Early American Church Influence

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 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.

Absence of Bishops and scattered population prevented the church to have centralized control over the colonies

One of the major causes for emigration from England to North America was religious persecution. Religious tolerance in Britain for other Christian sects besides the Anglican church was virtually nonexistent, resulting in many members of other sects to seek religious haven in the colonies. The vast majority of immigrants coming to New England were followers of

     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

Most colonies had established churches, congregationalism was the official state church for Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. Before the Great Awakening, colonial Americans had no expectation that there should be any separation from church and state. The Great Awakening got the British of North America ready for a completely different ideology and society. The Church of England lost members, most of them were normal people who owned a little property to no property. By the 1840s, the church by the name of Methodist Episcopal was the largest branch in the country.

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.

From 1689 to 1754, new societies in North America required diversity in religion, laws restricting slaves, and class structure. The Glorious Revolution in England shifted power in the English colonies. Catholics were excluded from the freedom given to Protestants by the royal charters. Catholics were also removed from public office and lost power while Protestants gained rights when the Anglican Church eventually became Maryland’s official church. Previously, Protestant men were unable to vote and excluded from voting lists and now they had the rights to vote and be a part of the religious group. “Baptists, Anglicans, and others were now free to build their own church and worship as they wished.” (Fraser 96)

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

England’s American empire was founded partially on greed, along with pursuit of various religious sects for different branches of Christianity, which led to different colonies becoming dominated by varied religious beliefs (i.e. Rhode Island

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

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.

In early American history, North American colonies were very strict with the religion of Christianity.

Colonies of colonial America had different views when it came to religion, but they all had one thing in common. All of the colonies had to some extent,

     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.