History paper.

Topic: Religion in American History

Rationale: A variety of religious experiences and practices have been witnessed in the United States, from the time of Indigenous Peoples to the 21st Century.  The issue of religious freedom has played a significant role in the history of the United States. Many historians believe that American history cannot be fully understood or appreciated without reference to the role of religion and how it has shaped our culture.

Question Two: What has been the influence of religion on politics, economy, and society? What a person sees as their purpose in life influences everything they do, and religion/belief is at the core of this primary source topic. Explain and discuss the role of religion in American history with the use of at least three of the documents below. You may not use outside documents.

Primary Source Assignment #2 Context and Documents

Context and Documents

One of the great myths of American history is that English colonists came to America for religious freedom. While many did come to the New World to practice their own religion freely, few believed that others should be allowed that privilege. Among the thirteen colonies that became the United States, only Rhode Island granted its citizens the right to attend (or not attend) the church of their choice. Most of the other colonies had state churches. Each resident of the colony, whatever their personal beliefs, was required to pay taxes in support of the state church and to attend its services. Many colonial governments also outlawed meetings of other churches and threatened to arrest their ministers and members. Seventeenth-century Massachusetts even executed several Quakers who had returned to the colony after being banished because of their religion. By the end of the colonial period, official churches had begun to lose some of their power, and several colonies expressed de facto tolerance of other Protestant religions. This did not, however, free their members from paying taxes to support the official faith; it simply allowed them to establish their own churches and conduct their own services. Even limited freedom of worship was usually denied to Catholics and Jews.

The right to worship was only one aspect of religious freedom. Politics and religion were closely linked in the seventeenth century, and political rights often depended on one's faith. In England, for example, few people believed that Catholics or Jews could be loyal citizens. Jews were said to hate all Christians and to be plotting their destruction, while Catholics were widely suspected of treason because the Pope and Catholic powers such as Spain had declared their intention to destroy the heretical Church of England. Most English colonists brought these same attitudes to America. Catholics and Jews were not only denied the right to worship in most colonies; they were denied their political rights in every colony. Even Maryland, which had originally been founded by Catholics, restricted voting and office- holding to Protestants in the decades preceding the American Revolution.

Required Documents:

John Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity (1630)