Religion in Early America
Written by Chris Pratt
SUID 5046713
Ethics of Development in a Global Environment
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Introduction
The United States as we know it is one of the most diverse yet seemingly unified
nations the world has ever seen. America has long been viewed as a place that is
accepting different religious practices and an advocate of religious freedom. Many came
to America seeking an escape from religious persecution, and others came simply to
establish and practice religion as they chose. Even the Pilgrims were looking to find a
place of religious freedom. Some chose to modify existing religions, others converted to
religions that better suited them, and yet others still decided create their own religions.
This paper will look at worldly influences on the development of religion in early
America, as well as internal influence as a result of religious interaction on American
soil.
Roman Christians
Religion in the US has been influenced by a great number of cultures, some
dating back hundreds even thousands of years before the colonies were established. One
of the most influential societies was that of the ancient Romans. A lot of the later Roman
religious ideology and cultural norms were adopted by the English, which later followed
English settlers to the colonies. In 312 Constantine conquered his rival in a battle that
established his authority in the Western provinces of the Empire. He believed that this
victory was a direct result of the Christian God. From that day forth Constantine granted
Christians the religious freedom to practice their beliefs openly, and he also restored the
legal right for the Church to hold property. Licinius, the emperor of the East, also
endorsed this policy, and together they vowed to uphold the principle of religious
freedom for all. Constantine’s Edict of Toleration: “No one whosoever should be denied
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the liberty to follow either the religion of the Christians or any other cult which of his
own free choice he has thought to be the best adapt for himself” (Markus, p 87). For the
first time in Roman history public law embraced the idea of the state’s religious
neutrality. This was one of the most significant ideas adopted by the Americans. The
fact that the Constitution later specified that the church and state shall remain separate
entities is one of America’s defining characteristics. Unfortunately after the reign of
Constantine the state became less and less religiously neutral. State subsidies were being
given to the Church, bishops were given the rights to hear legal cases, new Churches
were being built at the states expense, idols were broken, and temples were destroyed.
However, both the idea of religious freedom, and the idea of a religiously neutral state
were Roman ideas that were later written into the United States constitution.
In addition to these ideas many European countries, which later formed after the
fall of the Roman Empire, gleaned many of the Roman Christian theology regarding
marriage, family, parenting, and slavery. Considering a vast majority of early colonial
immigrants were from Europe these Roman Christian ideas also had a hand in shaping
colonial culture. The ‘patriarchal family’ that became the Roman ideal was one quite
similar to that which was depicted in the Book of Genesis, reflecting the Christian
influence. One definition of the patriarchal family describes it as a “group of animate and
inanimate property, of wife, children, slaves, lands, and goods, all held together by
subjection to the despotic authority of the eldest male” (Westbury-Jones, p 251). This is
extremely similar to a typical family unit that may have been found throughout the
colonies, particularly in the south. There was even direct correlation of the roles to which
each family member was assigned. The eldest white male was the head of the household
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and the provider; his wife was the child bearer and oversaw the upbringing of the
children; male children were raised to one day take over head position or venture off and
start a family of their own; female children were expected to marry out; and the slaves
were primarily used for physical labor. Much of the Roman Christian doctrine regarding
marriage was also carried into the colonial era. Concepts such as monogamy, adultery,
and incest were ideas that were not taken into consideration prior to the time of
Constantine, and as a result were major points of consideration when choosing a spouse
during colonial times.
First knowing the Roman definition of a ‘person’ will give insight as to how the
Romans were able to justify slavery. As defined by Westbury-Jones, a person is “capable
of holding property, of having claims and liabilities” (p 325). Even amongst the free men
there were different degrees of legal rights in Rome. Following the same line of thought,
a slave, therefore, was considered a human being who was, legally, not a person but a
thing. Slavery helped to aid in the destruction of a persons’ dignity by placing them at
the same level as traded goods from a legalistic standpoint. This was also a similar tactic
to that used by slave owners in the south. However, according to Roman religious laws
slaves were considered people from the outset. They were allowed to join the family in
worship and appeared as members of religious associations. During colonial times slaves
usually practiced the same religion as their masters, generally southern Baptist or
Methodist. The difference was that during colonial times slaves had to worship in a place
separate from their masters, and because of this they were able to adapt their new religion
to fit their prior beliefs and customs resulting in the clear distinction between the white
and the black southern church. “Aristotle declared slavery to be a part of the law of
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nature. Zeno said that the wise man was the only man, and that the bad were slaves”
(Westbury-Jones). Belief in natural and religious laws such as these help to give
justification to something that would otherwise be considered immoral. By viewing
slaves as objects that are lesser than other human beings or as objects that are inherently
evil, the slave owner can live with a clear conscious. Beliefs systems such as this also
further oppress the enslaved people by forcing them into this inferior mindset. This
proved true for slaves of Roman times and of colonial times.
