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It is good to hear another author perspective on life after the revolution. Porterfield gives major insight on a different perspective of religion being a part of life post-revolutionary life. Her perspective in the book is mostly about how there was much skepticism during the time after the revolution. In Thomas Kidd book, he talks most about how religion influenced the revolution and how our country was set based on religious freedom. Porterfield on the other had talks about a different perspective, which is the “mistrust” of politics and religion.
In the introduction of Conceived in Doubt Porterfield starts off her timeline in Avon, Connecticut in the year 1790. Throughout the book, Porterfield talks about the relationship of religion being
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For example, in chapter one Porterfield mentions Thomas Paine to help the reader understand the skepticism that was going on at the time. (Porterfield, pg. 15&16) This is a strength, because when an author uses examples or real life experience to explain a point in a story, it helps the reader understand what they are reading. Another reason using historical evidence in a story is good, is because it will have helped the reader feel like they are there in that era at the time. Even better is that historical evidence gives insight into what happen in the past, and helps a person understand what the person in that era went through and how they felt.
Conceived in Doubt by Amanda Porterfield was a good book overall, Porterfield talks about Christianity and its role in the American government in the 1700’s. The overall impression on the book is that Porterfield had written it very well. Porterfield gave a lot facts that accompanied many of her main ideas throughout her book. Amanda Porterfield is a scholar who had gone to Stanford University. Her passions for early American history came from many of her teachers. The purpose of the book was to inform the reader of how religion is connect to early American history starting in the
...es and theology as a Quaker came to influence state organization. And in Maryland, aCatholic Assembly maintained minimal [?] Christianity in order to please its Protestantconstituents. Whether three hundred years ago, two hundred years ago, or today, “freedom ofreligion” can easily become used in the interests of those in power.
Robert Laurence Moore has written a delightful, enlightening, and provocative survey of American church history centered around the theme of "mixing" the "sacred" with the "secular" and vice versa. The major points of conversation covered include the polarization caused by the public display of religious symbols, the important contribution that women and Africans have made to the American religious mosaic, the harmony and friction that has existed between science and religion, the impact of immigration on religious pluralism, and the twin push toward the union and separation of religion and politics.
Religion was a key component to the construction of the early American colonial society. It shaped the beliefs and actions of the settlers within the society in many ways. Originally, the newcomers settling on North American land had main motives of owning their own land, increasing their country’s empire and gaining personal profit. Alongside those motives came the sheer desire to spread their religion with whom they encountered in the new land of opportunity. As stated, settlers set out to convert others towards Christianity because they believed freedom was found in worshiping God. Socially, if a person identified as a Christian they automatically were placed higher on the hierarchy. In the same respect, religion and politics at this time were delicately intertwined. Being Christian also meant the government heavily favored you and your peoples since you were to be considered influential in society. In the Maryland Act Concerning Religion (1644), John Winthrop’s Speech to the Massachusetts General Court (1645), the Trial of Anne Hutchinson (1637) and Roger Williams Letter to the Town of Providence (1655) one can notice the striking role religion plays both socially and
Billy Graham once said, "The one badge of Christian discipleship is not orthodoxy but love." By this definition, June Callwood, a social activist and journalist, displays true discipleship through her work of bringing awareness to groups often discriminated against. June loved everybody equally and realized that gender, age, pecuniary possessions, or race do not define a person's worth. In other words, June Callwood is a disciple because she worked towards making a better world where the rights of every human are respected.
New brands of distinctly American Christianity began developing early in the country’s history. Before the revolution, George Whitefield set the stage for American religious movements. The most important factor that helped launch these movements was the American Revolution. The country was ripe with conversation and action on a new understanding of freedom. The revolution “expanded the circle of people who considered themselves capable of thinking for themselves about issues of … equality, sovereignty, and representation” (6). The country was beginning to move toward an understanding of strength lying in the common people, and the people’s ability to make their own personal decisions on issues of leadership and authority. There was a common belief that class structure was the major societal problem. The revolution created the an open environment that pushed equality of the individual, allowing political and religious beliefs to flourish and grow without being held in check by authoritarian leaders.
