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Mar 30, 1300
Animism
This was the religion of the Native Americans before the Europeans arrived. It was based on spiritual beliefs that centered on the natural world. This religion does not worship a God, but instead honors the spiritual forces they believe resides in nature. -
Mar 30, 1492
Reconquista
This was the campaign by the Spanish Catholics to drive North African Moors from Europe and reclaim their Spanish homeland. The fighting went on for centuries, but eventually ended in the Spanish victory in present day Granada, Spain. -
Mar 16, 1517
Protestant Reformation
Martin Luther created his 95 Theses against the Catholic Church. This was revolutionary as it created a sect that downplayed the role of the Clergy in people's lives, and that they must look to the Bible instead of the Church for guidance. People who followed Martin Luther broke away from the Catholics in a religion called Protestantism. -
Mar 30, 1540
Counter Reformation
Because of the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic church reacted and sought to change the inner workings of the church and created new monasteries and missionaries, such as the Jesuits who were seen as the "soldiers of Christ". -
The Pilgrims
English Protestants landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts and settled what is commonly known as the first successful colony after the failure at Jamestown, Virginia. They created one of the first forms of self-government in the Americas, which was known as the Mayflower Compact and created the first Thanksgiving with the help of the Natives around them. -
John Winthrop and Massachusetts Bay
The Puritans left England due to King Charles dissolving parliament. They followed the lead of John Winthrop, a well educated Puritans who became the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. As governor, he worked to establish the perfect colony, or what was known as the "city upon a hill" and Puritans were generally good moral people as they believed in predestination. -
Colonization of Maryland
As the Protestants took over the majority of Europe, their feuds with the Catholics lead to extreme religious persecution. Charles I was sympathetic to the Catholics and granted Lord Baltimore a plot of land in America known as Maryland as a refuge for Catholics fleeing persecution. -
Roger Williams and Rhode Island
Roger Williams, a Puritan minister in Salem, Massachusetts, disagreed with the idea of an official religion in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and preached the idea of the separation of Church and State. These views were not tolerated, and he was banished to Rhode Island where he set up a colony so that he and his followers could worship as they pleased. -
Anne Hutchinson
Although a woman, Anne Hutchinson had a decent amount of power. She believed that salvation only came through good deeds and not the idea of predestination, which went against the Puritan beliefs in Massachusetts. Because of her gender and power and ideology, she was banished to follow Roger Williams to Rhode Island. -
William Penn and the Quakers of Pennsylvania
King Charles II gave William Penn a plot of land in the New World in order to pay back the debts he owed to some of Penn's relatives. The Quakers were constantly persecuted in England, so they followed their leader to modern-day Pennsylvania. -
Salem Witch Trials
Panic was caused in Massachusetts, as 19 people were executed in Salem for "practicing witchcraft" after two young girls claimed they were harmed by witches. People begin to accuse each other and their neighbors, but the government does nothing to stop it until it is too late. -
Pietism
The Christian belief that started in Germany that emphasized pious behavior above anything else. This appealed to the emotional side of people, and when it was brought to the United States, it spurred a massive religious revival. -
Jonathan Edwards
An American Clergyman who was a leader in the religious revivals of this time known as the Great Awakening. He was a very emotional preacher who started tent revivals, welcoming all and preaching the absolute power of God, and that people should go out into the world and do good. -
Presbyterian Revival
Inspired by Whitfield, Southern worshippers left the Church of England for New Light ideas, and were harassed because of this. -
The First Great Awakening
Spurred by people such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield, the First Great Awakening created the New Lights who focused on emotion and reform within their lives and the church. This angered many of the legalized churches called the Old Lights, as women began to listen to the New Light preachers and go out into the world and begin to reform society. -
Baptist Insurgency
New Light ideas appealed especially to white farming families, so they went against the Church of England and turned into the Baptist religion, which is more of radical protestantism. They believed in adult baptism, accepted slaves at revivals, and went against social authority. -
The Shakers
They were a religious group founded by Ann Lee Stanley and were given this name because of their vigorous dances that were part of their worship. Ann had a vision that she was the second coming of Jesus Christ, so she moved to America and started a church near Albany, New York. -
Deism
Deists, such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, believed that a supreme being such as God had created the world, but then allowed it to function on it's own without divine intervention. They rejected organized religion and believed that there was a moral judge in everyone that defined the boundaries of right and wrong. -
Black Protestantism
Before the Second Great Awakening, many blacks brought over their religion. However, ministers began preaching a message that applied to everyone, so blacks took this and formed churches that united the enslaved community, as scripture was seen as a form of emancipation. -
The First Amendment
