Lecture 19: Religion in Colonial America Notes

Religion in Colonial America

Importance of Religion

• Religion held great importance for colonial Americans.
• In the 18th century:
  • Churches were numerous.
  • Church attendance was generally high.
• Example:
  • Boston had 18 churches.
  • The largest congregation had 1500 members.
  • Ministers desired full churches.
• Philadelphia had 20 churches, and New York had 18, with more congregants than Boston.
• About half of all colonial Americans:
  • Belonged to a church.
  • Attended services regularly.

Differing Religious Experiences

• Religious experiences varied over time and location.
• 17th Century: Puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
  • Led by John Winthrop.
  • Aimed to be a "city upon a hill" as a godly example for co-religionists in England.
  • Pilgrims and Puritans formed autonomous churches.
  • They ordained their own ministers.
  • Scholars term Pilgrims and Puritans as Congregationalists.
  • Term origin: Church authority rested within the individual congregation.
  • The Congregational Church was established by law in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut.
  • These establishments lasted past the American Revolution and were removed in the 19th century, e.g., Massachusetts until 1833.

Congregationalists and Calvinism

• Congregationalists followed Calvinist doctrine.
• Based on 16th-century reformer John Calvin's theology.
• Beliefs:
  • God's ultimate sovereignty.
  • God predestined individuals before the world's creation.
  • Uncertainty about salvation or damnation.
  • Encouraged seeking signs of divine grace.

Church Membership

• Initially, only those with a conversion experience could join Congregational churches.
• Cambridge Platform (1648):
  • Doctrinally united New England's Congregational churches.
  • Advised examination of prospective members for:
    • Knowledge of religious principles.
    • Experience in the ways of grace.
• Over time, fewer members reported conversion experiences.
• Halfway Covenant (1662):
  • Allowed baptized members without conversion to join (but not partake in Communion).
• Solomon Stoddard's Open Communion:
  • Minister in Northampton, Massachusetts.
  • Welcomed all adults "who are not scandalous" to Holy Communion.
  • Believed Communion could aid conversion.
  • Shift from exclusive "saintly" ideal to a more inclusive church.

Declension and Jeremiads

• Perceived decline from Puritan ideals.
• Ministers called for return to old beliefs and practices.
• Jeremiads:
  • Sermons lamenting decline.
  • Expressed ministerial concerns about increased sinfulness and lack of calling.
  • Historians note that jeremiads reflected biased ministerial perspectives and an imperfect relationship between literary convention and reality.

Congregational Worship

• Included:
  • Long pastoral prayers (up to an hour).
  • Scripture readings.
  • Psalm singing.
  • Sermons (one to two hours).
  • Closing prayer.
• Services:
  • Sunday morning and afternoon.
  • Sometimes midweek.
• Enforcement:
  • Officials used long sticks to keep parishioners awake.

Meetinghouses

• 17th Century: Puritan meetinghouses were:
  • Square and wooden.
  • Without steeples.
• Later:
  • Bell towers were added, evolving into steeples.
  • Men and women sat separately in unheated buildings.
• 18th Century: Family pews and heating became common.

Piety and Wonder Stories

• Common myth: New England Congregationalists were extraordinarily pious.
• Evidence against:
  • Halfway Covenant.
  • Jeremiads.
  • Congregational piety extended beyond traditional practices.
• Wonder stories:
  • Popular literary convention.
  • Connected piety to real-world events.
  • Fantastic and sensational stories of the supernatural.
    • Monstrous births, flaming stars, earthquakes, bizarre cloud formations, voices from heaven, etc.
  • Found in various forms of literature, from letters to cheap books.
  • Congregationalists viewed these stories as:
    • Entertainment.
    • Signs of God's providential power.
    • A world alive with mysteries and wonders.

Congregational Church

• Established in New England (except Rhode Island).
• Largest religious body in colonial British America.
  • 658 churches (one per 600 people).
• Founded schools for educated ministers:
  • Harvard (1636).
  • Yale (1701).

Presbyterians

• Closely related to Congregationalists.
• Shared Calvinist theology.
• Differed in church organization (polity).
• Congregational Church:
  • Independent congregations.
  • Congregational polity.
  • Synods provided advice, but decisions were made by individual congregations.
• Presbyterian Church:
  • Less autonomous.
  • Each church belonged to a Presbytery.
  • Presbyteries ordained ministers and maintained church discipline.
  • Presbyteries formed regional synods.
  • More structured than Congregational churches.

