Early America (1775-1861)

By: Austin Michael

Political Impact

There were many laws that were put into action concerning religion in newly independent America. Christians were the only ones allowed to hold public office;s only when papal authority was renounced were Catholics allowed to hold office.  In 1777 New York State’s constitution banned Catholics from public office (and would do so until 1806). In Maryland, Catholics had full civil rights, but Jewish people did not. Delaware required an oath affirming belief in the Trinity. Several states, including Massachusetts and South Carolina, had official, state-supported churches.                                                                    

In 1779, as Virginia’s governor, Thomas Jefferson had drafted a bill that guaranteed legal equality for citizens of all religions—including those of no religion—in the state. It was around then that Jefferson famously wrote, “But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” But Jefferson’s plan did not advance—until after Patrick (“Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”) Henry introduced a bill in 1784 calling for state support for “teachers of the Christian religion.” (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Americas-True-History-of-Religious-Tolerance.html?c=y&page=4)

James Madison wrote an essay titled “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments”; in it Madison stated reasons why the state didn’t have any reason for supporting Christian instruction. Madison’s argument became a fundamental piece of American political philosophy.  Among Madison’s 15 points was his declaration that “the Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every...man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an inalienable right.”

In 1786, the Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom was created, separating church and state and allowing citizens to pick the religion they would belong to.

In 1787, with the ratification of the Constitution, the bill or rights was also ratified along with it. Within the first amendment the right to freedom of religion was guaranteed to all citizens of the United States, after much avocation from Jefferson and Madison.

 

Social Impact & The Creation of New Churches

While some of America’s early leaders were models of virtuous tolerance, American attitudes were slow to change. The anti-Catholicism of America’s Calvinist past, found new voice in the 19th century; the belief widely held and preached by some of the most prominent ministers in America was that Catholics would, if allowed, turn America over to the pope. Anti-Catholic spite was part of the typical American school day, along with Bible readings.

In 1834 Joseph Smith, an American religious leader, founded the Latter Day Saint movement, the predominant branch of which is Mormonism.

Methodism, begun by John Wesley and others as a reform movement within the Church of England, spread to the American colonies in the 1760s. Although handicapped by Wesley's opposition to the American Revolution, Methodists nevertheless made remarkable progress in the young American republic

 The Second Great Awakening:

Although Baptists had existed in the American colonies since the seventeenth century, it was the Great Awakening that galvanized them into a powerful, proselytizing force. The awakening was seen as a renewal of the protestant religions many flocked to join the Methodists and the Baptists  churches in the early 19th century because of this great awakening.