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What Was The Impact Of Religion In America

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Religion in America
Religion had both positive and negative impact on the lives of Americans before the Civil war. It influenced the morals, rules and regulations of the colonies. Most of the colonies were established based on Christian beliefs and values. There was great religious diversity; Massachusetts was populated with pilgrims and puritans, the Quakers in Pennsylvania and Catholics in Maryland. Each colony believed in their faith and expected everyone to follow their religion. Puritans believed that they had been ordained by God to create a puritan society and did not believe in religious tolerance. The Catholics on the other hand dominated Maryland and the Quakers dominated Pennsylvania. Catholics and Protestants did not approve of each other religion. These divisions resulted in the persecutions of those who had different beliefs causing settlement of different groups in different colonies, hence the establishment of different states in America.
As a result of the establishment of the …show more content…

The scriptures promoted patriarchy in society. The bible did not have any influential women. This influenced the lack of power among women in colonial period. Women were not allowed to have an opinion in societal matters. Anne Hutchinson for example was banned from the puritan society for expressing her religious views. Religion was a force of control and authority. Individuals did not have the freedom to live their lives freely without interference of the church and its leaders. Religion influenced how marriages and families were formed which were all male dominated. Religion resulted in formation of strict laws and those who did not abide to the laws were persecuted. People were forced to believe that if they did not follow the ways of God, then they would be punished. Religion resulted in American wars, different groups had different beliefs and therefore they went to war to protect their

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