The American Colonial Period

This section addresses the American colonial period through the American Revolution. This period saw immigration from different regions of England to the colonies along the eastern seaboard as well as the introduction of an indentured servant and eventually slave workforce.  It will specifically address the four primary ethno-religious groups that populated the colonies, where they came from, when they came, and how these differences have impacted the development of the country.  It will further address commonly held beliefs about the origins of the American Republic related to such concepts as religion and nationalism.

 

Key Questions

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• Was America formed as “One People” or can it more accurately be seen as a group of competing and sometimes hostile ethno-religious cultures?

• Who were the different ethno-religious groups that came to America from England, when did they come, why did they come, and where did they go? Are they still discernible today?

• Was there any commonly held uniting belief in the proposition that “All men are created equal” that would correspond to how the term is seen today?

• How religious was colonial America and what role did religion play in establishing the colonies?

• How widespread was European enslavement in colonial America which would include indentured servitude, kidnapping, convicts and prisoners of war?

• How did the “free market” nature of American religion impact the development of religion in America especially with regard to Evangelicalism?

• How did the American denominational system come into being?

• Did Indian wars in this period pit European’s against Indians or could they more aptly be described as Europeans participating in Indian wars and Indians participating in European wars?

• How did African slavery develop in the colonies?  Who profited from it?

• Did the “Awakening Movement(s)” save Christianity in America and shape its development?

• Was the Puritan based New England culture unique from other groups in colonial America?

• At what rate did Protestant Christianity secularize in colonial America and why?  Where there regional trends at play here?

• When and where did a concept of American nationalism develop?

• When freedom was referred to in the revolutionary period did it have a simple libertine meaning or did it have a more complex religious context?