Presbyterian Growth

• Experienced significant growth in the 18th century.
• Late 17th century: 12 Presbyterian churches in the colonies.
• 1758: 200 churches.
• End of colonial period: Third largest denomination with over 400,000 members in 543 churches.
• Members included:
  • Former New England Congregationalists adopting Presbyterian polity.
  • Scottish and Scots-Irish immigrants.
• Francis McKemie:
  • Presbyterian minister from Glasgow.
  • Established churches in the Middle Colonies.
  • Established the first American Presbytery in Philadelphia (1706).
  • Presbyterianism spread to the western frontiers of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas.
• William Tennant:
  • Founded the "Log College" in 1727 to train ministers.
• Presbyterians helped establish the College of New Jersey (Princeton University).

Religious Diversity in the Middle Colonies

• Middle Colonies had more churches per capita than New England.
  • Middle Colonies: one congregation per 470 colonists.
  • New England: one congregation per 600 colonists.
• Unlike New England (with legal establishments), the Middle Colonies were denominationally diverse.
• Dutch Reformed Church:
  • Initially established in New Netherland.
• Church of England:
  • Established in the lower six counties of New York after the English conquest.
  • Could not attain a monopoly due to the region's diversity.

Lutheranism and German Pietists

• Swedish, Dutch, and German migrants brought Lutheranism to the Middle Colonies.
• First Lutheran Church: Established in New Sweden in 1644.
• Growth continued with German immigration in the 18th century.
• 1765: 133 congregations and 33 pastors.
• Henry Melchior Muhlenberg:
  • Key figure in the growth of the colonial Lutheran church.
  • Established churches.
  • Formed a synod in 1748 in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.
• Lack of trained clergy was an issue.
  • Lutheran seminaries were established after the American Revolution.

Other German Groups

• Included pietistic sects:
  • Moravians.
  • German Brethren.
  • Mennonites.
  • Schwenkfelders.
• Some differed from conventional orthodoxy.

Moravians

• Largely German religious group with origins in 15th-century central Europe.
• Practices:
  • Shared goods in common.
  • Lived in gender-segregated dormitories.
  • Marriages were permitted, often arranged.
  • Ritualized sex in a dedicated room.
• Challenged traditional family life.
• Beliefs:
  • Stressed female qualities of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
  • Viewed Jesus’ side wound as a type of vagina to be penetrated by male believers.
• Moravian spirituality: erotic songs and drawings sexualizing Christ.
• Women could preach and hold authority in the church.
• Children were raised communally.
• Established communities in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
• Sent missionaries to Native American populations on the Ohio frontier.
• John Wesley:
  • Encountered Moravians on his way to Georgia.
  • Impressed by their piety.
  • Their beliefs influenced him.

Quakers

• Believed in the Inner Light of God within each individual.
• Early practices:
  • Eschewed trained ministers and religious forms.
  • Practiced quietism.
  • Democratic approach allowed women active roles.
• Pacifists.
• Center of spirituality: Philadelphia.
• Spread to other colonies.
• Opposed slavery, eventually excommunicating slaveholders.
• Evolved over time:
  • Formalized worship.
  • Ordained ministers (public friends).
  • Limited women to "Women's Meetings" for domestic and charitable concerns.
  • Doctrinal and financial decisions handled by men.

Quakers' Size

• Fifth largest religious group by the American Revolution.
• Approximately 50,000 members.

Religious Diversity Beyond the Middle Colonies

• Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers, Jews, and Catholics spread to other colonies.
• In the South, these faiths encountered the established Church of England.

Church of England (Anglican Church)

• Strongest in the South, but present throughout the colonies.
• Legally established in:
  • Virginia.
  • Maryland.
  • North Carolina.
  • South Carolina.
  • Georgia.
  • New York.
• Also referred to as the Anglican Church; members called "Anglicans".
• After the American Revolution, it became the Protestant Episcopal Church; members are now called Episcopalians.

Early History

• First religious institution established by English settlers in British North America, Jamestown (1607).
• Early struggles:
  • Few ministers of poor quality.
• 18th century:
  • Improved fortunes.
  • Building campaigns with churches along rivers and roads in Virginia.

Challenges in the South

• Scattered settlements made attendance difficult.
• Fewer ministers than in New England.
• Ministers had to be ordained by an English bishop.
• Colonial Anglicans repeatedly requested an American bishop (1670s-1760s), but were unsuccessful.
• American priests increased after the founding of William and Mary College in 1693.

Anglican Services

• Just as crowded as Congregational churches.
• Shorter services, although sermons could last an hour.
• Mandatory attendance where established by law.

Service Structure

• Typical Anglican service in colonial Virginia:
  • Reading of prayers from the Book of Common Prayer.
  • Reading of scripture lessons from the Bible.
  • A sermon.
  • Predictable service structure.