Religion of the protestant church was an important factor in the pre-war timeline culture. The Second great awakening, which occurred in the 19th century, greatly impacted American society. This new point of view in terms and matters of faith led northerners to cherish the theory of Christian perfection, a theory that in fact was applied to society in an attempt to eliminate social imperfection. On the other hand, southerners reacted by cherishing a faith of personal piety, which focused mainly on a reading of the Bible; however, it expressed very little concern in addressing society’s problems.1
Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mathers, and John Winthrop. This paper will explore the writings of these three men and how their religious views shaped their literary works, styles, and their historical and political views.
With sounds of youthful laughter, conversations about the students’ weekends, and the shuffling of college ruled paper; students file into their classrooms and find their seats on a typical Monday morning. As the announcements travel throughout the school’s intercoms, the usual “Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance” becomes no longer usual but rather puzzling to some students. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.” Confusion passes through some of the student’s minds. With the reoccurrence of “God” in the backdrop of American life, the relationship between church and state has become of little to no matter for American citizens just as it has with American students. While congress makes no law respecting an establishment of religion, the term “freedom of religion” presents itself to no longer be the definition of “free”, while also having its effects on debates today. According to Burt Rieff, in Conflicting Rights and Religious Liberty, “Parents, school officials, politicians, and religious leaders entered the battle over defining the relationship between church and state, transforming constitutional issues into political, religious, and cultural debates” (Rieff). Throughout the 20th century, many have forgotten the meaning of religion and what its effects are on the people of today. With the nonconformist society in today’s culture, religion has placed itself in a category of insignificance. With the many controversies of the world, religion is at a stand still, and is proven to not be as important as it was in the past. Though the United States government is based on separation of church and state, the gover...
Written sometime after A People’s History of the United States, the play on words might indicate the authors’ intent to refute the biased nature of the older book, and redeem the major players. Chapter one begins covering the year 1492-1707 with the age of European discovery. Schweikart and Allen focus of the catchy phrase “God, glory, and gold” as the central motives for exploration, emphasizing the desire to bring the Gospel to the New World. They paint native settlers as “thieves” and “bloodthirsty killers who pillage for pleasure” (Allen 1). The narrative continues, discussing the explorers from Portugal and Spain and their contact with the Arabs and Africans. The authors quote Columbus as saying “[he] hoped to convert them ‘to our Holy Faith by love rather than by force’” (4) a contrary portrayal to that in A People’s History of the United States. The authors continue on to discuss the French and English and the foundations for success in the New World; how people lived in the Colonial South. They write about the physical labor, the natural resources, and the food. Schweikart and Allen enlighten the readers about early slavery, the start of the House of Burgesses, the founding of Plymouth, Massachusetts, the Pequot Indian War, the English Civil War, Bacon’s Rebellion, Pennsylvania’s settlement, and the
Before the 1700s, English colonies in America struggled heavily with gender inequality, religious tolerance, and general liberties. Throughout the readings of Chapter 2, there are several direct and indirect indications of how the colonies handled the matters of religion, gender, and liberty within the English colonies.
The new world is something of which much ink has been used to write about it. To make the topic far less broad than simply all of the religious aspects of each colony, it is necessary in this essay to state that the scope of this Essay will be limited to the colonies established in the new world by the puritans from England. This is not meant to reduce the topic but only keep it stream lined and manageable, after all there is so much to write on the topic that there must be limitations placed on what will and what will not, be included. This is largely due to the source material being Of Plymouth Plantation, which focused on the forming of a puritan colony in the new world and had very little to do with any of the other European Empires in any way at all. So, the question of religion versus economics will be l...
