Religion In the Revolutionary Period
In 1776,
religion was integrated into the fabric of society and the Revolution. The colonial growth of America had produced a diverse range of congregations, with the majority still being Christian. Nonetheless, religious divisions were grounded in historical and present tensions of the Revolutionary Era.
Pictured to the left is an 1841 recreation of the destruction of Trinity Church following the Great Fire of New York in 1776 (New York Public Library).
Religion in the colonies
the first great awakening
A print from 1770 depicting a baptism in Schuylkill River, showing the growth of Baptists in the 18th-century following the Great Awakening (Historical Society of Pennsylvania).
The religious practices during the start of the Revolution were significantly influenced by the spiritual movement of the 1730s and 40s known as the First Great Awakening. This movement was fueled by a rise in fiery sermons by Protestant preachers on the importance of spiritual revival and repentance. These men would often preach outside of the church, attracting crowds as large as 30,000 people in Boston.
The revivals increased church attendance throughout the colonies and impacted all Christian denominations differently. Minority denominations including the Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists saw their congregations grow with converts. Yet many also disapproved of the new theology being spread and joined Quaker and Anglican congregations who held more conservative views on the emotionalism of the movement.
These revivals would continue to have effects in the 1770s as shown by the Methodist revivals of Virginia in 1775 where the congregation of the state grew from 2,600 to 4,400. Like many of the revivals in the earlier part of the century, preaching in large public areas attracted working-class people and enslaved Africans who may not have otherwise had access to a church religious services.
Deism
The growth of deism began in the 18th-century and continued thriving during the Revolutionary period. Deism is defined as a belief in a God who created the world but has not interfered since then. Deists separated themselves from the doctrines and scriptures of Christianity. Instead they emphasized reason and nature, which coincided with the Age of Enlightenment that defined the 18th century as well. Several founding fathers practiced Deism including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Nonetheless, these beliefs were often held privately as the majority of the country was still Christian.
Religious demographics
While the majority of colonists were Christian, denominational affiliation differed based on region and background. Historians estimate that there were around 3,200 Christian congregations in the colonies in 1776.
Anglican churches had become well established in Southern coastal cities. Their direct affiliation with the Church of England solidified their connection with the Crown. Farther north, Puritan sects like those of the Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Baptists had a longer history and an array of congregations. Migration patterns also influenced the presence of ethnic religious communities. The woodcut to the left shows the thriving diversity that existed in the northern cities, like New York, where Catholics, Quakers, German Lutherans, and Protestant Huguenots attended their respective houses of worship. To view the full list of houses of worship in New York, click on the image to the right.
Church attendance normally excluded enslaved Africans and it’s estimated that by 1790 only one in twenty-three African Americans in Virginia had joined a church. Many slave owners feared church attendance would encourage enslaved people to see themselves as equal. Nonetheless, some were converted by efforts of the Great Awakening and others brought Christianity from Africa. Others also carried Islamic traditions with them from Africa as evidenced by the names of enslaved people from the time. Furthermore, many continued practices associated with polytheistic religions from Africa, and combined these beliefs with Christian practices to create a syncretism that would be notable in the large plantation communities throughout the South.
Outside of Christian sects, Jewish congregations had been present in the colonies as early as the 1650s. The majority resided in the Northern colonies where religious freedom had been promised in places like Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. Due to smaller congregation sizes, families often met in private homes or rented spaces, and the first synagogue was only built in 1762.
While a minority of Indigenous people included Christian converts (as discussed in “Education”), the vast majority of Indigenous communities continued spiritual traditions that had been present for generations prior to colonization. While there was tremendous diversity of belief between Indigenous tribes, the majority incorporated Animism into their principles and rituals. Animism is the belief that both living and non-living objects have a spirit. Ceremonies, such as the Green Corn Ceremony from the Muscogee Creek Confederacy, revolved around the sacred relationship between nature and humans.
The Touro Synagogue in New Port, Rhode Island is the oldest synagogue in America and was dedicated in 1762. The first Jewish sermon to be published was given here in 1773. Pictured here is the interior of the synagogue which continues to be maintained and holds an active congregation (National Park Service).
George Whitefield was one of the prominent preachers of the Great Awakening and traveled from Britain to preach across the colonies starting in 1738. This portrait by John Wollaston was created circa 1742 (National Portrait Gallery).
society & religion
Map of the nine colonial colleges and their respective religious affiliations. Original map by Filetime with alterations made by Bridget Peach under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
Religion touched many aspects of society so that it would be part of the mundane and grand that made up society in 1776. As discussed in “Education,” children’s curriculum from a very early age was intertwined with Christian prayers and scripture. Institutions of higher education at this time also commonly had religious affiliations and foundations, as shown in the map to the right. Ministers and religious leaders often sat on the boards of these colleges.
In many instances, churches served as central community centers and meeting houses for public notice meetings. Within the government, religion was also integrated into laws within colonies. From the start of colonial history, local governments had relied on “blue laws” to uphold the morality of society. These included limitations about working on Sundays, as well as prohibition of spirits and playing card games. A 1761 proclamation in Massachusetts “for the encouraging of piety and virtue, and for preventing and punishing vice, [profanities], and immorality.” The proclamation prohibited the sales of alcohol and chocolate on Sundays and called on ministers to read the proclamation four times every year to their congregation. The legacy of these laws would continue into the Revolutionary Era. In 1779, the Pennsylvania Assembly passed the “Act for Suppression of Vice and Immorality” that extended the normal restrictions to also limit theatrical plays in the city which were seen to promote idleness and extravagance.
