John Garcia, Baharu Harris, Jeffrey Heferle

Dr. Caitlin Kelly

Age of Revolutions

20 October 2017

The Role of Religion in the American Revolution

Americas separation from its mother country could be attributed to key political events

and important shifts in ideology; the imposition of heavier taxes by the British government, for

example, and the spread of Enlightenment ideas undoubtedly shaped colonial thought and tipped

tensions in favor of independence. Secular traditions like those of Enlightenment thinkers and

even Greek philosophers have been cited as long-term influential factors by historians like

Bernard Bailyn in his work The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, but at this point

in time many colonists - including the more scientifically-driven Rationalists - were still driven

by the belief in a higher being. Our research has shown that religion was an integral aspect of

life if not a guide to live your life (Puritans lived and died by the Bible), and for the colonists in

particular religion had a uniquely American touch with the paradigm-shifting effects of the Great

Awakening and the proliferation of Protestant denominations that rivaled the established

Anglican Church of England. Our sources further suggest that the American Revolution was not

a direct result of short-term, compounding political events; rather, it was rooted in a protracted

process of changing ideological differences started by the establishment of American religious

institutions. In the words of Derek H. Davis, religion was a powerful force that motivated

political behavior and the underlying cause for American independence.

The process of ideological change can be traced back to the introduction of religion in
the North American continent. Our research indicates that the original colonial population

consisted of Puritans and Evangelicals, two groups that were forced out of England as the

government began cracking down on religious freedoms. Davis furthers shows that the Anglican

Church of England wielded tremendous influence in British society, and with its direct, corrupt

control of the government and its questionable doctrine, the Church drove Puritans and

Evangelicals across the Atlantic to settle in the New World. This separation not only marks the

beginning of religious tensions among the different churches but also allows for the development

of distinct American views on religion. Historians like Bernard Bailyn and Derek H. Davis point

to the belief among colonists that divine intervention in the colonization of the Americas was an

event designed by the hand of God to satisfy his ultimate aims (Bailyn 32-33). Proponents of

the Great Awakening have cited similar views; Jonathan Edwards, one of the leaders of this

religious movement, saw America as becoming the center of God's kingdom on earth

(Davis). Without an overarching religious authority like the Anglican Church, these

revolutionary beliefs were able to spread across denominations and became embedded in

colonial society.

Early Americans were safe from religious persecution in England, but eventually the

Anglican Church reached over the Atlantic and landed as the majority religion in many colonies

(Ragosta). Persecution took on a different form with special taxes and restrictions on mainly

Protestant religions, and soon enough colonists began to fear the establishment of a state

religion. At the same time, the British were issuing new taxation policies and suspending certain

rights that the colonies had enjoyed in their isolation. While some beliefs united the colonists on

a spiritual level, there were still distinct characteristics that kept them from uniting against the

establishment of a state religion and the British political agenda under the banner of
revolution. Historian Derek H. Davis explains that colonists at this time could be divided into

two categories: Pietists, or colonists that held an emotional connection to God, and rationalists,

who were intellectuals and members of the elite class that incorporated Enlightenment ideals and

secular teachings into their religious views. He points out that the two groups were naturally

polar opposites, but they saw the fight for independence as a justified movement that could

benefit the colonies as a whole. Keith L. Griffin continues to expand on this, and through his

research we found that the New England Congregationalists and Reformed Churches alike

alluded to the six conditions of war set out by Westminster divine John Ley in 1643

(18). Derived from Biblical passages, Ley concluded that war had to be fought for a good

end...so that the subjects may lead a peaceable and quiet life and that war could not be

undertaken until all other means were exhausted (Griffin 18). This was among other

justifications that added legitimacy to the party preparing for conflict. Religious leaders from

many Protestant backgrounds preached to their congregations the justness of the colonists'

cause (Davis), citing the will of God to empower colonists, the inspirational belief of divine

support, and Leys arguments for war. For example, 18th century protestant preacher and author

David Kellogg said in his book, The Nature of Christian Compassion, Particular societies with

which we are connected by some particular bonds, have a right to a special share of our attention,

and friendly assistance; but with those which we have an imperfect state, we must address the

unavoidable confrontation (Fliegelman, 299). Kellogg continues to explain how he believes that

there cannot be a mutual covenant as he calls it between the two feuding sides, influencing his

congregation and readers of this cause.

The rationalists shared some similarities with their Pietist counterparts, but where the

Pietists rationalized war through religion, the rationalists used their backgrounds in the sciences
and in the breakthroughs of the Enlightenment to come to a rational decision. Through Bells

work, we found that John Adams, a leading member of the Revolution and the rationalists,

turned the religious argument into a civic one. The threat of the Anglican Church extending into

colonial matters was real; it already maintained a majority of religious followers compared to the

Protestants, and with rising tensions there was the chance that the Church could establish all of

its creeds, articles, tests, ceremonies, and tythes (Bell 211) and integrate the religion into

state matters. Adams saw the potential for an attack on civil liberties and echoed his

observations among his fellow rationalists and among the general population.

