Introduction
Religion was a central force shaping the making of the Americas. Settlers from the continent's earliest colonies brought vital and varied religious traditions with them. In addition to the diverse rituals, ethics, and beliefs of the several hundred indigenous groups already settled across the region, Africans came to the colonies with a variety of traditional religious practices, shaped by groups that crossed the Atlantic slave trade, and subsequent generations of African Americans experienced Christianity in markedly different ways. The suite of Christianities available to early Americans was likewise diverse. Multiple interacting societies colonized what became the United States, each with complex and changing religious patterns. Life in these colonies was characterized by a web of shifting power imbalances, religious crises, and fluid allegiances. Another synagogue fell into Dutch hands in Curaçao, but Spanish Muslims, trapped in their homeland after warring with England, threatened to follow Qur'anic injunctions against fighting fellow Muslims and the Calvinist Dutch—even against self-defense—so the Muslims were sent to North Africa with substantial aid from Spanish coffers.
In constricted harbors, with growing populations and rising rates of death and illness, many religious groups—Powhatan, Mohegan, Montagnais—began facing large-scale crises of faith. Colonial people had to deal with a wide range of insurgent and sedentary sub-Alpine polities. The religious movements in these native societies shaped and were shaped by the many Christian-era developments on the continent. By the time the Americas became part of the 1600s world-systems made up of nucleated maritime empires, early American societies, in alliance with Eurasian immigrants, Africans, and new leaders, struggled to make sense of the religious pluralism of an interconnected, global order. What do we learn from understanding the interactions among religions taking place in the world the colonists built? Are we, too, citizens of an intercultural world, interconnected since before the nationalizing turn of 1492?
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Religious Diversity in the Colonies
The American colonies buzzed with religious life, as different denominations found room for themselves across the New World. Colonists practiced, from the early moments of colonization, a diverse and pluralistic range of religious traditions. The first English and Dutch settlers brought with them different Protestant sects. Colonial leadership varied as did its population; Catholics established Maryland, the English established Virginia and Massachusetts, and the Russian Orthodox founded Fort Ross in the Alta California territory.
Religious pluralism in the colonies was common, but so too was outright open conflict, such as a war that divided the colonies into two groups opposing Afro-Native American slavery. Still, religion continued to shape society primarily through social and political tension. These were often created by colonists who were easily irritated by religious practices and precepts that did not consider their own. When Catholic Maryland outlawed Puritanism, Massachusetts Puritans were inspired to be even more rigorous, viewing Quakerism as fundamentally antithetical to their society. Tension frequently flared between the Christian denominations—Puritans versus Baptists, for example—as well as between the Christian denominations and Judaism. The Christian denominations were not homogeneous, yet theological sympathies generally superseded. Persecution of dissent was both common practice and a frequent topic of discussion. Puritans in particular gained a reputation for venting intense anger on anyone they determined to be a skeptic or anathema to their theology. Religious leaders could often be found inciting actions such as these. Massachusetts Governor cut the cross out of the English flag in retaliation for the Catholicism of a king.
By the colonies’ time of independence, the concept of religious pluralism was evolving. One colony, because of the leadership of a prominent figure and the legal direction of his brother, legally required that it be the furthest state from “godlessness.” Another colony, influenced by its founders, officially disestablished religion and would vote against a slavery article in a foundational document. A declaration, written in 1778, enshrined the right to religious worship for atheists, even though an atheist could not hold public office until a bill for religious freedom nullified that church-state extant law. These legal events occurred at the end of the eighteenth century, but pluralist values have been with the United States of America since the seventeenth. One colony, quashing witchcraft in 1695, had varying codified rules about whether atheists could swear oaths, but another allowed it freely of religious doubt, or heresy, or anything else.
Religion and the American Revolution
The relationship between belief in God and desire for independence existed throughout the thirteen British colonies. As you read the letters, diaries, and sermons from the years of the American Revolution, you will see how central religion was to the political actions and decisions of the age. The Congregational and Presbyterian clergy were leaders of the protest against Britain. This should not be surprising when we consider that the British king was often the leader of the established church. On the other hand, the Anglican and Lutheran churches often did not support the revolution because they believed it to be against the "divine law." This was because the king was the leader of their church.
