Apess is a unique story of a Pequot Native American who, instead of finding an inherited spirituality from his biological ancestors, found the Methodist church to be his calling. This man was born into a world that mistreated him, abused him, and tried to deny him his humanity. Through these struggles and hardships, he found his spiritual side. Although it took years of searching, he wound up at a Methodist Church after several trials and tribulations. He was at one point an indentured servant, and he later went on to fight in the war of 1812; according to his biography, if it wasn’t for his indentured servitude he would have never joined the war effort where he found his calling as a minister. This is a man who is extremely representative
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For Jefferson, his cataloging of the political spheres that developed over time to favor religious freedom was an important cultural production of it’s own. Jefferson’s observations were a body of work that let people of the early Republic see a current point of view; a point of view in which the imagined communities of the early Republic came together as a whole. Although Jefferson’s notes were only a part of the work that he contributed to the founding of the country, the notes hold a great cultural and political significance since they helped explain and develop a portion of the ideology behind some of the Bill of Rights. Apess’ autobiography was also a form of cultural production; however, Apess also made direct contributions to the methodist church; he made contributions that not only addressed the marginalized peoples deprivation- but worked to change it. Apess knew that it was his right to believe whatever he felt inclined to believe. A part of his belief lead him to realize that equality for marginalized Natives was his burden to bare. Both of these men produced similar ideologies of religious freedom and freedom of the self through religion; these ideologies cultivated the foreground of religious policy within the early Republic. Not to mention, they, particularly Apess, also began a tradition of religion-based ideology in support of equality for all people in the early Republic, which was repeated much later by people like Martin Luther King Jr. who used methods of religious sermons to fight for equality of the oppressed people of his
For Jefferson, his cataloging of the political spheres that developed over time to favor religious freedom was an important cultural production of it’s own. Jefferson’s observations were a body of work that let people of the early Republic see a current point of view; a point of view in which the imagined communities of the early Republic came together as a whole. Although Jefferson’s notes were only a part of the work that he contributed to the founding of the country, the notes hold a great cultural and political significance since they helped explain and develop a portion of the ideology behind some of the Bill of Rights. Apess’ autobiography was also a form of cultural production; however, Apess also made direct contributions to the methodist church; he made contributions that not only addressed the marginalized peoples deprivation- but worked to change it. Apess knew that it was his right to believe whatever he felt inclined to believe. A part of his belief lead him to realize that equality for marginalized Natives was his burden to bare. Both of these men produced similar ideologies of religious freedom and freedom of the self through religion; these ideologies cultivated the foreground of religious policy within the early Republic. Not to mention, they, particularly Apess, also began a tradition of religion-based ideology in support of equality for all people in the early Republic, which was repeated much later by people like Martin Luther King Jr. who used methods of religious sermons to fight for equality of the oppressed people of his