What Role Did Religion Play In The Founding Of The United States

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 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.

When the constitution was drafted during the enlightenment period almost everybody was religious. Religion taught people how to live their lives, what views to hold, and how to treat others. It would be only natural for this to influence the constitution as it influenced the founding fathers who wrote it. In my view religion in the enlightenment era greatly influenced the ideals expressed in the writing of the constitution. While not everybody was religious during that period most were as it was considered “socially acceptable”. The founding fathers were held in the public eye therefore they would have at least had to appear religious.

1647 to 1776 was a time of growth in America, during this time colonist emigrated from Europe to America for several reasons, such as the hope to find relief from the war and rebellion occupying Europe, the chance to find bigger farms to make money, and most of all the chance to have religious freedom (“The Thirteen American Colonies” n.d.). Religious freedom was a very important part of the colonists’ lives and culture. According to “Religion and the Founding of the American Republic”, between 1700 and 1740, an estimated 75 to 80 percent of the population attended churches, which were being built at a headlong pace.

In Americas history, religion has played a major role in society. In Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural, Lincoln uses religion in an effort to reunite the North and South and to justify slavery and its end. Likewise, in the Declaration of Independence, religion is used to unite the colonies and justify the Declaration to Britain and the American people. The religious beliefs of early America are not respected and are used as common ground to unite the people and legitimize actions.

"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, ' thus building a wall of separation between church and State."5

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.

Religion has been a large part of this country, starting with the very first people to arrive in America, the Pilgrims. Breaking away from the Church of England, the Pilgrims settled in what is now known as Massachusetts in 1620, in order to express religious freedom. They wanted to practice Christian beliefs similar to ones practiced by earlier Christians. Based on the views of the founding people of America, many would claim this as support that America was founded as a Christian nation. Fast forward to the late 1700’s, where both the Declaration of Independence and The United States Constitution had been written. These documents both showed signs of a Christian foundation with multiple references to God. As stated in the Declaration, “[They] hold

The United States was started as thirteen colonies that were originated from settlers who decided that they wanted religious freedom instead of being forced to remain a menial outsider to the large European religions. These territories eventually banded together and via the Treaty of Paris -1873- retained their independence from Europe and were finally recognized by several European countries that had

Within the colonies religion is still major part of daily life. However due to expanding into the more frontier lands several issues aroused such as conflicts of the native peoples and being exposed to new dangers and harsher environment. These issues caused tensions in many communities which allowed cries of witchcraft aroused. Also the common patriarchal family, the women figure was commonly a house wife doing very hard physical work and children bearing responsibilities. Most of the time the women was never defended against when she was experiencing physical, sexual, or verbal abuse , but if she came from a well-respected family she was able to separate from her husband . Also the colonist continued to expand westward into the colonies.

Religion has always had a dramatic effect on any colony, country, or time period. The religion in the early colonial age not only affected the people in that era but affected modern day religion and politics in American society. To begin, religious ideas shaped our land. This is because, when the first explorers came to America, they tried to spread their religious ideas. This affected modern day population and minority numbers in many places. For example, when the Spanish first came to America, they tried to spread their religious ideas among the native people there. The natives didn’t like this and so they fought back. This shaped the major religion and political systems in the parts that the Spaniards explored. Also, some of the first colonies,

The United States was founded by a group of settlers that were tired of living under England’s tyrannical rule. These men decided to create a

Religion helped early settlers become a unified society in early America. People who first immigrated to America really valued the Christian religion. Since the early settlers did not have any set laws or government, Christianity gave early people a guide in the new world. The two set guides that they followed was the Law of Nature and the Law of the gospel. First, the law of the gospel motivated Christians to be different than others. They are different because they did good to everyone in their community and welcomed strangers that had no place to go. A main rule that goes with the law of the gospel was that a real Christian will love his neighbor just as much as himself which is stated in the article “A Model of Christianity”. Governor John Winthrop states “By the first of these laws, man as he was enabled so withal is commanded to love his neighbor as himself.” This proves how

Religion has been around since the discovery of America. Many European immigrants came to America to escape the traditions of the Church of England. The people wanted religious freedom. Most, however, tried to force their religious beliefs on the people who came to settle in their colonies creating a divide. It wasn’t until The Great Awakening, which started in the New England colonies, occurred that people rose up and revolted against the norms of religion and began to worship the way they wanted to. This divisive time period greatly impacted the American colonies by allowing true religious freedom to all the people.

The history of religion in the United States comes a long way dating from the early 1600s when the first pilgrim settlers came to this country. It has been noted that these settlers were highly influenced by the Protestant faith which led to a community level of influence in this country as well. The faith of theses settlers were motivated from the New World of Europe where they practiced their religion in a peaceful environment. Later in history, it was noted that people of Spanish decent started the famous network of the Catholic missions in California. When California became a part of the United States, Catholic churches and institutes were formed. These churches and institutes were also formed in New Orleans and Louisiana.