Good Example Of Publishers, 2011 Essay

Religion has been on the forefront of developing the American history. The religious practices of America have grown from animistic to Catholicism and protestant among others. Religion influenced the westward migration, American Revolution, slavery, defined gender roles, racism, ethnicity and civil war. Due to its relationship with the political world, religion played a negative role in the creation, establishment and disintegration of various social practices in the lives of American people.
- Religion formed the basis of settlement in the new world. Due to widespread persecution in Europe, many settlers moved to America where there was religious freedom. For instance, due to different ideologies the Quakers and puritans were in constant conflicts. Consequently, the pattern of their colonies was in relation to their religious affiliations. Similarly, in South America, the Spanish who had colonized the region were mainly Catholics. Unfortunately, this led to religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants.
- Religion played a vital role in justifying and enacting morality sanctions during the period of American Revolution (Bowles 27). For instance, the religious leaders dubbed the revolution a righteous act thus, motivating and changing the attitude of the Americans to participate fully in the war. For example, the religious leaders served as military officers in the chaplaincy while others were members of the legislature, national congress. At the start of the war, most of the church leaders preached that America was God’s chosen country and thus, should gain freedom from the Britons
- The enslaved people had no religious affiliations. Ironically, the leaders were reluctant to compel the government to stop practicing slavery but rather using it to harass, intimidate and segregate the slaves. In 1794, a church from Philadelphia protested against the discrimination of blacks. The white preachers forced slaves to obey their slavery masters. They asserted that spiritual matters had a limitation. The Protestants used religion as a means of social control and submissiveness. The white religious leaders established a hierarchy pushing for establishment of biracial churches. In the southern part of America, slave revolt led to insurrection prohibiting black churches from meeting in the open.
- Religion played a great role on defining and constructing women roles. However, during this era, religion presented contradictory ideas on the roles of women especially in terms of race. For example, women had to participate in church only as worshippers and not leaders or preachers. However, from mid 20th century the protestant women fought for the rights of women by defining their roles. In the 20th century, social vices like prostitution had to Furthermore, the church called for the submissiveness of women to men.
- The church became more of a political condemnation place. Due to mistreatment of African Americans who were slaves, religious leaders supported the abolitionist movement. For instance, during the second awakening in the mid 19th century various church leaders affiliated with the Quakers supported the abolitionism while in public gatherings. Furthermore, the devotion of the religious leaders against slavery led to the emergence of civil war. Religious leaders also used their preaching platform to push for bill of rights, which America adopted in 1787.
- Religious persecution in Europe was widespread except in America thus, attracting immigrants. However, while in the new world Puritans had contradictory views from Catholics. Migrating from England, in 1630 more than 10000 Puritans came into America while in 1670s, many Quakers fled to New Jersey. Thus, by 1685, more than 5000 Quakers had settled in Pennsylvania. However, in 1659, President Thomas Jefferson passed the anti-Quaker law to control religious activities.
- In the historical America, religious leaders mistreated and segregated the blacks in their churches. For instance, the white preachers had to foresee or supervise the black preachers. Secondly, the black churches could not form gatherings without the supervision from their white counterparts. The catholic churches did not ordain black women as nuns.
- The American civil war lasted for four years and the religious groups America supported it fully. For instance, in the army of Tennessee some of the religious leaders controlled the battlefield. Other church members were military men who fought during the civil war. Furthermore, the church, which had a great social impact on the gatherings, motivated their worshippers to fight the war.
- Religion as a major social entity, religion has played a great role in shaping other social activities. However, the need for religion superiority led to conflicts among various religious groups thus, drawing a negative picture on the essence of church. Finally, religious leaders were more in politics than Christianity creating a gap in church.
- Citation
Bowles Mark . American History1865–Present|EndofIsolation. Bridge point education