Because the British rulers were the leaders of many of the established churches in the colonies, the Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and supporters of the Church of England often chose their political beliefs based on their religious affiliation. Examples of this abound in the history and records of the era. Why did many believe that the revolution was an important act—beyond its obvious ties to simple independence from Britain? One principal reason was the effects on religious worship joined with the British crown. The church was founded by divine law; monarchy was part of the law and tradition of England and the colonies. If one joined with the British Empire and conformed to the religion of the British king, then one was acting in violation of the laws of God and country. Throughout the Revolution, religious leaders and political leaders used the pulpits of many churches to spread the reason for the war and its necessity. Many sermons explain the reasons for the struggle—in effect providing the spiritual or sacred underpinnings of the secular issues. In fact, many sermon notes for preachers and ministers have been found and are used by historians. Sermon notes are the "open style" or "sermon" of the time—though without speaking notes. These notes and actual sermons were used to inspire the troops and to keep up the morale of the Revolution.
Religious Influence on Institutions
In addition to shaping the ideas of the early settlers and colonists, religion also impacted the formation of social and political institutions in the New World. Oftentimes, religious groups decided laws and practices among themselves that paralleled the governing laws of each colony. Additionally, religious beliefs informed how people thought about the necessity of education and the civic responsibilities of citizens. The various denominations of Christianity professed a wide range of beliefs that influenced their ideas about everything from property to rights. The ideas of the age also heavily reflected Christian teaching and beliefs about human nature and property.
Religion also shaped the political thought found in the colonies, as can be seen in the various political documents issued by them. The confluence of religion, educational opportunities, and political thinking would eventually result in the establishment of a set of principles that the Founding Fathers would implement with the new plan of government displayed in the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, which enumerates ten of the principal rights of the people and limits the power of the federal government. Members of various religious denominations also formed societies that took care of their own, prayed together, and worked towards the betterment of their groups. From their earliest days, the settlers performed social welfare through the founding of institutions specifically designed to help the young, elderly, mentally, and physically infirm. In the 1800s, societies initially meant as mutual aid or socializing groups evolved into a variety of social reform movements. Benevolence, philanthropy, and purity movements were many times intertwined with religious ideas and organizations. Becoming an active participant in one or more of these movements was a way to gain social status and a voice in one’s community. Just as people’s ideas and values change over time, so do the values and rules of society. Religion, like other social forces, changes in response to and sometimes...
Religion’s Impact on America
Religion has long been an important part of American civilization and remains so today. But the faiths of early Americans have shaped contemporary society in subtle and intersecting ways. Major religious movements of the past have left durable marks on modern religious institutions. Some Christian sects observed religious duties without the support of institutions of state and society. Their descendants today are prominent in the public effort to preserve religion in American public life. American attitudes about property and redistribution were shaped by the differences between the clergy and laypeople of previous generations. The religious leaders of those historical movements developed a taste for social equality, setting the stage for enduring Christian social justice movements.
In the debate over the role of religion in society, religiously observant and secularist Americans continue to argue over the proper place of religious believers in certain prominent areas of public life. Public incivility, prayers in schools, the permissibility of religious displays on government property, and the use of non-faith-based evidence in public decision-making are some of the most controversial aspects of modern church-state relations. Informed by these debates, this paper will make the case that, in order to understand these debates about religion, we must have a deep appreciation of our shared ecclesiastical inheritance. Recent scholarship does not render the close study of religion in American history moot. It presents a more serious need for scholars to explore the influence of religious thought and institutions in American culture and, in so doing, to map contemporary influences of the creation and maintenance of an organic society in which public institutions require popular faith. From geo-churches to frontier revivalism, religious thought and action continue to intrude upon society and shape American identities and interactions in ways that remain visible on the landscape. While demographers and sociologists are able to show rapid shifts in religious adherence and uncover the causes of secularization, this study will demonstrate the durable and ever-present legacy of American religion.
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