Establishment and Diversity

Religion in America

The Established Church

u The Church of England in America

u Beginnings in Virginia; strong in the South

u Hierarchy and order

u Control of vestry by the elite

u Poor quality of clergy, under Bishop of London

u SPG: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts

u Original purpose: convert Indians

u Ultimate purpose: keep Anglicanism alive in America

u By 1750 strong and well-established across the South

African American Religion

u Holocaust of African religions?

u Diversity: animism, Islam, Christianity

u African religions fail to survive in America

u Little interest in conversion of slaves

u Can Christians be enslaved?

u The literacy issue

u Anglicanism does not appeal to most slaves

Unintended Diversity

u New Amsterdam: Dutch Reformed Church, 1624

u Jews to New Amsterdam, 1654

u Sephardic Jews from Spain via Brazil

u Newport, R.I., 1677

u Maryland, 1635

u Refuge for Catholics

u Religious freedom, 1649-1691

u Huguenots, 1685

u South Carolina, New York

Model of Toleration

u William Penn establishes Pennsylvania, 1681

u Refuge for Quakers

u No established church,
no persecution

Pennsylvanian Diversity

u Scotch-Irish Presbyterians along the frontier

u German Pietist sects immigrate

u The Moravian brethren

u Personal relationship with God

u Strict discipline of moral piety

u Vigorous evangelizing about need for conversion

u But Pennsylvania was a disappointment to Quakers

Baptists

u From out of Separatism

u Early appearance in Rhode Island: Roger Williams

u The Great Awakening: spectacular growth

u Emphasis on conversion & evangelism

u Farmer-preachers, not educated; no “hireling preachers”

u Discipline: focus on individual sins (dancing, drinking, etc.)

u Constant battles with Congregational authorities

u Found Brown University in Rhode Island, 1764

u Expansion into the South, 1750s

u Growth despite violence and persecution in Virginia