Religion and Worship in Colonial America

1. Religion and Worship in Colonial America

2. So Many Kinds! • We all know a little about the Puritan and Pilgrim religion, but did you know that in the colonies, there were also: • Quakers • Jews • Congregationalists • Baptists • Presbyterians • Dutch, German, and French Reformed • Lutherans • Mennonites • Anglicans • Roman Catholics • and of course, many who did not have a religion!

3. The Church Building Many of the early colonies did not have the time or need to build a building specifically for church. It was much too hard for the colonists to make a formal church with a steeple and pews. They held their services at the meeting house, fort, or just the largest available building. The interior was not meant for church services and that meant less comfort and formality.

4. The Church Interior The interior was usually uncomfortable, drafty, informal, and completely undesirable place to be. The seats were often hard wooden benches with no padding. Some of the early churches had support columns that made it hard to see. There were obviously no bathrooms. And yet people sat through sermons for hours on end.

5. The Puritans + Religion They called themselves the godly; everyone else called them the Puritans. The Puritans came from England for religious reasons. Their goal was to purify the Anglican Church by removing all decoration, sculptures, designs, and music. Supposedly Christ had not wanted church to be that way. As you see on the chart to the

6. The Puritans + Religion left, these people were not all too interesting. There was no play, no laziness, no events (besides religious ones), no music, no every-other-thing-that-exists-that-might-be-fun! They basically did nothing but church, and that is why I had to include them in this project. As you can see on the right, their church was indeed very simple.

7. The Puritans + Religion I really have no idea how the Puritans made it through their own church service. Men, women, and children sat in their separate sections. Everyone had to stay completely silent for the minister’s 1-hour prayer and 2-4 hour sermon, which was usually about sin and punishment. The church deacon enforced this rule by poking people who talked with a stick. To the left, a boy is getting poked for talking to his friend.

8. My Comments (Yay!) • I find it completely and overwhelmingly ironic that the Puritans left England to escape persecution, but once they were here they went along and did that themselves! Non-Puritans were fined, whipped, banished, and even imprisoned! • What a wonderful world!

9. The Pilgrims + Religion Okay, okay, put your serious faces on. The Pilgrims were another group of people who had left England to escape religious persecution. The Pilgrims were basically extreme Puritans. The Pilgrims were also called Separatists because they wanted to separate from the Anglican Church completely.

10. The Pilgrims + Religion They felt, unlike the Puritans, that there were too many changes that they wanted to make and that it was probably impossible to make them. They similarly wanted a somewhat simpler church. The earliest Pilgrim church is pictured on the right. Probably the biggest difference between the Pilgrims and the Puritans was that the Pilgrims were “a good-natured, fun-loving people who loved life and insisted on the freedom of choice.”

11. My Comments #2 (Woo-hoo!) • I really just want to point out that when you search “pilgrims” on Google, practically every result includes a buckle hat. NO BUCKLE HATS!!!

12. William Penn + The Quakers The Quakers were pretty peaceful and happy – but were forced out of England just like the Pilgrims and Puritans. They specifically were called The Society of Friends, and had quite a bit of requirements, of which only a few will be mentioned. 1. The Quakers were required to marry people within The Society of Friends.

13. William Penn + The Quakers 2. They were not allowed to own weapons. 3. They could not join the army or pay taxes for wars. Quakers, as you can see, wanted nothing to do with violence. They wanted democracy, like the one that we have today. They were also dedicated to being very plain.

14. The Story of the First Jewish Colonists This is the story of the first Jewish colonists. They started out in Spain, but were forced to leave when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella told them to convert or get out. They then went to a Dutch colony in Brazil, and thought they were safe there. But years later, the Portuguese took over the colony and once again, the Jews were told to convert or get out. Most headed back to the Netherlands, but one ship was stopped by a pirate ship and stranded on Jamaica. From there, a French ship picked them up and took them to New Amsterdam. Although Stuyvesant did not want them there, the Dutch West India Company accepted their arrival. These were the first 23 permanent Jewish settlers in America. Another group of Jews made it to Newport and eventually built Touro Synagogue (photo above) in 1763. Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island

15. Religion + Magic Some Puritans believed in magic and did, in fact, hang several people for witchcraft. Here is one story that demonstrates the use of magic in colonial times. “Henry Grey, a Connecticut farmer, was convinced that his ailing heifer had been bewitched and so flogged the beast in order to injure the person responsible. Sure enough, a neighbor whom he suspected collapsed in agony.”

16. Glossary • Pews – Fancy church benches • Drafty – Windy and cold • Sermon – Religious speech • Anglican church – The church of England • Minister – church leader/speaks during a service • Deacon – church policeman/punishes troublemakers • Persecution – a program to drive away people of a certain race • Banished – sent away; exiled • Google – a popular search engine • Democracy – a type of government by the people • Stranded – abandoned, usually on an island • Synagogue – a building for Jewish worship • Heifer – a young cow • Flogged - whipped

17. Bibliography http://www.stoltzfamily.us/wp-content/gallery/plymouth-colony/meeting-interior.jpg http://www.history.org/Almanack/people/bios/images/OldChurch_lg.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NTsu341nMRI/SEMsH3GyRzI/AAAAAAAAAqU/ApmWG559Vbo/s1600/20080524+-+Plimoth+Colony+Fort+Building.jpg http://fervis.tripod.com/poker.jpg http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/eighteen/images/puroldshippulpit.jpg The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England by Richard Godbeer http://www.freeclipartnow.com/d/25516-1/pilgrims.jpg http://www.thaiag.net/files/productsimages/BS_C/20096.jpg http://www.raisingafamilyonabudget.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/quaker.gif http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/16071783/religion.htm http://fervis.tripod.com/ http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mosmd/ http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~quakers/quakinfo.htm http://www.liberalbaptistrev.com/?p=2931 http://www.tourosynagogue.org/timeline.asp