Although the transitions were gradual, after the death of the Roman emperor
Theodosius I in 395, the fall of Roman Empire is usually denoted by the sacking of Rome
by the Visigoths in 410 (Encyclopedia). Medieval Europe was far from unified; it was a
large geographical region divided into smaller and culturally diverse political units that
were never totally dominated by any one authority. Many of the Romans living on the
outskirts of the empire simply remained there after its collapse. There was a particularly
high contingency of Romans living on the island which would later be known as
England. Even after the collapse of the empire Christianity remained the standard
religion of Western civilization.
Church of England
Christianity, introduced by the Romans, was fairly well established in Britain by
the 4th century, but was almost destroyed by the Anglo-Saxon invasions beginning in the
5th century. During the Middle Ages the church in England often opposed taxes
demanded by Rome. The church in England was strongly unwilling to financially
support the church in Rome because they never saw any of the benefits that arose from
these taxes and were hardly associated with the Roman church other than the fact that
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they were required to pay them. These quarrels were not resolved until Henry VIII broke
the union of the English church and Rome. The pope’s refusal to grant Henry’s request
for an annulment of his marriage to Katharine of Aragon resulted in the creation of the
Church of England. In 1534, the breach with Rome was completed by the Act of
Supremacy, which made the king head of the Church of England (Encyclopedia). Thus
the Reformation in England under Henry was initially a matter of policy, not doctrine.
The theology of the new national church as shown in the Six Articles (1539) and the
King’s Book (1543) was mostly unchanged, although some Lutheran influence may be
detected.
After the death of Henry VIII, his son, Edward VI, took the throne at the age of
nine. His reign was short, dying at the age of 15 as a result of tuberculosis, however
many changes occurred during the time he was in power. The most significant of which
being the growing influence of Protestantism in the government. The Act of Uniformity
(1549), which required use of the first Book of Common Prayer, written by Thomas
Cromwell, increased contention between Roman Catholics and reformers (Encyclopedia).
Under the reign of Mary I all legislation laid down by reformers was repealed and Roman
Catholicism was restored in England, and the nation was again taken into the communion
of Rome. Elizabeth I brought religious and political independence back to England, and
guided the church to a middle ground somewhere between Roman Catholicism and
Calvinism (Encyclopedia). She eliminated practices that seemed Catholic while at the
same time suppressing radical Protestant groups. In the 1580’s Queen Elizabeth I
forbade meetings of Protestant separatists who were attempting to split off from the
Church of England (Butler). The protestant community continued to grow large within
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England, and attempted to make religious reforms, however they were denied any say in
the writing of King James edition. The majority of northern and eastern Europe, such as
England, Germany, and Prussia, were becoming predominantly Protestant, but the
southern European countries, such as Spain, France, and Italy, remained strongly
Catholic.
