In the 1440s, a German man named Johannes Gutenberg invented an easy-to-use printing press. All of a sudden, books and other written materials could be produced quickly and cheaply. Knowledge could be passed easily from one person to another and one place to another. You didn’t have to be rich to have access to information.

Until the invention of the printing press, books were really expensive. Most people-even nobles-never bothered to learn to read or write. The most literate people in Europe were churchmen-priests, bishops, cardinals and the Pope. This changed quickly after the invention of the printing press. Many more people decided to learn to read and write once books weren’t so expensive. Stained glass windows in churches taught illiterate people the stories of the Bible using pictures.

Over the 1,500 years that the Christian church had been in existence, there had been many priests who had criticized the way the church was run. Because most people couldn’t read, regular folks didn’t hear much about church controversies. Until the invention of the printing press and the creation of a literate population, criticisms of the church didn’t spread much beyond the Pope, his cardinals and his bishops.

In 1517, when the priest Martin Luther criticized the Catholic Church (remember: the only church in Europe), many people heard and read about his ideas. The invention of the printing press brought more people into the conversation.

It was Martin Luther’s “protests” against church practice which lead to the split between the Catholic church and Christians who followed Luther’s or John Calvin’s teachings. Founder of the Presbyterian Church Founder of the Lutheran Church

Pretty soon, people were saying…

One of the most important ideas to come out of the Protestant Reformation was called “priesthood of the believer.” In the protestant church, the Bible, not the pope or the church, is where people went to learn about God. After the Reformation, Protestants no longer had to depend on a priest or the church to tell them what the Bible said. Each person was responsible for reading the Bible and deciding what it meant by him or herself. People were responsible for their own salvation. It was their conscience and their ability to reason that helped them interpret God’s word. That’s a pretty democratic idea, isn’t it? Students have the Protestant settlers of New England to thank for public schools too. If the only way to find out about God is by reading the Bible, then everyone, rich or poor, had to be able to read. Protestants in New England started some of the first public schools in our country.

Many of the people who settled the 13 colonies were English protestants. They weren’t getting along with the Church of England (a.k.a. the Anglican Church), so they emigrated to America looking for religious freedom. This group of folks was used to thinking for themselves. It makes sense that they would build a society where thinking for oneself is allowed, right?

Here are some important ideas that shaped American government that we got from the religious beliefs of early colonists: 1.Individualism-the individual, not just society as a whole, is important. Individuals have rights that should be respected. 2.Freedom of conscience-people should be free to do what they believe in their hearts is right; no one should be able to force you to go against what you believe is right. 3.Self-government in church and in state-Protestants often elected their own pastors from the church congregation, and they carried that tradition over to choosing leaders and making decisions for their towns. 4.Consent of the governed-For many protestants, the idea of “covenant” was very important. People made promises to each other and to God to work together for the common good. Americans got used to the idea of people having a say in making important rules and decisions.