Religion/Europe/Protestant Reformation The Effect on the New World

So, we have all these settlements that are created because of religion…Why? In 1517, a priest named Martin Luther, was angered by the excess and corruption in the Catholic Church. For instance, priests were selling indulgences or forgiveness for sins. Martin Luther wrote his grievances in The Ninety-Five Theses. Thanks to the printing press, the common folk had access to his disagreements with the Church. Before this Luther had translated the Bible into German from Latin to make it accessible to all.

In Switzerland, Huldrych Zwingli was also using the printing press to share his grievances with the Catholic Church. His movement became the modern day Anabaptists (Mennonite, Amish, Hueterite, Quakers).

After Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church, John Calvin’s writings began to unify the Protestant movement in Europe. The unofficial capital became Geneva, Switzerland. Germany adopted this new faith. Soon monarchs in Denmark (Norway and Iceland) and Sweden (Finland) adopted the Lutheranism faith. There were, however many disagreements about the philosophy within this new religious movement.

The Church of England Henry VIII split from the Roman Catholic Church in 1529. He wanted divorce to be legalized so he could find a new wife to produce an heir for the throne of England. This was the birth of the Church of England or the Anglican Church as it is known today. This made being Catholic in England very difficult.

The Puritan Movement The Puritans felt the Church of England was far to close to Catholicism and wanted the Church to more closely resemble the other Protestant Churches in Europe. They wanted church to be stark and simple. The Puritans were called dissenters and nonconformists. This pushed their emigration to America.

Scotland Although there were many Catholics in Scotland, when the English took control the country’s faith turned to The Church of Scotland. It is now known today as the Presbyterian church. John Knox was the leader of this reformation. Many Scots were forced to swear their allegiance to England and deny their Catholic faith. Several of these Scots emigrated to America in hopes of religious freedom.

Huguenots In France Protestants were known as Huguenots. France was decidedly Catholic at the time and there were many massacres of Protestants. Between 30,000-100,000 Huguenots were killed. The Huguenots fled first to Geneva and then to Canada.

Italy and Spain Both Italy and Spain remained strong Roman Catholic countries, as did Portugal. Remember, one of Christopher Columbus’s goals was to spread the Roman Catholic faith to the New World.

Religious Freedom in America Despite fleeing religious persecution, most the colonies were very strict as to the religion practiced within the colony. Maryland, founded by Lord Baltimore was the first to declare religious tolerance in 1649. Roger Williams created a colony in Rhode Island to escape the religious intolerance of Massachusetts. It wasn’t until 1776 with the writing of the Declaration of Independence that the idea of religious freedom became more widespread. The Constitution was adopted in 1791.

Religious Beliefs in the Colonies New England Colonies were largely Puritans who led very strict lives. This is the scene of the Salem Witch Trials. The Middle Colonists were a mixture of religions, including Quakers (William Penn in Pennsylvania), Catholics, Lutherans, and a very few Jews. The Southern Colonists had a mixture also, including Presbyterians, Baptists and Anglicans.

The Great Awakening In America, beginning in the 1730s, pastors like Johnathan Edwards and George Whitefield determined that they didn’t want to engage the congregations’ mind, but its emotion. Along with writer’s like John Locke, these men began to believe and preach about the freedom of ALL men.

Questions to Ponder What did freedom of religion mean to the colonists? What does freedom of religion mean today? Why did the Constitution emphasize separation of Church and State? Do you think it is important to maintain these ideas today? Why?

Religion and Revolution This new thinking allowed ministers to speak out against the British and its system of social injustices. However, remember if you belonged to the Church of England you were bound by an oath to the King. Quakers were pacifists and were against rebellion in general. Religion was not a major cause of Revolution, but it allowed questioning of the monarchy.