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New England Colonies

By Kendall Francis
     In between 1629 and1640 an estimated 80,000 Puritans fled from England. 21,000 went to Massachusetts Bay and the others went else were.  The Puritans wanted to make everything pure so they decided to make churches and try to convert people to be Puritans.  Puritans were very strict.  The Quakers were a very religious group that was hated by the English government. They wouldn’t fight in wars, take their hats off to woman, and they were sometimes hanged for the things they have done.  They moved to the middle colonies for religious freedom. The Quakers were lead by William Penn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 This is a video introduces the Middle Colonies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                 

This is the picture of the Church of the Middle Colonies.

        

            The Middle Colonies of British, North America comprised of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, became a stage for the western world’s most difficult experience with religious pluralism. These settlers that came to the middle colonies during the 17th century were the Dutch and the Swedish Lutherans. Quaker William Penn provided freedom to practice any kind of religion the residents liked, after he was granted a colony there in 1681, the Quakers. Catholics and Jews could not vote back then. Soon, all groups  of people like the:Calvinists, Jews, Moravians, German Lutherans, and Roman Catholics came to Pennsylvania because of its religious rights. New York gave their communities, locally established churches, each town would vote on which the church its tax money would support to be fair with the people. However, there was limited religious freedom in New Jersey.  This made the middle colonies establish a very religious flat form. 

 

          The Great Awakening   

 

          The Middle Colonies was a region that had freedom for people. Freedom of religion helped produce religious faith that transformed the American religious landscape. The First Great Awakening began among the Presbyterians in New Jersey and western Massachusetts, and with the newer denominations of Baptists and Methodists in the 1730s. This period of heightened concern with salvation lasted until the eve of the American Revolution in the 1760s. In individual congregations, in colleges, and in mass outdoor meetings, revivalists preached that all could be born again and saved, and that anyone could preach, not just an educated elite. The Great Awakening was instrumental in converting slaves as well as free people.       

 

              The first Great Awakening began among Presbyterians, New Jersey and west of Massachusetts. then newer groups like the Baptists and Methodists in the 1730's. The Great Awakening was when people wanted rights for diversity of different kinds of religion and these people also wanted to the slaves to convert into free people. The Great Awakening helped set a stage by undermining faith in the traditional authority, especially the authority of the church of England and the king, the king was the head of the Church. In the early days of this movement, working men, woman, and African Americans took roles as Bible teachers and prayer group leaders. In particular, the working men acquired leadership experience that made them get  into political roles during and after the American Revolution. The Great Awakening was led by the Tennent family in the middle colonies, he was a Scots- Irish immigrant, his 4 sons, all who were clergymen. The Presbyterians not only established religious revivals in those colonies of 1730's, but also founded a seminary to train clergymen, whose preaching would bring the sinners to experience a divine conversion. This was known as the " Log College," today it's better known as Princeton University. Energy of religious quickly spread from the Presbyterians of the Middle region to the Congregationalists( Puritans) and the Baptists of the New England colony. Soon, by the 1740's,, all the clergymen of these churches were making recovery through the region, using the same tactic as the Tennents since they had been successful. In emotional lectures, all the powerful because they gave extraordinary speeches. Some preachers like, Jonathan Edwards awoke vivid and clear, scary pictures of the blessed corruption of the human beings and the terrors await the wrong doing in hell. In, conclusion Edwards famous description of a sinner as a disgusting spider dismissed by a thin thread over a pit of foam brimstone in his known words," Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

 

 

 

 

The three most famed evangelical preachers of the Great Awakening, whose portraits do not convey the fiery emotions of their sermons.

 

 

Religion in the Middle colonies

     There was a wide sympathetic toleration going on in the freedom of work shipping many different kinds of gods, religions and practices. Community order that was thought to be impossible to work with the Europeans who were adapted with the centuries of religious warfare. This toleration encouraged  both ethnic and religious diversity of the different religions.  These colonies set an example for the later generations of the United States, to let people practice what ever religion they would like to. Since, many came over to the middle colonies, this region was also named as the " melting pot." Also, the Middle Colonies thought keeping slaves was wrong and not a good thing, so that is one of the reasons the Middle colonies had a very less amount of slaves. 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic Religion Facts...

