U.S. History: Book 1 America: Creating the Dream. 1 P,S_ History: Book 1 America: Creating the D Name Handout 5 (page 1) Date The Growing Religious Pluralism in Colonial America Part A. For homework, use your textbook and the following documents to answer the questions at the end. ee eS eee In the seventeenth century all dissenters or nonconformists (that 1s, those who refused to conform to the Church of England and its Book of Common Prayer) came under imereasingly heavy attack. Under Charles 1 (1625-1649), Archbishop William Laud op- Pressed dissenters with special severity. As a result, thousands conformed; other thou- sands left England's restricted isle for free latitudes in the New World. After Charles was beheaded in 1649, Oliver Cromwell ruled. The pressures of persecution waning, numerous new sects arose. In addition to Baptists, Presbyterians, and Independents (or Congrega- tionalists) already on the scene before Cromwell, other groups—some short-lived, some vistonary and radical—vied for the loyalties of Englishmen. Of these the most significant was the Society of Friends, or Quakers. The “Glorious Revolution” of 1688, led by Willlam of Orange, moved against James who fled to France. Early the next year Willlam and Mary became joint sovereigns of England, and on May 24, 1689, the Toleration Act became law for England and its colonies. While the Act did not grant full religious freedom and was particularly restrictive against Catholics, it did recognize that society could survive even where diversity in religion prevailed, For England the Reformation was therefore no mere political shift, no sly Parliamen- tary maneuver. None escaped the tremors of sectarian rumblings, none remained aloof to the religious options and eritical choices. Religion was a daily diet, and faith the key to how ‘one lived—and where. For without faith the daring scheme of colonization was nelther thinkable nor endurable,” “Whereas Mr. Roger Williams ... hath broached and divulged diverse new and dangerous opinions against the authority of the magistrates and churches here . . . it is, therefore ordered that the sald Mr. Williams shall depart out of this jurisdiction." Verdict in Williams’ trtal ‘Now know ye, that we being willing to encourage the hopeful undertaking of our sald Joyal and loving subjects and to secure them in the free exercise and enjoyment of all their civil and religious rights . . . do hereby publish, grant, ordain, and declare . . . that no person within the said colony at any time hereafter shall be any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called] in question, for any differences of opinion in matters of religion, and do not actually disturb the civil peace of our said colony; but that all and every person and persons may, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences. . . .° —Rhode Island Charter ‘The 1649 Act decreed that “no persons professing to believe in Jesus Christ should be molested in respect of their religion, or in the free exercise thereof, or be compelled to the belief or exercise of any other religion, against their consent. . . ."* —Maryland Act of Toleration. sgawin Scott Gaudstad, A Religious History of America (New York: Harper and Row, 1966), 36-37. Ibid. 65. Stpid., 66-67. “Ibid., 73. (© COPYRIGHT, The Center for Learning. Used with permission. Not for sale. 29US. History: Netory: Book 1 America: Creating the Dream Name. Handout 5 (page 2) Date osiny es dicen ig the settlement of Jews, Peter Stuyvesant tried to persuade the Dutch West Company to support his position. His letter is dated September 22, 1654. formate Jee ‘who have arrived would nearly all like to remain here, but learning that they to the infec mary usury and deceitful trading with the Christians) were very repugnant Dean nfetior magistrates, as also to the people having the most affection for you: the peaconry also fearing that owing to thelr present indigence they might become a charge in coming winter, we have, for the benefit of this weak and newly developing place and the land in general, deemed it useful to require them in a friendly way to depart. . . .° Firstly, no one shall be disturbed on account of his belief, but freedom of conscience shall be granted to all inhabitants of the province, so that every nation may build and conduct churches according to their desires. «william Penn's law In the early years of Georgia's settlement the principal concerns of Bray and Oglethorpe are clearly evident. Their sincere intent to instruct and convert the Negro is apparent in the charter's prohibition against slavery, a restriction removed in 1749. The “poor of this kingdom” were conspicuous among the colony's first settlers. And the “charitable colony” welcomed Lutherans fleeing persecution in Salzburg, Moravians leaving the protection of Saxony, Scottish Presbyterians escaping political and economic distress to build at Darien an outpost against the Spanish. Even Jews, though forbidden to come, arrived in 1733. Oglethorpe not only permitted them to stay but granted them land as well; soon synagogue services were heard in Savannah.” In his Journals (1751) Heinrich Muhlenberg reveals singular capacities matched by great energies. Now that the Dutch language has become easier for me, and since it seemed to me to bea pity to spend Sunday [in New York] for such a small group alone, I decided to conduct a brief English service or Kinderlehre on Sunday evenings, though it 1s rather difficult during the week to meditate and write out three sermons in three different languages along ‘with house catechizations and many other duties. July 28. In this morning preached in Dutch; in the afternoon a German sermon. In the evening at seven o'clock lights were lit in the church . . . and many English Church people assembled. . . . Having only one copy of the English hymn book containing our hymns, I had to read each stanza separately and sing it for them. I soon observed that the English people did not know our tunes, so I selected familiar English melodies which fitted some of our Lutheran hymns. Then the whole congregation sang very pleasingly and inspiringly, for the English Church people here in New York know how to sing. . . .