The Struggle for Religious Freedom

Religious Freedom: Terminology

• Anti-Catholicism – means expressing stereotypes or prejudices about Catholics or discrimination against Catholics
• Anti-Semitism – means expressing stereotypes or prejudices about Jews or discrimination against Jews
• Atheism – means the disbelief in God
• Sectarian – refers to a perspective on diverse Christian churches in which individuals view their own sect as the “true faith”
• Secular refers to the civic culture of a society that does not reflect ay religious perspective

Freedom of Religion

• Americans believe that the earliest colonists came to what is now the U.S. in order to flee religious persecution and establish a society which offered freedom of religion.
• The truth is that the Puritans and the other early settlers had no intension of granting universal religious freedom to anyone.   
• Religious discrimination continued for many years even after America was independent and the US Constitution was written

Religion in America after the Revolution

• Virginia – The official state-supported church was the Church of England.  It was not disestablished until 1786
• North Carolina – The state constitution of 1776 restricted public office to all but Protestants and required public officials to take an oath affirming their Christian beliefs
• New Jersey – The state constitution of1776 restricted public office to all but Protestants and required public officials to take an oath affirming their Christian beliefs
• New York – From 1777 to 1806, the state constitution banned Catholics from public office
• South Carolina – The official, state-supported church was the Church of England.  It was not disestablished until 1790s.  Only Protestants were allowed to serve as public officials
• Delaware, Pennsylvania – Public officials were required to take an oath affirming belief in the Christian Trinity (The Father, Son and Holy Spirit)
• New Hampshire – The official, state-supported church was the Congregational church.  It was not disestablished until 1790
• Connecticut – The official, state-supported church was the Congregational church.  It was not disestablished until 1818.
• Maryland – Catholics had full civil rights, but Jews did not. Public officials were required to take an oath affirming belief in the Christian Trinity (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)
• Georgia – The official, state-supported church was the Church of England.  It was not disestablished until 1789.  Only Protestants were allowed to serve as public officials until 1777.
• Massachusetts – Only Christians were allowed to hold public office.  In order to take office, Catholic officials were required to renounce papal authority.  The official, state-supported church was the Congregational Church.   It was not disestablished until 1834. 

Religious Oppression in America

• Although they were victims of religious persecution in Europe, Puritan colonists in America wanted uniformity of religion in their own communities.  
• The Puritans banished dissenters from their colonies, a fate that befell both Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, America’s first major female religious leader.  
• In 1659, Virginia began enacting anti-Quaker laws.  Those who defied the Puritans by returning to areas from which they had been banished risked capital punishment.  
  • Four Quakers were put to death by the Puritans between 1659 and 1661
• By the mid 18th Century, the Great Awakening had began to alter the sectarian view of Christianity. 
• By 1850s, the number of Catholics in the United States grew from several hundred thousand to nearly 2 million.  The Irish emigrated in large numbers because of the potato famine in England. 
• The arrival of so many Catholics fueled Protestant fears and created a climate of suspicion and distrust.  
• Because of the historical treatment of those who defied the Catholic Church in the old world, Protestants believed that Catholics would attempt to convert them and their children.
• Philadelphia’s Bible Riots of 1814 reflected a strain of anti-Catholic bias and hostility that coursed through 19th Century America