Religion in the American Revolutionary Era

Religion played an important role in the American revolutionary era, but only recently have historians focused on its impact. The historians analyzed in this paper concluded that a double revolution took place during the late eighteenth century. The democratic ideals that formed the foundation of the birth of the new nation found their expression in religious thought as well. Various methodologies have been employed to address this issue, each approach has its benefits and limitations.

Rhys Isaac uses an ethnographic approach to the issue of religion and the American Revolution. In order to make as accurate translation as possible of the meaning of life during this era, Isaac gives equal weight to religious and political records. The author bases his research chiefly on accounts of activities of the populace during the period under study: "Actions must be viewed as statements" (Isaac 324). Since the social historian is dealing with past events, he or she must rely on sources or informants who documented such actions. The limitation of this approach is that the biases of such sources must be understood and taken into consideration before inferences can be made.

Isaac's task is the translation of relevant action statements in a process that presents a Catch-22 dilemma: "Ethnographers cannot understand and translate action-statements unless they have some comprehension of the culture; but such grasp can only be effectively acquired by close attention to particular a

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ated the efficacy of general assessments to support religion they rarely conflicted about the necessity of religion in the lives of the people. Supporters of the assessment believed that it was the duty of the State to promote religion. Opponents of the assessment did not believe that the state should help religion, but concurred that religion should be Protestant, Biblical based, and that the State should support the observation of the Sabbath. Madison saw the danger in the promotion of a single religion. He compiled a document entitled Memorial and Remonstrance in which he outlined his views on the approval of a general assessment, and its future ramifications: "Madison reiterated his conviction that passage of an assessment bill would make the magistrate the judge of religious truth . . . " (Curry 143). This danger was already being realized in certain counties and states. In Amherst County, for example, Jews and other non-Christian sects were excluded from holding public office. Likewise, the state of Maryland excluded non-Christians from office and proclaimed itself a Christian state: "Indeed, Maryland retained a religious test for office until the middle of the twentieth century" (Curry 158). Although religious

Category: History - R