° In his Description of the Former and Present Condition of . . . New Sweden (Stockholm, 1759) Israel Acrelius describes the difficulties in Delaware. ‘The people waited, but no clergyman came. All the church service they now had [1692] was that an old man . . . sat and read [sermons on the gospels). The young people were not. very anxious to hear these things. The youth who came were fonder of riding races than of pid. 87. © COPYRIGHT, The Center for Learning. Used with permission. Not for sale. 30U.S. History: Book 1 Amertca: Ci ream 1 pS. Has : Creating the Di Name Handout 5 (page 3) Date attending Divine service. There was no order, no reverence among the people. It was time ' for God to help them, for all human help had failed. Such have always been the ways of the Lord: to let all human counsel, wisdom, and greatness first come to naught, so that He may then accomplish great things by small and despised instrumentallties. Thomas Barton, in a letter to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, November 25, 1776, reveals how growing enmity toward England spread also to England's clergy and England's church, Thave been obliged to shut up my churches to avoid the fury of the populace who Would not suffer [permit] the liturgy to be used unless the collects and prayers for the King and royal family were omitted, which neither my conscience nor the declaration I made and subscribed to when ordained would allow me to comply with. And although I used every Prudent step to give no offence, even to those who usurped authority and rule and exercised , the severest tyranny over us, yet my life and property have been threatened upon mere suspicion of being unfriendly to what is called the American cause. Indeed every clergyman of the Church of England who dared to act upon proper principles was marked out for infamy and insult; in consequence of which the missionaries (of the S.P.G.] in particular have suffered greatly. Some of them have been dragged from their horses, assaulted with stones and dirt, ducked in water: obliged to flee for their lives, driven from thelr habitations and families, laid under arrests and imprisoned!” NUMBER OF CHURCHES ) 1N 1740 Figure 5.1 Edwin Scott Gaustad, Histortcal Atlas of Religion in America (New York: Harper and Row, 1962), 4. 1. What happened to religious nonconformists in England in the seventeenth century? 2. What was the established church in England? 3. Use your textbook to identify the colonies where there were established churches before the American Revolution. *Ipid., 83. | 29Tbid., 11 (© COPYRIGHT, The Center for Learning. Used with permission. Not forsale. 31US. History: Book 1 America: Creating the Dream =§———_ Name — Lesson 5 Handout 5 (page 4) Date $$ $$ 4. How did the Toleration Act of 1689 change the attitude of the government toward religion? 5. Explain the difference between an established church and religious freedom. 6. What does the verdict in Roger Williams’ trial tell you about religious freedom in Massachusetts? 7. How may Roger Williams’ experiences in Massachusetts have in! in his colony of Rhode Island? 8. Use your textbook to find what religious group founded Maryland. 9. Why did that group find it necessary to pass the Toleration Act of 1 10. To what extent were Jews persecuted in colonial America? 11. Which colonies offered the greatest degree of religious freedom? 12. How were political grievances against England mirrored by resistance Anglican Church in America? 13. How do the documents suggest the difficulty of maintaining religious orthodoxy in frontier America? 14. How might you account for the Congregational Church’ America? 15. What does the chart on churches in America suggest about the difficulty of establishing a church in this couniry after e=paration from England? Part B. The writing assignment below will help you fit together some of the ideas you have Iearned about colonial religion. Outlined below are the introduction and topic sentences for your paper on the growing religious pluralism in colonial America. Copy the introduction and use the topic sentences to begin each of the succeeding paragraphs. Complete each paragraph by citing at least three relevant facts from your textbook or the documents to support the topic sentence. When you are finished, you will have a useful summary to document and account for one major difference that developed between the colonists and the mother country. Introduction: In the years before the American Revolution, the American colonies offered a greater degree of religious freedom than the mother country. The lack of religious freedom in Britain led several religious minorities to seek refuge in America. Here new circumstances contributed to a growing spirit of tolerance in spite of the continuation of an established church in several of the thirteen colonies. ‘Topic sentence for Paragraph 2: Although the Toleration Act of 1689 belatedly promised religious tolerance in England, the established church and its practices praved unaccept- able to many dissenters. Topic sentence for paragraph 3: By the time of the American Revolution, several ‘American colonies had created substantial religious freedom despite the presence of established churches in other colonies. Topic sentence for paragraph 4: Colonial experiences with religious intolerance, the religious diversity of the colonies, and conditions on the frontier all combined to create an atmosphere unfavorable to the establishment of a church in America. fluenced religious policy 649? against the 's predominance in colonial © COPYRIGHT, The Center for Learning, Used with permission. Not for sale. 32