Conversely, after researching it, I came to the conclusion that Jefferson was a deist. This conclusion is essentially drawn from and supported by the personal letters that were written by Jefferson himself and sent to his close friends. In this paper I will analyze Thomas Jefferson’s religious beliefs, as well as compare those beliefs to those held by Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin is also a political and historical figure of our nation. Out of all the founding fathers, Franklin is the only one that has signed all three of the major documents that freed the colonies from British rule and established the United States as an independent nation: the Declaration of Independence, The Treaty of Paris, and the United States Constitution. In comparison with Jefferson, Franklin’s beliefs also often get examined. Additionally, I will study the Declaration of Independence for imitated religious beliefs, and examine the different definitions, perspectives on, and creeds of the Christian and deist
Hatch’s notion that democratization stemmed from the Revolution does not lend enough light and clarity to The First Great Awakening of the 1740s. Like Paul Johnson, he sees it as the inverse of the Second Great Awakening. And yet, if the Revolution gave rise to the Second Great Awakening, then the First Great Awakening gave rise to the Revolution. It planted the first fruitful seeds of authoritarian struggle. For example, the way in which people worshipped denoted a social reality. The gentry sat up in front at church and the lower classes would sit closer to the back. This all changed with the Great Awakening. Social order deteriorated because worship was moved to a field to accommodate the masses of people who would listen to itinerant like George Whitfield. Whitfield created an open market for people about what or who they thought was best for their salvation of their soul. He believed that authority needed to be in alignment with the people’s notion of orthodoxy. His was a “market-based revivalism”. Despite the populous still submitting to authority in a particular sense, the revival was lead by ministers; they had begun to examine personal spiritual impulses and their value. Thanks to Whitfield, primacy was given to those who had divine inspiration rather than those who could get it. He began to subvert the social order since anyone could be an itinerant. Still, all of the socio-political manifestations of the First Great Awakening happened unknowingly. Those who led it never saw it through a secular lens and used it as a way to create chaos and gain power; there is no Nietzsche here. The revival of religiosity was always the primary goal. The Great Awakening looks back as much as it looks forward. It was never simply the Revolution working into religion, but a revolution that was set into motion almost forty years
The Sovereignty and Goodness of God is a primary source document written in the 17th century, by a well-respected, Puritan woman. This book, written in cahoots with Cotton and Increase Mather, puritan ministers, tells the story of her capture by Indians during King Phillip’s War (1675-1676). For three months, Mary Rowlandson, daughter of a rich landowner, mother of three children, wife of a minister, and a pillar of her community lived among “savage” Indians. This document is important for several reasons. First, it gives us insight into the attitudes, extremes, personalities and “norms” of the Puritan people we learn about in terms of their beliefs, and John Calvin’s “house on a hill”. Beyond that, despite the inevitable exaggerations, this book gives us insight into Indian communities, and how they were run and operated during this time.
But it is not enough for us to visualize a sort of "First Thanksgiving" picture of Pilgrims with steeple-crowned hats, Bibles, and blunderbusses. For one thing, we need to know something of Puritan religion and theology. This means at least a slight knowledge of Calvinism, a main source of Puritan religious doctrine. A theology as extensive and complex as Calvinism and one that has been the subject of so many misconceptions cannot be described adequately in a handbook of this type. But at the risk of perpetuating some of these misconceptions, let us mention three or four tenets of Calvinism that will illuminate to some degree the story of Goodman Brown. Calvinism stresses the sovereignty of God --- in goodness, power, and knowledge. Correspondingly, it emphasizes the helplessness and sinfulness of man. Man has been, since the Fall of Adam, innately and totally depraved. His only hope is in the grace of God, for God alone is powerful enough (sovereign enough) to save him. And the most notorious, if not the chief, doctrine is predestination, which includes the belief that God has, before their creation, selected certain people for eternal salvation, others for eternal damnation. Appearances are therefore misleading; an outwardly godly man might not be one of the elect. Thus it is paradoxical that Goodman Brown is so shocked to learn that there is evil among the apparently righteous for this was one of the most strongly implied teachings of his church.