religion in the colonies

Religion in the 17th century was extremely important in the English colonies. Majority of the colonies were Protestants when England first settled in North America. When Maryland was found in 1634, it was known as a safe haven for Catholics who lost the England Civil War; however, within 15 years, Catholics were outnumbered by Protestants. In 1649, Maryland created the Act of Toleration which provided religious freedom for all Christians (Document A). Unlike Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island allowed complete religious freedom for all. Religion affected the society of English colonies by creating new churches such as the Presbyterian and Baptist churches.

     By 1763, although some colonies still maintained established churches, other colonies had accomplished a virtual revolution for religious toleration and separation of church and state. The Anglican Church was the only established denomination in England. In contrast, the colonies supported a great variety of churches.

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

The New England colonies developed rapidly, largely due to the influence of the Puritans. The Puritans came to the new world seeking religious freedom and helped found most of the colonies in the New England region. The Puritans wanted a United government that will later become the basis for the Unites States, they believed that the overall well being of the people was more important than the well being of the few, and the Puritans believed that religion, church, and community were important aspects of the people’s lives. The Puritans’ religion allowed them to prosper in the political, economical, and social development of the New England Colonies in the 1630-1660’s.

In the 1630's and the 1640's, the Puritans traveled to the colonies to detach from their opinion of a convoluted Church of England. They set up towns and started new lives that were all based on their idea of a pure religion. The Puritan's definition of a pure religion did not include many of the ideas of the Church of England. They built the colonies and made a system based upon the idea that God was the most important aspect of life. Puritan ideas and values influenced the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660’s by spreading their beliefs into every facet of daily life. Politically their ideas regarding what was considered sinful behavior and how power was separated among the

The New England colonies consisted of puritans who wanted to purify the church because the Church in England was corrupt. They wanted a place where they could worship freely and work together to

Religion has shaped the colonial society in many ways because one of the reasons to leave England was religious persecution. The New England colonies overall are more strict in their religious practices, like the Puritan Massachusetts Bay, but there is some tolerance in places like Rhode Island. The Chesapeake region is less influenced by religion but they do have the Catholic Maryland. Although the Chesapeake colonies were founded for economic reasons, the New England colonies had a society more based off of religion through government, schooling and families. Therefore, the New England region was more heavily influenced by religion in society.

Although all colonies had religion play some sort of role in their daily lives, the importance of religion differed greatly among the regions. Since Puritans helped establish many of the New England colonies, it is no surprise that the majority of the New England colonists were Puritan. Religion was a major part of daily life, with many attending church and having their children baptized. Religion varied greatly in the Middle colonies. For example, in New Jersey, many different religions from many different European nations were able to coexist, while the Quakers dominated Pennsylvania, both in culture and in government. In the Southern colonies, religion did not seem to be of high importance to the colonists, as farming was of utmost importance to the Southern colonists. However, many were Catholic. In fact, Maryland was founded in order to provide a refuge for persecuted

All the British colonies allowed the practice of many religions, but there were some colonies that only allowed it to a certain extent. An example would be Massachusetts, who allowed religious freedom, but only to the Puritans. They did not allow others to practice any other religion, and if they did, they were prosecuted. Rhode Island and Pennsylvania were the only two colonies that allowed religious freedom to the fullest extent. They believed people should be able to practice their own religion. The New England Colonies, except for Rhode Island, were all strict of religious freedom. The Middle Colonies and the Southern Colonies had a mix of religions from Jews, Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Anglicans, and others.

The colonists of Virginia were instructed to worship in the Church of England. They created the House of Burgesses, which was the first legislative assembly of representatives in North America. The colony of Maryland was established as a refuge for Catholics. The people of the New England region were Puritans. Puritans were people who wanted to “purify” the Church of England. The Puritans came over from England to flee from economic problems and religious persecution. They were people who followed strict rules and they learned from reading the Bible. The Puritans developed a form of theocracy for their government. They believed that the church was to follow the beliefs of the Puritans, that the church and the government should operate as

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

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.

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.

As the Protestant Reformation lead to oppression of outside opinions and beliefs, many peoples took this opportunity to start anew in colonial America. However, each region adopted a slightly different religion. For example, New England became a stable platform for Protestants. As the Church of England underwent radical changes, some Englishmen opposed these changes due to their striking similarities to Catholicism, and therefore sought a new religion, Protestantism (Foner p.64). In order to avoid oppression and discrimination of their new religion in England, many fled to America in hopes of seeking religious tolerance. Some settled in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. Protestantism preached about the importance of sermons, equality, and even adopted John Calvin’s idea of pre-determined salvation (Foner p. 65). Winthrop and the first settlers of Massachusetts set up a Commission in which Puritan beliefs governed society. For example,

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.