Pilgrims and Early Immigrants
It is evident even from this brief historical run through of the Church of England
that there were many competing views that fought back and forth within the church. By
the 1760s there were a seemingly endless array of religious groups in America, including
Anglicans, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Baptists, and Quakers – all of
which are Protestant groups (Butler). However, some English Catholics endured. The
most extreme group of Protestants who sought complete separation from the Church of
England became known as Puritans or separatists. Puritans took after Calvinists in that
they greatly stressed God’s omnipotence, salvation comes only through God’s grace, and
predestination, the idea that God determines who is saved and not saved from birth. Due
to the fact that they felt as if they were unable to achieve any further reformation within
the Church of England, as made evident under the reign of King James I, many fled to the
Netherlands. The first immigrants to the “new world” were primarily Puritans
(Thompson). They originally received a charter for Virginia in 1620, but ended up
landing closer to Plymouth, Massachusetts. In October 1621 the Puritans had the first
Thanksgiving with neighboring Indians after they were able to renegotiate their charter
with the English authorities (Butler). In the following decade more and more Puritans
migrated to the new world in search of religious refuge from English persecution. A
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Cambridge-educated lawyer by the name of John Winthrop soon emerged as the leading
figure amongst the Puritans. In 1631, the Massachusetts government, lead by Winthrop,
required all voters to be members of the local Puritan congregations, later known as
Congregationalists (Butler). The Puritan groups eventually began to lose influence
primarily because many of the adherents drifted away from the discipline of the
congregation and began abandoning the Puritan doctrine, which told them to continue to
pursuit and honor God although they were unlikely to ever achieve righteousness.
Eventually, with the arrival of immigrants from regions other than England, New
England became religiously diverse; however Puritan foundations were still evident.
French Protestants, or Huguenots, began to settle in the New England after being ran out
of France as a result of King Louis XIV’s intolerance (Butler). They shocked the
Puritans with “odd” traditions such as Christmas. Shortly after their arrival they began
assimilating with English and other European settlers. They became merchants, artisans,
and farmers, embracing cultural matters regarding religion, family, and slavery.
By the early 1700’s German-speaking immigrants were the largest groups arriving
from Europe. The majority of German immigrants were Lutherans or German Reformed.
The German Reformed Church was the second largest church of German-speaking
immigrants behind the Lutheran Church. German Reformed were Calvinists who
believed in predestination, similar the English Puritans, however, they never formed the
strict demanding congregations that seemed to spawn from New England.
Jews began to permanently settle in the colonies during the 1680’s. The first
Jewish immigrants came as refugees from Brazil after the Dutch colony there was
captured by the Portuguese (Butler). Methodists were among the last of the English
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groups to arrive in the colonies. The name Methodist came from “emphasis on a
‘method’ of regular prayer, devotional reading, and contemplation that drew participants
closer to God and led to a personal experience of religious conversation” (Butler, p 85).
Presbyterians, Quakers, and Baptists coming from Scotland, Ireland, and Whales added
to the already diverse group of congregations found in the colonies at the time.
Religious Persecution
Virtually every immigrant to arrive in the “New World” was attempting to escape
an oppressing force, find freedom and opportunities, or a combination of the both. The
colonies served as a refuge for those being persecuted because of race, religion, gender,
or beliefs that differed from those of the persecutor. From the time of the Pilgrims
(Puritans who came to America in search of religious freedom from the Church of
England) the colonies became known as a place where religious diversity was accepted,
although there was persecution of different religious groups within the colonies.
The Huguenots fled France in the 1680s when King Louis XIV revoked the Edict
of Nantes that had previously given the Huguenots at least limited freedom to worship.
Jews came in from all over the world seeking solace from persecution. As a result of
religious, economic, and political problems Irish Catholics made up half of the immigrant
population by the 1840s. “Pushed out of Ireland by religious conflicts, lack of political
autonomy and dire economic conditions, these immigrants were pulled to America by the
promise of land ownership and greater religious freedom” (Library of Congress). After
centuries of conflict with the Protestants, Irish Catholics came to America in search of
freedom. However, they found similar anti-Catholic and even anti-immigrant views
produced by groups such as the Nativist American Party. Although America was
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considered to be a religious safe haven to most, there were still remnants of the same
discrimination and persecution that most sought to escape.
Native Religion
Prior to the arrival of the pilgrims the American Indians had already well
established a breathtaking number of different cultures and religions. Most historians
estimate that there were upwards of 500 independent cultures and religions that existed
before the contact of Europeans. Many of these Native American religions did not
separate the sacred from the secular. As described by Butler, Native Americans “often
believed that they shared the world with supernatural beings and forces who rewarded
them and punished them and whom they encountered directly and indirectly through
nature” (p 19). Native American religion often focused on maintaining an intimate
relationship with nature, and ensuring that the ecosystem remained in a healthy balance.
