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First Great Awakening
During the First Great Awakening, evangelists came from several Protestant denominations: Anglicans, Congregationalists and Presbyterians. These groups rejected formal modes of worship in favor of more emotional worship. The preaching of Luther and Calvin, a doctrine of predestination and close reading of scripture, was shifted. Ministers spread the message of personal experiences for faith that rose above mere book learning. Those usually excluded by traditional Protestantism were welcomed. 1 -
Franklin and Deism
Franklin practiced deism, they believed in a God who created, but had no input on daily events. Deists also advanced the belief that ones morality, leading to good works and actions, is more important than strict church doctrines. Deism guided his philanthropic works. In 1743, he founded the American Philosophical Society to encourage the spirit of inquiry. In 1749, he provided the foundation for the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1751, he helped found Pennsylvania Hospital. 1, 3 -
The Shakers
The Shakers started in England as an outgrowth of the Quaker religion. Ann Lee, a leader of the group in England, emigrated to New York in the 1770s, having experienced a profound religious awakening that convinced her that she was “mother in Christ.” She taught that God was both male and female; Jesus embodied the male side, while Mother Ann represented the female side. The Shakers, or the shaking Quakers were names as such because of their shaking tremors during worshiping. 1, 4 -
Phillis Wheatley, Thomas Jefferson, Slavery and Religion
Racism shaped white views of blacks, Thomas Jefferson owned more than one hundred slaves, although he often advocated for the release of slaves. He thought blacks were inferior, dismissing Phillis Wheatley by arguing, “Religion indeed has produced a Phillis Wheatley; but it could not produce a poet.” White slaveholders taught slaves that slavery was ordained by God and it was their duty to be obedient slaves. Wheatly, a slave, was educated, and a well known respected poet. 1, -
New Religious Order
In Colonial Virginia, the established church had been the Church of England, The Church of England had little tolerance for other religions. In 1786, as a response against the privileged status of the Church of England, Virginia’s lawmakers approved the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which ended the Church of England’s hold and allowed religious liberty. Under this new statute no one could be forced to attend or support a specific church or be prosecuted for their beliefs. 1, 2 -
Freedom of Religion, Bill of Rights.
Many Americans opposed the 1787 Constitution because the centralized power threatened the freedoms of ordinary citizens. The Anti-Federalists, demanded protection for individual rights. Federalists added such a bill in 1789, when VA Representative Madison presented and Congress approved the Bill of Rights. Adopted in 1791, the bill consisted of the first ten amendments to the Constitution and outlined personal rights state constitutions already granted, among these were freedom of religion.1, 4 -
Sources
- P. Scott Corbett et al., U.S. history (Houston, TX: OpenStax College, Rice University, 2014),
- https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/media_player?mets_filename=evm00003280mets.xml
- http://brewminate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/EnglishEmpire16.png 4.http://brewminate.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/EnglishEmpire16.png http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/images/9/93/Shakers.jpg
