What Is The Role Of Religious Freedom In America

Religion has been a major force in the history of the United States and in settling the colonies of America in many ways. Religion was definitely one of the major reasons for the founding of the colonies, and it was a powerful influence on the social and political life of the colonial times in the New World. Most of the colonies were made up of people that were very religious, and the early colonists wanted to have the freedom of worshiping God as they seen proper; and they were promised religious freedom in the New World.

Religious freedom has greatly influenced the history of the United States of America, and it was a shaping factor in how the Europeans discovered America. It was their religious views which affected how they interacted

The main reason the Pilgrims came to America was that they were searching for the freedom to worship (“The New England Colonies”…). The Pilgrims sailed to America from England and settled the first permanent English settlement called Plymouth Colony. The Pilgrims and Puritans arrived in the 1620s. They came to America hoping to create the perfect Christian world. They intended to “purify” their churches of all Catholic and Anglican routines and pass a code of laws and a governing body built on teachings from the bible. They limited their membership in their churches to those who had been chosen by God for salvation (“Religion in Colonial America…”). The Separatists required that each congregation rule itself and not be controlled by a bureaucracy of bishops and archbishops (Shi, 53). They wanted to raise their children in a place where they could live and work according to their religious teachings. The Pilgrims worked hard, lived simple lives, and were very conservative. Following this, many other groups came to America searching for the same

It was also created to be a holy Protestant colony, but they had different views from the Pilgrims that settled Plymouth. They also wanted to “purify” the Church of England, but they wanted to do it from the inside. A person had to be able to show the gift of God’s grace to join the congregation (Shi, 54). In 1636, Connecticut was settled by colonists from Massachusetts Bay, where they organized a self-governing colony. Reverend Thomas Hooker, a minister from Cambridge who supported less severe views on religious practices than other Puritan clergy, brought part of his congregation to the territory (Shi, 58). Many other colonies were formed based on differing religious sects as was the case of Pennsylvania. The Puritans excluded the Quakers and would not accept them into their church. Therefore, the Quakers under the leadership of William Penn formed Pennsylvania. (“History of Religion in