1 Students Name Professor Course Date British Colonies Discussion A majority of colonial administrations and small-town ordinances sought to enforce rigid religious conformity on Americans during the early days of British colonial rule in the United States. A majority of them tried to implement severe religious observances (Warner 60). Church attendance was mandatory and pastors' wages were paid for by everyone. Dissenters who tried to practice or spread a non-Christian religion in eight of the thirteen British territories with official churches were often persecuted. As a result, despite the fact that most colonists were Christian, they were never part of a unified religion. An alternative view was held by many Christian groups, according to which their own traditions and religions included unique virtues that needed to be protected against those who held other views (John 107). Countries in Europe, both Catholic, and Protestant, regularly persecuted or outlawed the other's religion, while Catholics in British colonies were sometimes subjected to restrictions (Warner 64). The English Civil War began in the 1600s as a consequence of a schism in the Anglican church in Great Britain caused by a conflict between traditionalists and puritans. Puritan and Anglican ideals were still at odds in the British colonies. Colonial societies were plagued by a wide range of criminals, including murderers and robbers as well as adulterers and idlers. Anglican parishes in the United States often spanned between 60 and 100 miles and were frequently sparsely inhabited (Reed 260). Religious gatherings in certain locations were haphazard since there were so few "traditional" families 2 and so few preachers to go around. Boston's Congregational Church was in power and the city was densely populated in 1632 when one resident expressed his dissatisfaction. As the colonies grew in strength, so did the influence of the clergy and churches. Most towns had a church, and the Sabbath was the most important day of the week for both religious and secular activities. After years of striving to maintain order and uniformity on Sundays, Boston's selectmen were eventually able to stroll directly down the street and force everyone to go to church. 3 References John Jeremiah Sullivan. Talking Drums Issue 107, Winter 2019 Reed, Isaac Ariail. "Charismatic performance: A study of Bacon’s rebellion." American Journal of Cultural Sociology 1.2 (2013): 254-287. Warner, Michael. "What's colonial about colonial America?" Possible Pasts. Cornell University Press, 2018. 49-70.