Inattention During Services

• Not all Anglicans paid attention.
• Activities included:
  • Chatting.
  • Flirting.
  • Sleeping.
  • Walking around.
• Minister Charles Clay observed:
  • People leaning on pews or windows.
  • Running in and out.
  • Playing with snuff boxes, dancing their foot.
  • Twirling hats.
  • Making observations.
  • Whispering.
  • Smiling and grinning.

Southern Anglican Piety

• Earlier historians wrongly characterized Anglicans as less godly.
• Southern Anglicans were interested in religion, but their view differed from New England Congregationalists.
• Their faith was less demanding and intrusive, but still important.
• Less worried about salvation than New Englanders.
• Southerners could be quite pious.
  • William Byrd began each day with prayer.
  • His wife read sermons to him after sex.
• Comparisons between Anglican and Congregationalist piety do not accurately reveal the unique nature of either religious path.

Governance of Anglican Churches

• Vestries:
  • Groups of twelve men.
  • Initially elected, then replaced by appointment.
  • Wealthiest men in the area.
• Responsibilities:
  • Overseeing building projects.
  • Distributing parish relief.
  • Hiring, paying, and firing ministers.
• Held significant power, making the Anglican establishment quasi-congregational.

Social Hierarchy and Socialization

• Anglican services demonstrated social hierarchy.
  • Processions.
  • Wealthiest individuals seated in front pews.
• Church served as a place of:
  • Business.
  • Courtship.
  • Faith.
• Important locus of communication due to scattered settlements (Virginia).
• Advertisements (e.g., for pork) were placed on church doors.

Missionary Societies

• Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG).
• Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (SPCK).
• Sent books and missionaries to:
  • New England.
  • South Carolina.
• SPG sent 309 Anglican missionaries to the thirteen colonies across the 18th century.

Roman Catholics

• Migrated to the thirteen colonies, mainly Maryland.
• Suffered discrimination and loss of political privileges.
• Catholicism was associated with France.
• 1765: Approximately 10,000 Catholics in Maryland; 6,000 in Pennsylvania.

Other Religions

• Jews:
  • Lived in colonial cities.
  • Approximately 2,500 by the American Revolution.
  • Established communities in Newport, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston.
  • Encountered bigotry, but established successful religious communities.
• Islam:
  • Some slaves brought Islam with them.
  • Practiced silently and individually.
  • No evidence of widespread or organized practice.

The Great Awakening

• A series of regional awakenings across the English-speaking world after the 1730s.
• Notable events in the colonies:
  • Jonathan Edwards’ Northampton revival (1736).
  • Itinerancies of George Whitefield (1740).
  • Other imitators such as Gilbert Tenant and Theodorus Frelinghuysen.

Jonathan Edwards

• Known for his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
• Preached about hellfire.
• Delivered sermons in monotone.

George Whitefield

• Anglican itinerant.
• Stressed the necessity of an emotional rebirth.
  • Sinners awakened to their inability to affect salvation.
  • Received assurance from God.
• Described the "new birth" as a conversion experience following intense awareness of guilt.
• Used dynamic preaching, stage presence, and commercialism.
• Preached to thousands in open fields and streets.

Impact of Whitefield's Preaching

• Caused psychological breakdowns and conversions.
• In some cases, despair led to suicide.
• Example: Nathan Cole, a Connecticut farmer, was deeply affected by Whitefield's sermon, experiencing introspection and self-doubt and contemplating suicide.
• Attacked conventional ministers as "dead preachers."

Denominational Impact

• Separate Baptists embraced the New Birth.
• Challenged the Anglican establishment in Virginia.
• Opposed church taxes and mandatory attendance.
• Challenged social hierarchies.
• Eschewed gentrified behavior.
• Addressed each other as brother and sister.
• Rejected infant baptism.
• Required choice and full immersion for baptism.
• This challenge resulted in isolated cases of violence against Baptist preachers.

Methodists

• Benefitted from the Great Awakening.
• Growth occurred late in the colonial period.
• Emerged as a reform movement within the Church of England.
• Founder, John Wesley, never left the Anglican Church.
• Employed circuit-riding preachers.
• Francis Asbury traveled over 270,000 miles and gave over 16,000 sermons.

Old Lights vs. New Lights

• The Awakening created a rift between "New Lights" and "Old Lights" in some denominations.
• New Lights:
  • Approved of emotionalism.
  • Less-formal ministry.
  • Itinerancy.
• Old Lights:
  • Emphasized rationality.
  • Ordained ministers.
  • Parochial boundaries.
• Congregationalists and Presbyterians experienced divisions.

Religion on the Eve of the Revolution

• Religion was everywhere in colonial America.
• Although some (e.g., Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson) embraced rational faith and deism, most believed in miracles, wonders, and revelation.