Things such as the act of hunting or even the simple act of cutting down a tree were
religious events. Shamans, who also served as medicine men and women, were similar to
priest, except instead of interpreting the relationship between humans and God, they
interpreted the relationships between humans and natures spirits.
A great number of settlers came to see the lands as sacred, and some even practice
Native religions, preferring native freedom to Christian regulations. On the other hand,
with the abundance of missionaries that came over during colonial times, many Native
Americans not only converted to Christianity, but adopted much of the settlers’ culture.
Some Native Americans fought against the emerging nation and all that it stood for, and
others became such a part of colonial America that they fought along side the colonists in
the American Revolution (Bourne).
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Religion from Asia
Asian religions did not begin to be recognized until the late 1800’s. Hinduism
began to expand after Swami Vivekananda visited the United States in 1893. Buddhism
and other eastern Asian religions were practiced even earlier, although they were hardly
practiced by people outside of their ethnic group. Many Chinese immigrants came to the
US in 1852 during the California gold rush where they became well known for their work
on the building of the railroads. With them they brought a culture that was vastly
different from any which had been seen by the European settlers and Native Americans.
There became a great distaste for Chinese immigrants amongst American labor workers
because of their willingness to work for low wages, causing many employers to higher
them over an American-born worker or forcing them to take lower wages. This could
have been part of the reason eastern Asian religions did not become as wide spread as
some of the other European religions. Also the fact that East Asian religions for the most
part were not evangelistic is another reason religions such as Buddhism were generally
constrained to Asian ethnic groups.
The first Buddhist missionaries were two Japanese priests who established the
Buddhist Mission of North America in San Francisco in 1899 (Miller). However, their
purpose was to convert Japanese immigrants, who had stopped practicing, back to
Buddhism, thus Asian religion remained within the Asian community.
There were two early Hindu groups to settle in America: The Vedanta movement
in 1893 and the Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) in 1920 (Miller). Their goal was to
adapt Hindu ideas and practices to the American way of life. Swami Vivekananda and
Paramahansa Yogananda, both coming from Bengal, were considered the founders of the
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Vedanta movement and the SRF. They spread their ideas through lectures they gave
throughout States, one of which was given to parliament in 1893 (Miller). Their work
helped to establish Hinduism as a viable religious alternative for Americans. They also
set the stage for the growth of American interest in things such as Hindu philosophy,
meditation, and yoga.
Religion from the Middle East
Although Christianity and Judaism are both Middle Eastern in origin, when most
think of Middle Eastern religions they automatically think of Muslims. This is because
Christianity and Judaism had thousands of years of European influence before they came
to America. Islam is currently one of the fastest growing religions in the United States,
especially among African Americans. Islam was more easily adopted by those living in
America than the Asian religions because of its likeness to Christianity. Islam is even
excepting of Christian prophets such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, however, they
believe that Muhammad was the last and the “true” prophet.
Some of the first Muslim immigrants came to America in the late 1800s from
what are now Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. They came in hopes of becoming
educated and taking advantage of the economic opportunities offered in America. Strict
Muslim practices were hard for followers to adhere to due to the fact that “American
societal patterns were often at odds with needs of life” (Miller, p 237). With traditional
eight, or more, hour work days it was difficult to allow time for prayer five times a day.
It was also difficult finding acceptable eating facilities that were able to attend to strict
Muslim diets. The cultural acceptance of alcohol, sexual promiscuity, and immodesty in
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America were also factors that made it difficult for Muslims to adhere strictly to Islamic
doctrine.
For African Americans Islam provides an opportunity to identify with a
religious/cultural group other than Christianity, which had previously failed to establish
true racial inclusiveness. Islam was first introduced to the African American community
by the Honorable Elijah Mohammed, born Elijah Poole, after he received several years of
informal training from a man only referred to as Master W. Fard Muhammad. In the
early 1900s Elijah Mohammed spread the religion first throughout the Detroit area,
claiming that this was a religion for the “black man”. Malcolm X was one of the better
known of those to follow Elijah Mohammed’s teachings (Nation of Islam).
African American Religion
During the times of slavery many African Americans were required or highly
encouraged to convert to Christianity, and many did. A large majority of religious blacks
became Protestant Christians, members of Baptist, Methodist, and many other churches.