Even with these differences in beliefs, Pietists and rationalists did not permit theological

differences to prevent them from finding bonds of unity in commitments to the need for

independence (Davis). Our group was surprised by this development and by how multiple

churches and belief systems were able to briefly come together in a show of support against a

common enemy. As Jack P. Greene argues in his work The Social Origins of the American

Revolution: An Evaluation and an Interpretation, religion served as one of many social causes

that pushed colonists towards independence; the spread of revolutionary ideas through church

congregations meant that colonists were hearing arguments in favor of war on a daily basis. On

the political spectrum, colonists were also exposed to the idea of civil liberties and how those

liberties were purely an American development and a result of the democratic nature of colonial

government. Separation of church and state, for instance, was not simply an ideological

preference, but a moral necessity according to many American Christians that allowed for

religious autonomy. As author Mark Noll states, To Puritans, Gods will ruled the events of

mean and of nations(Noll, 618). When the Anglican Church began to impose restrictions and

levy taxes on specific Protestant denominations in Virginia (referred to as dissenters), the

Protestants saw opportunity in joining a revolution to improve the status of their congregations

and rid themselves of the burdens of overarching religious authorities. In John A. Ragostas

evaluation of the dissenters struggle, the value placed on religious freedoms led the dissenters to

bargain their military support for the Virginian governments promise of implementing their

issues into law. One might question, Ragosta says, the extent to which this dramatic change

was made not based on principle but in order to obtain dissenters' support for mobilization as

Virginia was struggling to recruit soldiers. Whatever the case, religious liberty and the separation

of church and state, two beliefs rooted in Protestant traditions, became American values worth

fighting for.

While much of colonial Americas religious unification can be attributed to the efforts of

Protestant churches, some credit is owed to England and its Anglican Church; after all, their

political reactions to treasonous offenses and their religious justifications for the suffering

colonies happened to alienate many Anglican members and convert them to the Revolutionary

side. Our group came across these British blunders and found that the colonial disapproval of

these events only improved the revolutionary standpoint. Jacob Duch, an Anglican rector of

Christ Church in Philadelphia, maintained that Americas dark cloud of judgement rose

from our unnumbered sins and rebellions against [England]! (Harris 27), a stance that

happened to support Parliaments policies. Widespread disapproval ensued among many

prominent American leaders and clergymen which helped the revolutionary cause while also

giving the colonies some legitimacy behind their actions.

On the topic of legitimacy, no other event during the Revolutionary War established this

more than the Declaration of Independence. It outlines many of the colonies grievances with

King George III over taxation and colonial justification for separation from the mother country,
but the Declaration also intimates an even greater cause - divine purpose. Matthew L. Harris and

Thomas S. Kidd substantiate this argument through The Founding Fathers and the Debate Over

Religion in Revolutionary America, claiming that the appeal to Gods purposes justified the

American Revolution as a cause much greater than disputes over taxes or the jurisdictions of

British and colonial legislatures (Harris 30-31). Similar to Griffins ideas of natural law and

just war, Harris and Kidd elaborate on the impact of religion on the founding fathers and find

that most of the Declaration of Independence begins and ends with references to the natural law

of God, rights given by God, the justice of God, and divine providence (Harris 30). The age-old

adage of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, a phrase that guided and continues to

guide the lives of Americans and democracies worldwide, would not exist without the religious

ideas that are referred to within the lines of the Declaration of Independence. It explicitly states

that:

the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of natures God entitle

them, they should declare the causes which impel them to separation they are

endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,... with a firm reliance on the

protection of Divine Providence we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes,

and our sacred honour (Harris 31).

If the role of religion was ever doubtful in the Revolutionary Era, its inclusion in the Declaration

and its impact on politically-charged grievances should dispel any misgivings.

We always knew that religion played a part in early American life, but through our

research the extent of its influence on everything from politics to the founding fathers became an

integral part of our understanding of the birth of the United States. Colonists from various

backgrounds who hailed from a variety of religious institutions came together to fight against the
strongest military power and the threatening expansion of the Anglican Church of England in

defining civil liberties and religious traditions. The idea of being an American was a newer

realization in this historical context, yet colonists had conceived of this identity many years

before with the belief in a divine presence that guided colonization. Religion only strengthened

the definition of what it meant to be American because it helped illuminate the growing

disparities between British traditions and ideologies and uniquely American values.

Work Cited

Bailyn, Bernard. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. The Belknap Press of the

Harvard University Press. 1992.

Bell, J. The English Church, a Cause of the American Revolution. War of Religion:

Dissenters, Anglicans and the American Revolution, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Davis, Derek H. "Religion and the American Revolution." Journal of Church & State, vol. 36,

no. 4, Sept. 1994, p. 709. EBSCOhost.

Fliegelman, Jay. Prodigals and Pilgrims: the American Revolution against Patriarchal

Authority, 1750-1800. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1983.

Greene, Jack P. The Social Origins of the American Revolution: An Evaluation and an

Interpretation. Political Science Quarterly, vol. 88, no. 1, 1 Mar. 1973.

JSTOR.

Griffin, Keith L. From Awakening to War. Revolution and Religion: American Revolutionary

War and the Reformed Clergy, Paragon House, 1994.

Harris, Matthew, and Thomas S. Kidd. Religion and the Continental Congress. The Founding

Fathers and the Debate over Religion in Revolutionary America: a History in

Documents, Oxford University Press, 2012.

Noll, Mark A. The American Revolution and Protestant Evangelicalism. Journal of

Interdisciplinary History, vol. 23, no. 3, 1993, p. 615. JSTOR.

Ragosta, John A. "Fighting for Freedom: Virginia Dissenters' Struggle for Religious Liberty

during the American Revolution." Virginia Magazine of History & Biography, vol. 116,

no., June 2008. EBSCOhost.