 

•  Religion was considered the major part of social life. 
• Many different religious groups such as; Catholic, Jewish, French, Huguenot, Protestant, and the Dutch reformed in the Middle Colonies.
• Many of the farms in the Middle Colonies there were slaves working. 
• The Middle Colonies were one of the places that had the Christmas Tree.

 

 

 

Top Picture: this is the Wellsburg Universalist Church, pictured at the left is now a community center.

 

       The Middle Colonies consisted many people that wanted religious freedom, led by William Penn( october 14, 1644- July 30, 1718), Pennsylvania was named in  honor of William Penn.The Middle Colonies were settled by people from many different countries.  Many of these people did not speak English.  They were from all over Europe.  Some of the languages spoken in the Middle Colonies were Dutch, German, Swedish, Welsh, French, and English with a Scottish or Irish accent.  Three of the colonies were begun for trading reasons (Delaware, New Jersey, New York) and one (Pennsylvania) for religious freedom. Pennsylvania was organized by William Penn.  Penn was a Quaker religious leader.  The Quakers were a religious group that is best known for being against any kind of war.  They believed that people should be free to worship in their own way instead of forcing them to practice one kind of religion.

 

                                                                                 

                      
 

 

 

 

 

My Sources( also on the works cited page)

 

    "Middle Colonies - Religion in the Colonies - History of Religion in the United States - Religion in the United States - People - USA - North America: Freedom Religion, Church England, Freedom Pennsylvania, American Revolution, Great Awakening." Countries Quest. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. <http://www.countriesquest.com/north_america/usa/people/religion_in_the_united_states/history_of_religion_in_the_united_states/religion_in_the_colonies/middle_colonies.htm>.

 

    Bonomi, Patricia U. "Religious Pluralism in the Middle Colonies, Divining America, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center." National Humanities Center - Welcome to the National Humanities Center. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. <http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/midcol.htm>.

 

    "Religion and Church in the 13 American Colonies." Social Studies for Kids. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. <http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/13colonieschurch.htm>.

 

    "Middle Colonies - Religion in the Colonies - History of Religion in the United States - Religion in the United States - People - USA - North America: Freedom Religion, Church England, Freedom Pennsylvania, American Revolution, Great Awakening." Countries Quest. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. <http://www.countriesquest.com/north_america/usa/people/religion_in_the_united_states/history_of_religion_in_the_united_states/religion_in_the_colonies/middle_colonies.htm>.

 

    "Kidinfo.com - Your Guide to the History of the Middle Colonies." Kidinfo.com - Your Guide to Homework Help, and the BEST Educational Games Websites. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. <http://www.kidinfo.com/american_history/colonization_mid_colonies.html>.

 

www.google.com" images"

 

 

BY: JYOTI BORATE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Southern Colonies

 

     In 1517, Martin Luther, father of the Protestant Reformation, nailed his The Ninety-Five Theses to the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Saxony. This is what started the Protestant Reformation all across Europe, including reformations in France, Germany, and England. While the French reformers were the Huguenots, Anglicanism arose during the English Reformation. Since the king could not get a divorce in the Catholic Church, the state’s religion reformed and Anglicanism became the primary religion of the Church of England. 

Lord Baltimore

Martin Luther

   The southern colonies, including Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, mainly worshiped the Anglican Church. Branching off of the Anglican faith, Presbyterian and Baptism became the primary religion of most of the southern colonies. Maryland, however, was founded by George Calvert, also known as Lord Baltimore, in an attempt to separate church from state and to be a haven to all Roman Catholics.

   

  The Great Awakening

      The Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals that began in 1679.The South became an important center for this movement when Samuel Davies came to Hanover County, Virginia in 1748. He read sermons by Luther and Whitefield to his neighbors, and there were so many converts that special reading houses had to be built because the private homes he and other preachers had been preaching in could not hold everyone. Davies was a great organizer and supported the revival of religion. He was a Presbyterian, and though he was a moderate preacher, the fires of revival quickly caught, and Presbyterianism boomed. Hanover Presbytery was the first to be established in the South.