Created with the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of the United States. It gives all American citizens the freedom to practice the religion of their choosing without any persecution. -
Religious Freedom in Virginia
As the first colony, Virginia was heavily influenced by the Church of England. However, Thomas Jefferson passed a bill in the Virginia legislature that permitted religious freedom. -
Second Great Awakening
A decades long series of religious revivals in which Americans adopted new religions and principles that led to the "truly Christian" America. This awakening saw the rapid expansion of Baptist and Methodist churches over traditional groups and evangelical ministers began to exaggerate their teachings in order to attract more converts. This also cleaned up society, as waiting until marriage for sex was strongly encouraged. -
Nativist Movements
Dating back to the Protestant Reformation, Catholics and Protestants have continually feuded. So when Catholic immigrants from Europe arrived in America, many worked for cheap wages that kicked Americans out of their jobs. This angered many American Protestants and lead to immigration restrictions and harsh treatment of the immigrants. -
Mormonsim
Founded by Joseph Smith. He believed that he was singled out by God to receive a revelation of divine truth, so he founded the Church of Latter Day Saints. The Mormons had a goal of restoring primitive Christianity and encouraged moral perfection. In 1846, Brigham Young, Smith's successor after his murder, moved the Mormon followers to the state of Utah to create a safe haven there. -
Benevolent Empire
A reformation in the middle class that hoped to restore good morality in people. This was done through the reduction of various evils such as alcoholism, prostitution, adultery, and crime. -
Charles Grandison Finney
A Presbyterian Minister who was a catalyst for the Second Great Awakening, and travelled around the country converting a majority of the middle class to his ideals. He believed that everyone had the right to choose salvation, and he preached these at big revivals. -
Brook Farm
Transcendentalists hoped to escape the American society by building utopias, the biggest one being Brook Farm, in which they could live. However, because many of the people practicing this form of thought were scholars, they could not be fully self-sufficient and the farm failed as they had to rely on the American market to sustain themselves. -
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Transcendentalism
Inspired by the Enlightenment in Europe, Transcendentalists argued that people must be strong in "self-reliance" due to an inner light that resides and guides everyone. Emerson was an influential American author who helped spread this message to the public. -
Third Great Awakening
A period of religious activism that affected pietistic protestants and gained strength from the idea that the Second Coming of Christ would occur only after mankind had reformed the entire Earth. This lead to much of the Social Gospel movement and the worldwide missionary movements, which were innovative because women now held a huge role in these reforms. -
The Oneida Community
A religious community started by John Humphrey Noyes that celebrated sexual equality and the idea of "complex marriage", where all the members of the community were married to each other. However, this failed when Noyes had to flee the country due to persecution for practicing adultery. -
American Protective Association
A group of militant protestants from Iowa that created a powerful political organization that counted more than two million people. This group was nativist in ideology, and expressed outrage at the existence of strictly Catholic schools and insisted that all school teachers should be protestant, with a ban on Catholic office holders. -
Social Gospel
A movement by Christians with the goal of renewing religious faith through dedication to justice and social welfare. Women, especially those of the middle class, were the most active of these people and helped to evangelize the impoverished immigrants and vices of the cities by providing homes for the needy, like the Hull House, classes, and day nurseries for working mothers. -
Fundamentalism
A movement lead by powerful ministers, the most famous of these being Billy Sunday. They held meetings, specifically the Niagara Creed that reaffirmed the literary truth of the Bible and the idea that those who did not believe in Christ will be punished in life after death. -
Protestant Missionary Movement
With the introduction of global steamships and telegraphs, this time period saw a growth in over nine million missionaries to other countries. Many of the missionaries were young couples and single women who tried to convert others to Christianity by providing medical care and education to the needy. -
Scopes Monkey Trial
At this time, teaching evolution in schools was something of a tough subject. John T. Scopes decided to challenge the law that prohibited this, and taught it to his students and was fined consequently. In court, William Jennings Bryan prosecuted Scopes for teaching evolution, but Clarence Darrow, who represented Scopes, was able to prevent Scopes from being fired by attempting to disprove Christianity. This represented the shift in society from moral Christianity to logical science. -
Billy Graham
One of the most popular evangelical ministers of the era. He was the first star of a televised "crusades" for religious revival. He believed that all doubts about the literal interpretation of the Bible were traps set by Satan. He supported Republicans and a large increase to money in the military. -
Conservative Resurgence Movement
A rapid growth of conservative Christianity in America because for the first time, politics in America were tied with religion. This movement saw the addition of the Religious Right to the conservative coalition. Protestants and Catholics worked together to condemn divorce, abortion, and premarital sex. This approach appealed to American voters and helped the fame of Barry Goldwater and the campaign of Ronald Reagan.