Religion and the Revolutionary War

121 Tremont St See “Black Robed Regiment” and “Great Awakening” for examples of Political Pastors and how they influenced the colonists.

To begin with, many of the colonies attempted to mandate strict religious practices. “Eight of the thirteen British colonies had official churches, and in those colonies, dissenters who sought to practice or proselytize a different version of…faith were sometimes persecuted”. This led to strict divisions between an already segmented colonial system and to the passage of laws that often-persecuted religious minority groups, some of which were worse than what they had experienced in England. Religion in Colonial America resembled the state of religious beliefs in Europe – bitterly divided. Groups coalesced based upon their religious beliefs. Being disowned from a religious community meant much more than being unable to attend church services; the former members were forced to seek new community and way of life. Many had to move to maintain their livelihood to a state that supported their changed beliefs.

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/gods-mosaic/ has a lovely infographic on the religious foundations of the 13 Colonies. Generally speaking, The New England colonists were largely Puritans, and the Southern colonies were largely Anglican. The Middle colonies became a mixture of religions which included Quakers, Catholics, Lutherans, Jews, and others. MA Puritan, CT Congregationalist (Form of Puritan offshoot), DE Lutheran, GA Anglican, MD Roman Catholic, NH Pilgrim aka Separatist, NJ Religiously Tolerant, NY Dutch Reformed, NC Anglican, PA Quaker, RI Separatist/Baptist, SC Anglican, VI Anglican

18th-century Bostonians had no multiplexes, no casinos, and no pro sports teams, but they did have witch trials, the odd war or two, and entertaining, thump-thrashing sermons from the big guns like Cotton Mather and Jonathan Edwards. In “The First Great Awakening” in the 1730s and 1740s, preachers such as George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards invigorated the colonies with a revival of religious fervor.

In the eyes of many interpreters, the First Great Awakening planted the seeds of a more individualistic and egalitarian style of religion that would blossom into the revolutionary spirit. In short, this was a generation of people who had, during their youth, been schooled in the importance of religious self-determination about their beliefs and loyalties; and even rebellion against the existing hierarchies of deference and privilege in defying traditional authorities such as their former ministers or state-supported churches.

Religion played a major role in the American Revolution by offering a moral sanction for opposition to the British--an assurance to the average American that revolution was justified in the sight of God. As a recent scholar has observed, "by turning colonial resistance into a righteous cause, and by crying the message to all ranks in all parts of the colonies, ministers did the work of secular radicalism and did it better."

Ministers served the American cause in many capacities during the Revolution: as military chaplains, as penmen for committees of correspondence, and as members of state legislatures, constitutional conventions, and the national Congress. Some even took up arms, leading Continental troops in battle.

The Revolution strengthened millennialist strains in American theology. At the beginning of the war some ministers were persuaded that, with God's help, America might become "the principal Seat of the glorious Kingdom which Christ shall erect upon Earth in the latter Days." Victory over the British was taken as a sign of God's partiality for America and stimulated an outpouring of millennialist expectations--the conviction that Christ would rule on earth for 1,000 years.

With each state fractured by religion, how could they unite to fight Britain? See “Politics and the Revolutionary War”

What fruitage did these spiritual leaders produce? Mt 7:15-20. Consider John 17:16 vs Acts 20:29, 30. What would Jesus have said seeing this?

-Source Links-

https://nmar.org/impact-of-religion-in-colonial-america/

https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/erelrev.htm

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel03.html

https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/the-church-and-the-revolutionary-war/index.html

https://arlingtonhistorical.org/the-minister-and-the-revolution/

https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/anglicanism-and-revolution

https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/religion-colonial-america-trends-regulations-beliefs