-
pilgrims arive
Convinced that the Church of England is hopelessly corrupt, Protestant reformers known as Pilgrims break with the church, leave England and establish a colony in present-day Plymouth, Mass -
temperance
The Virginia colony enacted the first American temperance law. -
Roger Williams
Roger Williams first arrived in North America. He would soon question the rigid religious policies in the Massachusetts colony, leading to his being banished to Rhode Island five years later. There he would create the first Baptist church in America. -
churches
The Cambridge Synod of Congregational Churches convened in Massachusetts, deciding upon the correct form of government which all Congregational Churches in New England would agree to follow. -
christmas
After two years, two key laws were repealed by the General Court of Massachusetts: one which prohibited people from observing Christmas and another that set capital punishment for Quakers who returned to the colony after being banished. -
salem
In Massachusetts, Increase Mather published his "Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits," effectively ending the Salem Witch Trials which had begun earlier that year. -
south carolina
The colony of South Carolina passed a "Sunday Law" which required everyone to attend church each Sunday and to refrain from both skilled labor and traveling by horse or wagon beyond what was absolutely necessary. Violators received a fine and/or a two hours in the village stocks. -
israel
America's first synagogue, Shearith Israel, was dedicated in New York City. -
richard allen
Richard Allen, the first black ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and founder of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, was born a slave in Philadelphia. -
temperance
The first The American Temperance Society was founded in Boston. It would later be renamed the American Temperance Union and would become a national cause. Within a decade there were over 8,000 like-minded groups with more than 1.5 million members. -
christian nation
Senator (later President) James Buchanan introduced a resolution in the United States Senate that the United States be declared a Christian Nation and acknowledge Jesus Christ as America's Savior. The resolution was rejected, but man similar resolutions would be introduced during the following years, including at least one that would have amended the Constitution. -
in god we trust
The motto "In God We Trust" first appeared on U.S. coins - specifically, the a bronze two-cent piece issued during the American Civil War. -
immigration
In the late 19th century, immigrants flock to U.S. soil, lured by hopes of economic success. But many end up in urban slums, where they toil in sweatshops and suffer from poverty, disease and overcrowding. Christians respond to these social ills in two ways: Some follow revivalist Dwight Moody, who preaches a message of personal sin and redemption. -
fundamentalist
Funded by a wealthy oil tycoon, British and American scholars and preachers publish a series of pamphlets that set forth the core beliefs, or "fundamentals," of conservative Protestants who resist the influence of modernity, including biblical criticism. These beliefs include the inerrancy of the Bible, the virgin birth of Jesus and his bodily resurrection. Three million copies of the pamphlets are distributed. Fundamentalists later take their name from the title of these pamphlets. -
Anna Howard Shaw
Addressing a group of suffragists in 1915, Methodist minister Anna Howard Shaw argues, "Just as the home is not without the man, so the state is not without the woman, and you can no more build up homes without men than you can build up the state without women." -
immigration act immplements religious diversity
Passed in response to rising xenophobia and the Red Scare of 1919, the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act implements a strict system in which immigration quotas are based on 2 percent of the population already living in the U.S. (as recorded in the 1890 census). The act also curtails all immigration from Asia. -
prohibition
The culmination of the temperance movement championed by many evangelical Protestant reformers, the 18th Amendment prohibits the sale, manufacture and transport of alcohol. An exception to the law is made for the sacramental use of wine. Supporters of Prohibition argue that the ills of drunkenness, particularly abusive family situations, require government intervention. Opponents believe that government should have no part in enforcing morality. -
jewish population
Escaping European anti-Semitism, Jews immigrate to the United States in large numbers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By 1924, the United States has become home to the largest Jewish population in the world -
catholic alsmith runs for president
Four-term governor of New York Al Smith wins the Democratic nomination in the 1928 presidential election
