The Church in America
The Colonial Era through the early Republic
COLONIAL AMERICA
• Many of the American colonies were founded for
religious reasons
• The New England colonies were founded by Puritans
seeking to establish a new “City of God” on earth
• Maryland was founded by Catholics fleeing
persecution in England
• Pennsylvania was founded by Quakers seeking
religious liberty that they were denied in Europe
The Thirteen Colonies
George Calvert, the
First Lord Baltimore,
received permission
from Charles II in
1632 to establish a
proprietary colony in
the New World
Calvert was a convert
to Catholicism
Maryland
• George Calvert died
before the colony
was founded
• His son, Cecil,
founded the colony
• It was to be a haven
for persecuted
Catholics from
England and Ireland
Replica of The Dove – the ship that brought the first
settlers to Maryland
• 60 Catholic members of the English or Irish gentry
who would become plantation owners
• Three Jesuit priests
• About 100 “freeholders” – settlers who held smaller
tracts of land (usually farmers)
• Indentured servants
• African slaves
From the very beginning, the Protestant settlers
outnumbered the Catholic settlers!
First Settlers
Allows religious freedom for all Christians, Protestant
or Catholic, who live in the colony
The Act of Toleration
• 1688 in England
• Replaces the Catholic
King James II with his
Protestant daughter
Mary and her husband
William of Orange
• Anti-Catholic Penal
Laws are enforced
throughout England
and her colonies
William III & Mary
The Glorious Revolution
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•
•
•
In Maryland, the Calverts lost control of the colony
Catholics can no longer vote or hold public office
Catholics cannot practice law or become teachers
No Catholic churches can be built (but private chapels
are okay)
• No Catholic educational institutions
• Priests may not seek converts; ends missions to the
Indians
• Restrictions on Catholic immigration to the colony
The Glorious Revolution
Catholicism remains illegal in the
colony until 1776
The Glorious Revolution
Founded in 1681 by
William Penn as a
have for persecuted
Quakers
Pennsylvania
• Allowed freedom of religion to anyone, although only
Christians could hold government positions
• Pennsylvania quickly became attractive to Catholics,
Mennonites, the Amish and other religious groups that
were being persecuted in Europe
Penn’s Frame of Government
After the Glorious Revolution, practice of the Catholic
faith became illegal in Pennsylvania . . .
but
The people who lived in Pennsylvania were tolerate of
religious diversity and refused to enforce the law
The first Catholic
Church to be built in
the 13 Colonies was
built in Philadelphia
in 1735
St. Joseph’s Church
None of the rest of the 13 Colonies
allowed Catholics to practice their
faith
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1774 – 1789
• The Carrolls of Maryland were among the wealthiest
and most influential families in the colonies
• They were Catholic
• In the late 1700s, the important members of the family
were Charles Carroll and his cousins Daniel and John
The Carrolls
The Carroll Plantation
• Member of the
Continental Congress
• Signer of the Declaration
of Independence (only
Catholic)
• U.S. Senator from
Maryland
• Financially supported the
Revolution
Charles Carroll of Carrolton
• Member of the
Maryland State
Legislature
• Congressman
• Helped write and signed
both the Articles of
Confederation and the
Constitution
• Donated land for the
site of Washington, D.C.
Daniel Carroll
• Jesuit priest
• Oversaw and organized
priests in Maryland
• Sent on a mission with
Benjamin Franklin to
Canada to get Canadian
support for the
Revolution
Fr. John Carroll
Commodore
John Barry
“The F ather of
the American
Navy”
Marquis de Lafayette
Count
Kasimir
Pulaski
Thaddeus Kosciusko
Other prominent Catholics in the Revolution
Catholic participation in the American
Revolution contributed greatly towards
alleviating anti-Catholic attitudes that had
been so prevalent during the Colonial
Era.
THE REPUBLICAN ERA
c. 1783 - 1820
After the Revolution, Catholics were only 1% of the
American population:
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•
•
•
About 16,000 in Maryland
About 7,000 in Pennsylvania
About 1,500 in New York
Maybe 200 in Virginia
There were also Catholics living in the French areas of
the Midwest and the Mississippi River Valley
Statistics
1. Lack of organization
• U.S. was mission territory and did not have its own bishop
2. The Suppression of the Jesuits in 1773
• All the priests in the U.S. were Jesuits
3. Anti-Catholicism
• Still a problem, especially in New England
• Catholics could not vote or hold public office in some states!
4. Increasing Catholic immigration and a lack of
priests (there were only 21 in 1784)
Problems
• John Carroll was
elected by the American
clergy and his election
was confirmed by the
Pope
• Baltimore was the first
diocese, established in
1789
• It included all U.S.
States and territories!
America gets a Bishop
In 1806, Bishop Carroll laid the cornerstone for
Baltimore’s first Cathedral: Our Lady of the
Assumption
Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption today
Carroll’s
Accomplishments
• A school for boys near
Emmitsburg, Maryland
• Staffed by Christian
Brothers from France
• The first Catholic
seminary in the U.S.
Mount St. Mary’s
• The first Catholic
University in the
United States
• Staffed by the
Jesuits after their
order was reestablished in the
early 1800s
Georgetown University
• Founded by Bishop
Carroll and Elizabeth
Seton, a Catholic
convert from New York
• First religious order for
women in the U.S.
• The Sisters established
the first Catholic
elementary schools in
Maryland and
Pennsylvania
Sisters of Charity
• Regular meetings of all the priests in the U.S. to
discuss matters of importance
• As the Church grew and more dioceses were
established, the Synod became a Council – where all
the bishops of the U.S. met regularly
• Today this has become the National Council of
Catholic Bishops (NCCB) which meets twice a year
Synod of Baltimore
• Carroll went on “begging trips” to European
seminaries and religious houses
• Many young European priests, especially from
France, came to the U.S. where they would later
become bishops and greatly influence the growth of
the American Church
• Religious Orders such as the Dominicans, Sulpicians,
Christian Brothers, Carmelites and others established
houses in the U.S.
Inviting European priests and
religious orders to come to the U.S.
THE CHURCH GROWS!
• In 1808, four new
dioceses were
established:
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Boston
New York
Philadelphia
Bardstown
• Baltimore became an
archdiocese
New Dioceses
• Catholics began to move
west in large numbers,
especially into Kentucky
• The new diocese of
Bardstown was
established and attracted
the first Benedictine
(Trappist) monastery of
Gethsemane
Moving West
Ohio
• The first Mass was
celebrated near
Somerset, Ohio in 1808
by Fr. Edward Fenwick
• In 1821, Fr. Fenwick
would be named the
first bishop of the
Dioceses of Cincinnati
• At the time, the diocese
consisted of the entire
state of Ohio as well as
parts of Indiana, Illinois
and Michigan!