Mapping Religious Change
in Revolutionary America
A presentation by Prof. Stephen Marini and
Future-Prof. Anne Meyers
The context
• Approximately 1740 to 1790
• Encompassed the Revolutionary era
• Focused on America following the First Great
Awakening
• Tracked religious change and demography
• Noted the rise of Baptism and Methodism
The vision
The vision
The research
• Many, many spreadsheets
• …But tons of fun!
• Formatting: the Quest for Perfection
• Isolating variables within data for a truly impressive
set of statistics
• By church!
• By county!
• By individual!
The sources
• Fantastic primary source archives available
through LTS
• Primary records often detailed individual
ministers—we will eventually be able to track the
literal career paths of important American preachers
• Found several hilarious names of both churches and
people
The names
PEOPLE
CHURCHES
• Tozer Lord
• Frying Pan Baptist Church
• Pelatiah Tingley
• Mayo Creek Church
• William Cornstick
• Terrible Creek Church
• Loveless Savage
• Church of Farmville
• Several priests with the
last name “Priest”
• And many more! (Although
notably less PG)
The maps
• (Note: this is just the tip of the iceberg! Yay GIS!)
• These particular maps track the explosion of Baptist
and Methodist churches in America over time
Baptists by County, 1790
The Science of Methodist Circuits
County with circuit base (notice a kind of “latticing”)
Methodists of Maryland:
A Visualization of Brutal Takeover
Methodists of Maryland:
A Visualization of Brutal Takeover
Religious Makeup in NC and VA, 1740
Religious Makeup in NC and VA, 1790