English settlers came to colonial America to escape religious oppression in England, however, one settling in America they enforced their own religious oppression on both natives, and colonials who dared to question their religion. The colonial hierarchy had a very basic pattern, those who followed the religion of the colony had the most power. Those who opposed were given little to no power, and we often forced to either stay silent or leave the community as a whole in search of land in which they were free to express their beliefs. This religious oppression is a common theme with the Puritan community of New England, where Roger Williams was forced to move to providence due to his beliefs, so called “witches” were murdered with little proof of any wrongdoing, and Native Americans were looked at as impure due to their culture. By sustaining a society of religious oppression the Puritans were able to hold a great amount of power in the Northern colonies of America.

Based on the physical evidence found on the tour of Philadelphia, we can draw that colonial Philadelphians valued religion greatly, they had advanced architecture and infrastructure, and they carried out very modest attitudes. Some of the most historical figures came from and benefitted the city of Philadelphia including Benjamin Franklin and Andrew Hamilton.

In the late 1600's and early 1700's, Christianity was alive and well. It helped the early settlers when travelling the three month long voyage to the new world. While dealing with sea illnesses, harsh weather, and damage to the ship, they all still held faith in god. They believed that he was the reason they got through it all. After landing, they had to deal with the natives, and the struggles then. Through it all, their love for god persevered. However, as time went on, people in the colonies started falling off. They stopped believing in the religion.