The Effect of Religion in the Early United States Religion has been a part of America from the start. Years before the country was even born people used the land in North America to escape strict religious laws and regulations in England. Religion had much to do with the shaping of the United States, and not always in the best way. Puritans were a religious group that sought to purify the Church of England (Foner Give me liberty!: an American history A-94). The Puritans themselves did not agree on everything, but what they did all concede that the Church of England, despite supposedly being its own religion, resembled the Catholic Church far too much. Ornate church decorations, elaborate ceremonies, and the doctrine that priests could not
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Puritans, like most people in that day and age, believed that men held more authority than women. A man’s authority was very important in America because it was a farming community, and it was expected of the man to take care of his families finances. Spiritually, men and women were believed to be equal, and women were deemed worthy to become complete church members. Because of the belief that believers had the ability to understand and interpret the Bible, it was possible for some women to have positions of religious leaderships. Despite this, all ministers had to be men. Divorce was legal in the Puritan religion, but the man of the house held full and absolute authority over his household (Foner Give me liberty!: an American history …show more content…
They saw forcing them to accept European culture and the Christian way of life as a favor that they were doing for them. They were prohibited of doing any religious rituals, and some were even made a legal offence, like the Sun Dance. Many Native American children were taken from the parents and tribes and sent to a Christian boarding school, where they were not allowed to practice Native American religions, and were forced to go to Christian worship and catechesis. Even in the Twentieth Century the Native Americans still continued to fight against religious intolerance (Corrigan Religious Intolerance in America: A Documentary History 129). Religion shaped America in many ways. The Puritans views helped shaped the idea of gender roles that were taken seriously and acted out for many years and many generations. There open disapproval of other religions probably had something to do with religious intolerance in this country for years. And the way the Englishmen treated the Native Americans and their culture only gave a bad name to Christians everywhere. American was shaped by religion in many ways, and not always in the best
Puritans, like most people in that day and age, believed that men held more authority than women. A man’s authority was very important in America because it was a farming community, and it was expected of the man to take care of his families finances. Spiritually, men and women were believed to be equal, and women were deemed worthy to become complete church members. Because of the belief that believers had the ability to understand and interpret the Bible, it was possible for some women to have positions of religious leaderships. Despite this, all ministers had to be men. Divorce was legal in the Puritan religion, but the man of the house held full and absolute authority over his household (Foner Give me liberty!: an American history …show more content…
They saw forcing them to accept European culture and the Christian way of life as a favor that they were doing for them. They were prohibited of doing any religious rituals, and some were even made a legal offence, like the Sun Dance. Many Native American children were taken from the parents and tribes and sent to a Christian boarding school, where they were not allowed to practice Native American religions, and were forced to go to Christian worship and catechesis. Even in the Twentieth Century the Native Americans still continued to fight against religious intolerance (Corrigan Religious Intolerance in America: A Documentary History 129). Religion shaped America in many ways. The Puritans views helped shaped the idea of gender roles that were taken seriously and acted out for many years and many generations. There open disapproval of other religions probably had something to do with religious intolerance in this country for years. And the way the Englishmen treated the Native Americans and their culture only gave a bad name to Christians everywhere. American was shaped by religion in many ways, and not always in the best