1. CA Standard 11.3 McElhaney 2008-09
Religion in America
CA Standard 11.3
McElhaney

2. Prior Knowledge Questions
What is the status of religion in the US today?
(Facts that you know about religion in America today.)
What is the nature of Religion and Government, politics, and their interaction?
We are going to learn about the foundation of Religion in America:

3. 11.3 Students analyze the role religion played in the founding of America, its lasting moral, social, and political impacts and issues regarding religious liberty.
Essential Question:
How has Religion impacted the development of the United States?
What are the basic facts related to religion in the colonial period?
How are religious values reflected in the American culture and government?
Culture:
Government:
How did the Religious revivals of the First and Second Great Awakening impact American culture?
Religion in America has not always been positive. How have Americans responded to “Other Religions?”

4. Key Terms/Vocabulary to know
Diversity of Religions = religious pluralism
English Religion- Protestants
Puritans (pg 24)
“Sinners in the hands of an angry God”
Church of England
Presbyterians
Maryland = Refuge for Roman Catholics
Pennsylvania-Quakers
Religious Values in Government
Anti-monarchy
Self-rule
Equality
Religious liberty
Civil and human rights
Abolition of Slavery
(anti-slavery)
Religious Values in Culture:
Family-centered communities
Individual responsibility
Work ethic
First Great Awakening (pg 35)
Evangelism
Jonathan Edwards
Abolition
Second Great Awakening
Sectarian (Religious) Intolerance
Mormons (pg. 131)
Anti-Catholic sentiment (142)
Anti-Semitism

5. Europe has major problems with religion
Protestant Reformation (link)
Martin Luther, Catholic Monk, complained about problems in the Catholic Church in Europe.
95 Theses
Excommunicated
Germans support Luther
30 Years War erupts
(huge problem)
People coming to America
bring religion with them

6. Pink= Protestant Countries

7. New England Colonies: Religious Motives v. Money
Puritans or very religious protestants known as Calvinists- rejected Catholicism (Roman Catholic religion)
Were known as Separatists and or Pilgrims.
1620- Established Plymouth Colony in America

9. Plymouth: Social Aspects Small landholdings
Traveled in families- tight community
Very religious- intolerant of differences
Small population, grows to 300 after 10 years
Literacy important
Small landholdings
Strong work ethic
Work = religious piety
Political
Male dominated
Election of governor
Believed in equality for males with property and if they were religious

11. Massachusetts Bay Colony
Another Puritans community Very religious /
Winthrop wanted to create the a holy model of purity- “City upon a hill” as an example to all
All adult free men, part of a Puritan congregation (church members) could vote
Town hall meetings used to discuss and vote on local matters

12. Puritan Values Puritans believed hard work was the way to salvation.
Puritans created the first universities in colonies-
To educate the clergy.
1636 Harvard

13. Rhode Island 1600s Dissented with Puritans Massachusetts Bay
Roger Williams
Founds Rhode Island
A place for
Religious tolerance
Jews and Catholics

14. Maryland 1632
Calvert was a catholic- allowed Catholics to move, “Catholic Refuge” but still a minority, mostly protestants.
1649, Act of Toleration or “Act Concerning Religion” the Calverts persuaded the Assembly to adopt a law of religious toleration- but only for Christians

15. Maryland:
English King Gave Lord Baltimore land
Refuge for Catholics

16. Pennsylvania

17. Pennsylvania (1681)
Proprietary Colony- William Penn Refuge for Quakers: “Society of Friends”
Beliefs: equality (including gender), no kneeling, no oaths, pacifists, anti-violence, plain clothes
Large colony
Freedom of worship
Diverse population- German, Swedes, Fins
Elected assembly- to help govern
Friendly relations with Indians

18. Diversity of Religions = religious pluralism
How has Religion impacted the development of the United States? 1. What are the basic facts related to religion in the colonial period?
Diversity of Religions = religious pluralism
English Religion- Protestants
Puritans
Quakers
Roman Catholics
Religious freedom generally
Problem still Sectarian Hostility = against Catholics and Jews

19. The First Great Awakening 1730s-1740s
Great Awakening= “Awakening” to religion
Refers to reviving religious beliefs
Stated man is not helpless in achieving regeneration; his will can be an effective force in his being saved
Characteristics:
Evangelism = strong, energetic preachers
Sermons emphasized starting new relationship with GOD.
Jonathan Edwards famous evangelist of the first Great Awakening.

21. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards
‘and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are continually rising and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God that holds the waters back that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward; if God should only withdraw his hand from the floodgate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea ten thousand times greater than
The awakening sermons said:
The weight of sin will cause god’s wrath
God will execute justice upon the sinner
“The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given, and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose. Tis true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed hitherto; the floods of God’s vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the meantime is constantly increasing,

23. Civil and human rights (anti-slavery) Family-centered communities
How has Religion impacted the development of the United States? 3. How are religious values reflected in the American culture and government? Culture: Government:
Culture:
Civil and human rights (anti-slavery)
Family-centered communities
Individual responsibility
Puritan Work Ethic
Government:
Anti-monarchy
Self-rule
Equality
Religious liberty
First Amendment to the US Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;…”

24. 3. How did the Religious revivals of the First and Second Great Awakening impact American culture? Revivals = “giving new life” to bring back to life specifically Popular Religion
Second Great Awakening
Widespread Christian Movement
Awaken sentiments that last from s
Revival meetings= new life
Emotional Sermons
Increased the amount of people participating in churches
Abolition Movement Rises
First Great Awakening 1730s-1740s
More people participated in Religion
Caused people to question traditional authority of churches
Stressed the importance of the individual
Happened just before the revolution
Spread Christian ideas of equality, written law, and morality.

25. Hostility- Jews Mormons Catholics
Religion in American has not always been positive. How have Americans responded to “Other Religions?”
Hostility-
Jews
Mormons
Catholics

26. Religious Intolerance for Jews
America has a long history of hostility to other religions-
Anti-Semitism or hatred of Jews was imported with the earliest colonists.
Most British colonies were hostile toward Jews (Massachusetts, New England area, Virginia, Georgia, South and North Carolina…)
Tolerance for Jews #1 Rhode Island- freedom of worship,
Pennsylvania- first Synagogue Philadelphia,
New York
This was also a bi-product of European hatreds.

27. Religious Intolerance for Catholics
The United States developed this same hostility against Catholics.
1840s large population of Catholics come to America
Irish come to America 3million come it 4 years
Irish Potato Famine
German Catholics also come
Catholics were hated much like Jews, Indians, and blacks
Culture from England, a Protestant country, was against Catholics-
Reformation- fight between Catholics and Protestants

28. Anti-Mormon Views Joseph Smith- American protestant-
has a vision of God and Jesus and Founds a church in 1830.
Smith gains followers

29. Mormons
New Testament to the Bible (this creates hostility to the majority group that believes in the Bible)
Values- Polygamy, exclusive in business and family relations, strict lifestyle – no drinking, caffeine, tobacco…
Established religion was hostile to the Mormons
Joseph Smith was arrested then lynched (murdered by mob)
Begin in NY and move to Ohio, then Missouri, Illinois
Brigham Young is the leader of the Mormons after Smith
Then to Utah- where they establish a strong permanent community.