Religion In The American Colonies Essay

Anne Orthwood’s Bastard: Sex and Law in Early Virginia by John Ruston Pagan highlights the paradoxical nature of life in the colonial times and how it aided the creation of American law. The four cases that resulted from the fornication between Anne Orthwood and John Kendall gave present historians a vivid image of how English settlers modified English traditions and began to create customs of their own. Furthermore, it was able to reveal some of the cultural, economical and political values in the colony of Virginia such as tobacco and unfree labor. They helped reveal the reasons why legal systems were created in the first place by documenting the prolongation of social order as well as the preservation of self interest. Anne Orthwood’s Bastard

“Independence, free will, and personal effort are considered primary virtues that contribute not only to personal achievement but also to the success and well-being of the nation.” This quote, stated by Charles Finney, means that people must be able to choose for themselves and make their own decisions in order for the country to become better than it is. The Second Great Awakening began for several different reasons, consisted of many different church revivals and leaders, and ultimately had a lasting impact for several more years after the end of the Second Great Awakening.

Colonial America is often thought of as a safe haven from religious persecution. Future colonists had been persecuted for not accepting their countries ' religious doctrine and were willing to travel long distances in search of religious freedom. Religious freedom would still be far from grasp as Puritans would continue their homelands traditions of persecution for many more years.

Regardless of a colony’s religious situation, whether they allowed complete freedom of worship or were occupied by strict religious laws, all thirteen colonies were affected by a movement called the Great Awakening. Generally, the Great Awakening is characterized by a fervent revival in religion practice.Although, this movement had a major impact on most aspects of colonial life, it is important to note the effect it had on religion and how that in turn affected the political life of the colonist. Because of The Great Awakening, many ministers lost authority the authority they held over because more people were taking to studying the Bible in their own homes. This idea would have larger implications for the future. Colonists were seeing themselves

In Colonial America, during the 1600’s and 1700’s, there were religious, political and geographical changes which resulted in democratic and undemocratic changes.

Jonathon Edwards helped set off the Great Awakening because of in his “powerful” sermons, he would call on colonists, also young people, to examine their lives. He would preach of god’s sweetness and beauty, but at the same time he would warn the listeners to pay attention to the bibles teachings. Otherwise, they would be sinners.

Though they came from the same origin, the New England and Chesapeake Regions both separated, and with different goals for each colony. By the 1700s the Chesapeake and New England regions were distinctively different even though both were made from English colonies based on, the people whom settled the land, the governing goals and the religions brought to the new land.

The First Great Awakening was a reaction to the Enlightenment in the 1730's and 1740's that was basically a giant jump forward for American Protestantism in primarily the American colonies, Protestant Europe and British America. The reason The First Great Awakening occurred is, men in these regions began to question what their use was regarding society and religion. This means people began to move in their own direction when it came to personal salvation. New denominations began to rise and it brought the colonies closer together than ever before. Two men that played a huge role in the First Great Awakening were Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. Both of these men were ministers during the time of The First Great

Thomas Hooker decided to settle Connecticut for freedom. Hooker didn’t like the laws of Massachusetts so he decided to find a new place to live. He heard about a valley and convinced some people to come with him to this new valley. Once he was there, he found an old fort and settled a community. In 1639, he would merge with two other settlements to create the colony of Connecticut. Connecticut was settled by Thomas hooker because he didn’t like the laws and leadership of Massachusetts.

The balance between individual’s rights (more specifically freedom of religion and belief), local and national government are essential to America today. The colonies were heavily religious in the elementary stages of this country. Faith has influenced the migration to this country, the relationships between the European settlers and the Native Americans, and the establishment of America. Colonial culture laid the groundwork for America. Faith continues to be a huge part of American culture today.

The Great Awakening unified the diverse colonies with the belief that colonists must shift their lives’ focus from worldly matters, such as accumulating land and wealth, back to faith and the church i n order to avoid condemnation by God.

There were people who were native to the land, Native Americans, who had there own religious practices. Then a lot of people migrated to American from a number of other countries bring their religious practices with them. Religious diversity in individual colonies was due to any immigrants from different religious backgrounds settling in close proximity to one another. For example, New York became one of the most diverse places in the American Colonies. I would argue that this is because to the fact that New York is on the coast; therefore a large amount of immigrants entered America by way of New York some settling in New York or near New York. Although these immigrants were in a new place they continued to practice their own spiritual. During this time many people believed that their religion was the one true religion. They thought their religious practices were the only practices honoring God. So they began to evangelize to others. Going to different colonies preaching and teaching of God in they way in which they believed. This is how most of these religions spread through out America. There were evangelist who's job its was to preach the Good News convert others to there religion. This diversity is also due to people who were simply unhappy with their current denomination so they converted to another. There were people who's religious views were so unorthodox that they caught the attention of many

North America was developing into a society built up by many Native American tribes. Native Americans had already inhabited North America for hundreds of years before 1600 when Europeans started to arrive. There was a complex society built on relationships between the tribes. North America was already under the control of a plethora of Native American tribes. This was relatively quick to change after the Europeans started colonizing on the east coast. The Europeans did not look at North America as occupied land; they viewed it more as a gold mine of opportunities. Europeans from all over the place started flooding into North America in search of success and wealth. The Native Americans were quickly overwhelmed by the power of the Europeans,

During the seventeen-century, there were different types religious based colonies. One was the Pilgrims and the others were the Puritans. Their believes were very different. They traveled to America during 1620 for a better life. They were many things that the Pilgrims and Puritans religious did to influence their settlement in North America.

I have been going to church every Sunday I’ve been here, because they use the same punishment for skipping. These bloody copy cats use the exact same public embarrassment as we do. Another aspect that they copy about us is telling little children that if they didn’t go to church they would drown. They’re life is practically the same as ours. What is the point of starting a new life if it’s the same as your old one! One of the things that I do like about these colonies is that they really do seem enthusiastic about religion. I’ve asked them why and they said because of this movement called the “Great Awakening” where preachers would travel from town to town having outdoor revival meetings.