     Another leader of the revival in the South was Shabul Stearns, a Baptist. Methodists gained a part in the Awakening through the work of Devereux Jarratt. The Methodists and Baptists spread much more quickly because of their lack of need for educated ministers. The Presbyterian ministers had to go through a long period of education before they were allowed to preach, but the other two churches could send lay ministers to various places with a minimum of notice.

     The Great Awakening helped unite the North and South somewhat, as they now shared a religion. New denominations appeared and grew. Emphasis was placed on education. African and Native Americans were preached to for almost the first time. People thought more about worship as affirming their duty to God as opposed to His duty to them. Theocracy could no longer be maintained, and theology split into two schools of thought. The Old Lights (traditionalists) and the New Lights (revivalists) each had different theological views. The Awakening helped people with their spiritual lives much of the time. It also revived many peoples sense of religious mission.    

                                                                                                                                     

George Whitefield

Samuel Davies

Bust of Jonathan Edwards

 

 

     The Great Awakening saw many groups from the North start preaching in the South, or as in the case of the Separatist Baptists, move completely to the South. The Great Awakening in the South faced much less theological resistance than it did in the North, partially because there were not as many established ministries. Eventually, the Old Light-New Light conflict drew in the regular people of the colonies and their civil governments. In the South, Anglicanism gained government and popular support.

     The Great Awakening helped in the South and the rest of the colonies, to do away with the predisposition against rebellion against England. A preacher in the South preached a sermon telling Methodists not to get involved with the Revolution, and the Methodists told him to mind his own business (This is relevant as the main body of the Methodist church at the time was in the South.). Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and several other leaders took advantage of this fact all over the colonies to gain support for the Revolution. It is somewhat interesting that though the Anglican Church sided with the Tories, almost all the other churches sided with the rebels.

     Before the Great Awakening, the South was not full of churchgoers like it is today. Most of the population was "unchurched". George Whitefield was a dramatic man who preached up and down the Eastern seaboard. In the South, we spread the Great Awakening far and wide. His sermons, as mentioned before, were very dramatic and also very loud.

      

"Yet it pleased God yt our ship arrived safe to us wth a most convenient Supply.  Ye Enimy not being remoued, & yet being sensible thereof, theire Indians being terrifyd at ye Scaleing of some of our Great Guns.  And ye Spaniard as wee suppose being frustrated of his expectation of starving us, cowardly retreated to St Augustines never attempting anythinge against us soe yt at prst wee have noe other news but yt he hath threatened to destroy ye Indians of St Helens, of Cumbohee & of Edistowe yt are our friends.

            Thus as to ye estate of our Genll affaires.  As to our family necessity.  I suppose Mr. Jones hath made yor honr ffully acquainted as to my particularre wants.  I am most beholden to yor honors Ageny here than any thinge from ye Publicke, All though I must confesse they have made honble recommendations of mee in there Genll letters.  I shall endeavour by ye next to send yr Honr some of our American raritys, our troubles at prest not permittinge mee ye vacancy as to travel ye Country, It being most of my businesse to awaite in towne & to give an account of what relations ye Natives bringe us either from ye Southward or ye Northward soe yt least I might seeme too prolixe I rest my respective seruices presented to yor Honr not forgetting my respects to Mrs Mavel Carter & ye rest of yr Honrs family & relations." -Transcript of a letter by Dr. Henry Woodward, a preacher who traveled with some of the first English settlers to South Carolina.

  

   "And now let me address all of you, high and low, rich and poor, one with another, to accept of mercy and grace while it is offered to you; Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation; and will you not accept it, now it is offered unto you?"-George Whitefield. 

 

     "Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will." -Jonathan Edwards

    

"It is a poor sermon that gives no offense; that neither makes the hearer displeased with himself nor with the preacher." -George Whitefield 

 

 

"Jonathan Edwards: On the Great Awakening." National Humanities Institute, 1998. Web. 1 Oct 2010. http://www.nhinet.org/ccs/docs/awaken.htm.

"Lectures 1,3,4,6." Wake Forest. Wake Forest University, n.d. Web. 1 Oct 2010. <http://www.wfu.edu/~matthetl/perspectives/four.html

"Religion in Eighteenth Century America." Library of Congress, July 23, 2010. Web. 1 Oct 2010. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel02.html.