What Role Did Religion Play in The Growth and Development of Colonial North America?
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What Role Did Religion Play in The Growth and Development of Colonial North America?
Religion played a critical role in the development of colonial North America. Basically, at the beginning of the colonial era, small religious groups arrived and settled in new pieces of land. Within a short period, they started shaping the societies they lived in by teaching the people in the communities about their religion and beliefs. The Chesapeake Catholic group and New England Puritans, perhaps, were the most important groups at the time. Fraser, James W. Between church and state: Religion and public education in a multicultural America. JHU Press, 2016.
These are the most referenced people in religion that defined how religious affiliation shaped the colonial societies developments.
One of the main reasons why people came to the New World was due to religious persecution back in Great Britain. This was primarily because they had held divergent religious views as opposed to the Church of England. The most notable parties in this regard were the Puritans. There are other colonies at the time that were established to allow people to exercise their religious beliefs freely. For instance, one Lord Baltimore came up with the Maryland colony intending to help Catholics to exercise their religion more freely. Catholics could not do the same in Britain.
Another notable party was William Penn who is credited for establishing the Pennsylvania colony. He is a man that was a staunch believer in the essence of religious freedom. He wanted religion to be a unifying factor rather than something that divides the people. In that regard, the people that were living in Pennsylvania at the time could practice their religion without the fear of persecution. Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson. “The colonial origins of comparative development: An empirical investigation.” American economic review, 91, no. 5 (2001): 1369-1401.
Some of the notable religious groups here included Lutherans, Huguenots, Mennonites, and Quakers. They enjoyed the ability to make their choices and decide on the ideal religious decisions.
In most parts of North America, many colonies had been established by people that were initially exiled from their countries due to their hard-line religious beliefs. For instance, the Puritans were seeking the reformation of the Church of England. Rist, Gilbert. The history of development: From western origins to global faith. Zed Books Ltd., 2014.
As a result, they were taken to America to mainly work in forced labor settings and ever to come back home. In that regard, these Puritans and their religious rebels created communities within which they were forced to endure the burden of colonialism.
Towards the end of the colonial period, it was noted that churchgoing had reached approximately 60% in all of the colonies in North America. These colonies experienced mixtures of religions that mostly included Quakers, Catholics, Lutheran, and some few Jews. Fraser, James W. Between church and state: Religion and public education in a multicultural America. JHU Press, 2016.
There are also Anglicans and Baptists cropping up at the time. Basically, religion had become an essential aspect of the continent by the time the region attained independence. People embraced it as a way of life and used it in various facets of their daily living and decision-making.
To conclude, it is notable that religion significantly shared the way people in the American colonies went about their daily lives. At the end of the colonial era, many people were deemed religious. A notable case is the Great Awakening initiative that brought people the appreciation of the critical roles that religion played in their lives. This was mainly the case in the course of the great revival. The impact that religion had during those times is still being felt today. New England is one area where religion holds a high degree of relevance.
Bibliography
Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson. “The colonial origins of comparative development: An empirical investigation.” American economic review, 91, no. 5 (2001): 1369-1401.
Fraser, James W. Between church and state: Religion and public education in a multicultural America. JHU Press, 2016.
Rist, Gilbert. The history of development: From western origins to global faith. Zed Books Ltd., 2014.