Local governments also provided tithes to local churches in an effort to support “public virtue.” The tithes were most commonly collected through local taxes and in some colonies citizens could select their preferred denomination, though in some it went to the “established” church of the colony. This often frustrated minority congregations who also argued it went against the freedom of religion promised in some of the colonies. The connection between government and religion continue to be a contentious argument, especially as the new nation and states developed after the war.
Religious tolerance
Division among Christian sects was not uncommon, especially between Anglican congregations and Puritan sects. The former more closely resembled practices and traditions associated with Catholicism and was tied to the Church of England. Many colonial militia and legislative bodies required men to recite an oath of allegiance which denounced the Catholic church. The British government formally banned this requirement through the Quebec Act of 1774. The mistrust between Puritans and Anglicans was further escalated in colonies like Virginia, where the majority of the population was Anglican, and persecution of minority sects became common. Persecution reached its height in the 1760s and 70s following the influx of Baptists as a result of the Great Awakening. Records mention that Baptist preachers were frequently arrested and mobs would attack local meetings.
While colleges did not endorse the Declaration of Independence, internal disputes and tensions showed that the majority of institutions supported the Revolutionary cause. At William & Mary, the standing President of the College was ousted for his prevailing Loyalist stance and replaced by a Patriotic faculty member. King’s College (now Columbia University) also had a strong Loyalist leadership that was forced to flee to England after a mob attacked the home of their standing President, Myles Cooper. After the war, the Board of Governors for the school would change the name to Columbia University to sever all ties with the British Crown. In 1776, the President of the College of Philadelphia (now University of Pennsylvania) wrote to the Continental Congress urging for reconciliation with the British. Following confirmation of his Loyalist leanings the Pennsylvania Assembly revoked the school’s charter in 1779.
Religion & the revolution
This needle work from 1770 depicts the biblical story of King David as King George III while Absalom is executed by a Redcoat soldier. In the story, Absalom had tried staging an uprising against King David after his sister is raped by one of David’s sons (Library of Congress).
Religious arguments for revolution
A British cartoon depicts the increased fears of Puritan sects that the Anglican church would be further institutionalized in the 1770s (Library of Congress).
The Great Awakening encouraged an individual and personal relationship with God that was not connected to a building or the Crown. Historians correlate these theological shifts as groundwork for the values of independence and freedom that the Revolutionary cause invoked.
Arguments in sermons and pamphlets often invoked Biblical principles as grounds for fighting against imperial oppression, arguing that the Revolutionary cause was a Christian duty. Even deists like Thomas Paine understood how religion, particularly Christianity, resonated with colonial society. In his pamphlet, Common Sense, he used scripture to argue that the monarchy was against God’s will. Furthermore, Paine invoked anti-Catholic rhetoric as a way to associate the Crown with oppression as many colonists continued to share a distrust of Catholic sects and the Pope. Historians agree that the rise in these discussions convinced colonists who otherwise had no stake in the economic or political reasons to go to war. Furthermore, these arguments disputed the monarchy’s right to rule which was grounded in “divine authority.”
Clerical tensions during the eve of the Revolution also pointed to increased frustrations across denominations with the fragile religious pluralism of the colonies. This was mainly a result of the desire for the Anglican church to have a bishop within the colonies; at the time the Anglican colonists relied on their reverends as representatives for the bishops that remained in London. Anglicans felt their request was more pressing following the Quebec Act, which secured the position of the Catholic bishop of British Canada. However, Congregationalists and other Puritans sects were strongly opposed to these requests. They saw the potential for a royally appointed bishop as a risk to their religious freedom and threat of renewed persecution that they had escaped from centuries ago. While the controversy never erupted into violence, the reactions of both groups show the overlap between religious and imperial divisions in the Revolution era.
Etching of Maj. Gen. Peter Muhlenberg by Henry Bryan Hall (New York Public Library).
Religion & the war
While some were supportive of the war efforts, other religious groups strongly opposed the declaration of war. Among them were Quakers whose beliefs of pacifism conflicted with the calls for violence and revolution. Nonetheless, many of them served as nurses and some were directly involved despite being barred from their local meetings. Some of these Quakers formed a group known as the “Free” Quakers and established a building in Philadelphia at the end of the war. Among the attendees was Betsy Ross, upholster for the Continental Army, and Timothy Matlack, a colonel during the Revolution.
Anglicans and Methodists who held ties to the Church of England were often associated with British Loyalists. As a result, prominent Methodist preachers went into hiding or returned to England after the war.
Religious leaders served as chaplains in the army, but some also enlisted in the military. Lutheran minister Peter Muhlenberg was remembered for having removed his clerical robes to reveal his military uniform after a sermon in Woodstock, Virginia. He went on to serve as a major-general for the Continental Army and led a brigade at the Battle of Yorktown.
Religious fasting was also integrated into the cause for independence. For example, following the Port Act that closed the ports of Boston in 1774 the Virginia House of Burgesses announced a day of lamentation and fasting. On March 16, 1776 the Continental Congress issued a proclamation for a day of fasting throughout the states:
“And it is recommended to Christians of all denominations to assemble for Public Worship, and abstain from servile Labour on the said Day.”
The belief that favor and military success was connected to faithful practice and moral behavior was also present in George Washington’s army. In 1776, Washington sent orders for his officers to cease profanity saying, “we can little hope of the blessing of Heaven on our army if we insult it by our impiety and folly.” A year later, Washington sent orders to chaplains that mandated all officers to attend church service every Sunday. The Continental Congress had appointed a variety of chaplains since its inception in 1776 and paid each one the same as a general. As funds dwindled Continental Congress was forced to decrease the number of chaplains in the army. Still, Commander Washington explained that doing so would limit “a more generous toleration.”
Module by Maria Reyes Pacheco, with contributions from Caleb Mann and Bridget Peach. Click here for bibliography.