Many others, however, rejected the Christianity that was associated with slave owners in
favor of religions with more distinctively black identities. The slave trade began in the
1630s in the Massachusetts area. In 1641 John Winthrop, the early Puritan leader,
recorded the first documented baptism to a slave in New England (Bickner). By the mid
1700s blacks were starting up their own separate churches. One of the reasons slave
owners attempted converting their slave to Christianity is that they feared the alleged
witchcraft and superstitions of the tribal African religions. During the early days of
slavery, slaves who held on to their religious practices in Africa were often seen by
whites as pagans. Similar to Native American religions, traditional African religions
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most often did not distinguish between sacred and secular. These rituals and dogmas
were frequently described as Voodoo, Hoodoo, Witchcraft, and superstitions.
Denominations such as the Episcopalians and Presbyterians which stressed order
did not attract the slaves. On the contrary, most African-Americans gravitated to the
Methodist and Baptist church, which were more strongly based on emotional experiences
(Mathews). Blacks began to combine tradition African and Caribbean religious traditions
with those of the Christian church. The notion of the “Southern Gospel Church” arose
from combining loud vocal reverence and chanting of traditional African religions and
teaching from the Christian Bible.
American Born Religion
On the night of September 21, 1823, Joseph Smith, of New York, allegedly
received a visit from an angelic personage, named Moroni, who pronounced himself as a
messenger from God. In addition, Moroni told Joseph Smith that he was to carry out
some special work. Basing his claim to divine inspiration as a prophet of God upon this
he set out and wrote The Book of Mormon. This book of teachings became widely
known and followed throughout the New England region. In 1839 the Mormons, led by
Joseph Smith settled in Nauvoo, Illinois and built a prosperous Mormon town there.
Locals became intimidated by the level of prosperity they reached in such a short time.
Locals were further upset when they heard that Joseph Smith was planning on running for
president. Smith and his brother were jailed and executed soon after announcing his
candidacy. The town of Nauvoo was also burned to the ground. The Mormons were
later chased out of New York, out of Ohio, and out of Missouri, to Utah, where they
finally settled. In 1857, fears of an independent religious state grew and the president
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ordered federal troops to enforce the installation of federal judges and a new nonMormon governor. Tensions between the Mormons and the federal government later
dissipated as a result of the Civil War (Christian Expositor).
Religious Values during the Civil War
After the Revolutionary war, plantations became of the most important
contribution to the southern economy. Thus slaves became a critical and essential asset
in order to maintain the profitability of these plantations. The south, unlike the north, did
not have all the advantages of industry and were forced to rely on agricultural resources
as a means of survival. After recently fighting alongside many blacks during the
Revolutionary war, whites, particularly in the north, began to perceive blacks differently.
In an attempt to maintain the lesser status of blacks, southern rhetoric defined blacks as
being innately different: dangerous, savage, and inferior (Phillips).
Religious difference that were present before or arose as a direct result of the
conflict over slavery further widened the gap between the North and the South. Southern
elites were primarily Methodist or Episcopalian. Not only was southern Episcopalianism
accommodating to an aristocratic lifestyle, it also easily accepted slavery. As Kevin
Phillips notes “even its own historians have found the church’s extraordinary passivity
difficult to understand, but the explanation probably lies in the fact that Episcopalians
were generally conservative and for good reason well satisfied with the status quo”
(Phillips, p 373). In contrast, the New England Congregational Church, was antiaristocratic and “as critical of slavery in 1860 as it had been of the monarchy in 1775”
(Philips, p 373). During the times of the first settlers, the Protestants, mostly from
England, settled mostly in the northern colonies, and the Conservatives, mostly from
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France and Spain, settled mostly in the south. Evidently these protestant and
conservative view points remained in tact in the North and the South, respectively, up
through the Civil war.
Conclusion
Present day America is one of the most ethnically, culturally, and religiously
diverse places in the world. However, in terms of religion, I would consider the US to be
a “salad bowl” as opposed to a “melting pot”. Although it is true that many religions
have chosen to adopt certain theologies and traditions from each other, each religion has
maintained it’s certain aspects that make it unique. In spite of some religious intolerance,
most religious folk have found America to be a place of acceptance and understanding.
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