Christianity in the Early American Republic

It is impossible to talk about Christianity in the Early American Republic without first looking at its roots in the Colonial period. When the North American colonies that were to become the United States were first colonized in the early 1600s, the colonists came for many reasons. Some came for better opportunities, some indenturing themselves to do so. Some were kidnapped and sent to America as slaves under the guise of indentured servitude. Some came to seek wealth or adventure. A large number, however, came so they and their families could have the freedom to worship God in the way they believed was proper. In his pamphlet in 1830, Alden Bradford wrote:

It was the belief of one of the most zealous ministers among the Separatists in 1620, from the (then) corrupt Church of England, that a light might break from the Word of God, which, in his day, had never shone upon the Christian world; and it was his solemn admonition to his people, when they fled to a wilderness for liberty of conscience, “not to follow him nor any other fallible man, farther than he followed Christ.” 1

Alden Bradford, who was descended from Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony, being his third great-grandfather, may have been referring to William Brewster, who was also his fourth great-grandfather along a different line, and who coincidentally is also my own thirteenth great grandfather.

Despite the commitment of men like William Brewster to liberty of conscience, not every colonial leader was willing to tolerate those who were non-conformists to their own brand of worship, and many of the colonies continued to have a state church. Some colonies, however, like Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, were founded with freedom of worship, with no requirements to belong to any particular denomination or sect. By the time American Independence was secured, the general consensus was for freedom of religion, which was encoded into the Bill of Rights.

By the early nineteenth century, the settled eastern reaches of the United States were covered with churches, with few settlements not having one. As settlers moved westward, however, it often took some time for new churches to be established to keep up with the settlement. Churchmen back in England often looked at America in this period as having a destitution or lack of Christian ordinances, as the Bishop of London alluded to in an 1834 sermon. This was addressed by the Reverend Calvin Colton, who, in an open letter to the bishop, shared data showing there was one minister for every 1,000 Americans, and wrote:

…the virtue of the Christian public there, having been roused by information and suitable appeals, has not only kept pace with this march in supplying a proportionate number of the ministers of religion, but has actually gained upon it… 2

Indeed, America was still in the middle of the Second Great Awakening at the time, with circuit riding preachers like Francis Asbury, and camp meetings in the backwoods of the frontier. The lack of any central authority in the religious movements was also looked at askance by many British at the time, who, after all, had state churches with a hierarchy. An anonymous pamphlet from, by an author listed only as “An American Gentleman,” writing to the British public, stated that “American society has manifested two leading and opposite tendencies: one toward the lowest level of democracy, and the other toward a spiritual supremacy.” He went on to say that in America the church had the potential to be much more influential than in countries with a state church, writing:

And as if the history of Christianity were not sufficiently fraught with the abuses of religious power, the great pains that have been taken in America to separate religion from the State, seem only to have opened a new field, and presented temptation, for the setting up of a new spiritual dynasty, as much more influential, as it is more independent, than a Church allied to the State.

Whether or not things have panned out exactly as this writer envisioned, one thing about what he said remains true. Churches in America today remain far more influential in American society than the old state churches of Europe do in theirs. How long that remains true is anyone’s guess.

Endnotes:

1. Alden Bradford, A discourse delivered before the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and Others, in North America, November 4, 1830, (Boston: Press of John Putnam, 1830), 13.

2. C. Colton, A.M., Church and State in America, (London: Westley and Davis, 10, Stationers’ Court, 1834), 9.

3. An American Gentleman, A Voice From America To England, (London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough Street, 1839), vii-viii.