Francois Hutteau's great search for Liberty
Hello my French brothers and sisters! Dark times have befallen our precious land, and pure chaos has ensued. I write to the people in France in hopes of establishing a new land. A land that can be looked upon proudly with eyes of great virtue. In order to achieve our wildest dreams we must sort through the rubbish that has landed us here in the first place. How will we as a society react to the many things that have been dealt to the people of France? Perhaps our great fight ends in bloodshed, and broken promises. Or perhaps we could take heed of the laws and policies our fellow Europeans across the Sea. I had the pleasure of visiting one of the cities in America that the citizens take so much pride in: Boston, Massachusetts. A port town on the North-Eastern coast that was a large part of the American Revolution. It was also home to the Notorious Boston Massacre. There are a number of things that I enjoyed about my trip, but pointing out the differences between Boston and France had to be the most delectable part of my trip. The way in which they practice religion is something to behold. Their new Constitution is also no laughing matter, and lastly the many things Americans find fun is mesmerizing, and also repulsive. America is a tremendous place and I cannot wait to guide you through my journey and inferences.
The first voyage I made when I got off the boat was directly towards a church. I decided to visit the Old North Church and as I approached I noticed that the brick work seemed to glisten in the sun, and the white interior reminded me of how pure the world can really be. The church practiced Protestantism, and started soon after the War.[1] I admired the way in which the citizens praised God, but I did happen to notice that their practices were rather different from my own. After talking to some of the Americans most had either commented on my accent or expressed their condolences to the revolution. I also asked them about how they worship and how they choose to worship. Many of these American citizens were free to choose what they wanted to worship. Most did say that they would be judged for their religious decisions, but were never forced into doing
Many religious peoples were being persecuted, and they were looking for a new place to put down their roots. Others fled the poverty of Europe to search for a better life in the Americas. No matter their reasons for leaving, people of all different backgrounds, origins, and religions came to the New World bringing with them their social and cultural traditions. The New World created a unique opportunity for people who used to be adversaries to come and coexist with the hope of a better future just as the Huguenots and English Catholics did. Seventeenth and Eighteenth century America was already showing signs of becoming what they would later be known as “the Great American Melting Pot”. Cultures from all over merged together, creating a uniquely American culture- taking influences from all the different colonists that settled there. There was no longer the Quakers, the Germans, or the Huguenots, they were all just American, and that’s what drew people to the New
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 British, after many years of religious revolution had established the Anglican Church. In which the king of England was the head of this church. This resulted in almost no
← Doyle, William. The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. 2001
Smaller gatherings of Dutch Mennonites, Jews, and German Baptists joined larger congregations of Quakers, Anglicans, Dutch Reforms, Lutherans, and Presbyterians to create a uniquely diverse religious society. Not as cohesive as the New England colonies, the colonists in this region were not united by a single religion or code of beliefs, demonstrating that one ultimate religion should not stand above the rest. Some of the aspects that aided in the religious revolution that occurred in the Mid-Atlantic colonies was New York’s allowance for the establishment of churches, relying on money from taxes to support themselves financially, and the leadership of Quakers, whose religious tolerance encouraged other parishioners to stand up for their own views. Overtime, these mixing of beliefs blurred the religious differences and paved the way for a greater acceptance of variance, staging the world’s most complex experience with spiritual
Hey Diana, I am writing this letter today with hopes to inform you about a religions course I am taking. I know you are a history guy so I thought it would be interesting to write about the religious history of America. The United States happens to be one of very few major nations in history to be founded and established on principles of separation of church and state. This book I am reading, “The Religious History of America”, by Edwin Gaustad and Leigh Schmidt, gives a great overview of the different strand of religious development in the United States. They are divided into four fundamental time periods: the Colonial times; the Revolutionary War to the Civil War; Post Civil War to
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 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
It wasn’t long after that people started to see America as the place that the new or second salvation of the lord was to be found. It was believed “that the beginning of this great work of God must be near.”5 All these things that were happening to the colonist, changes of ideals, actions, and revival of religion, could only be explained by the work of God, because “God presently goes about doing some great thing in order to make way for the introduction of the church’s latter-day glory.”6
America’s Revolution gave birth to real applications of Enlightenment ideals, and in doing so spurred movements of independence and democracy around the world during the same time period and into the future. “Three major events of the American Revolution had great influence on Europe: Signing the Declaration of Independence, Implementing the ideas of Enlightenment, Forming the U.S constitution” (ADD SOURCE). In the years following the American Revolution, France fell into their own revolution, which Thomas Jefferson said “[The French Revolution] has been awakened by our [American] revolution” (Strayer 784). On the dawning of the French Revolution, a Paris newspaper announced that the United States was “the hope and model of the human race” (Dunn). Because the French were our allies in our revolution against Britain, many of their leaders had a very intimate experience with our ideals of freedom and political representation. They brought back the ideas they heard and witnessed and used them to shape their own revolution against King Louis XVI, and they were the most important parts of the revolution the French people built. “The French
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.
Religion was a very important part of everyday life in colonial America. Sometimes people were not allowed to question what they were taught, and if they did so they were punished accordingly. Before 1700 some colonies had more religious freedom then others. While others colonies only allowed religious freedom to a select group, others allowed religious freedom to all different kinds of religions. In the overall there was quite a bit of religious freedom in colonial America
Just about any country that one can name has some history of civil unrest, class issues, rioting in the streets, and outright warfare. These patterns of behavior are common denominators for most civilization in the world. The names, faces, and places may change, but the motivations are generally the same, because of the need for change and the willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve it. In contrast to the United States, which was in the process of freeing itself from British colonial rule, France was working to free itself from royal absolutism. This period is historically known as the French Revolution. Many scholars do not agree on the chronology of the French Revolution; some scholars suggest that the Revolution took place between 1789 to 1799 while others feel that it did not end until Napoleon lost power in 1815. To better understand the history of the French Revolution it is necessary to discuss the causes, major events, significant figures, and the outcomes associated with these political developments. Without this uprising, that changed the face of the entire country and influenced local political life in many countries in Europe, in all likelihood the France we know today would never have existed.
Before the First Great Awakening, a revolution known as the Glorious Revolution of 1688, stopped the fighting between religious and political groups. The Glorious Revolution declared the Church of England the reigning church of the country. Now that all of the colonists were under the same religious rule, religion became a past time or a “go through the motions”
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
I am sorry for all who thought to support me in my original post here this morning but after some liberation I am going to revise the content. Instead of spreading discontent as well as the current circumstances in Paris, French. This is not about the American gun control debate, although one could almost make a good argument about the original intent of the 2nd amendment which describes the need for a well-regulated militia to defend a free and democratic sociality from hostile and destructive elements. Instead of friendly groups argue about petty and trivial matters that relate to religion I rather see people come together and use that same spirituality to condemn the radicalization that obviously is spreading throughout the European cities,