Synopses & Reviews
In a clear and original treatment of a controversial topic, historian James H. Hutson describes the rise of organized religion in America and its interaction with government from the arrival of Protestant and Catholic groups in New England and the middle Colonies in the early 17th century to the establishment of new religious groups in the early decades of the 19th century. By interpreting the Puritans' arrival in New England in the context of European religious persecution, he lays the groundwork for his examination of the evolving relationship between church and state in America. The history of Rhode Island Baptists and Pennsylvania Quakers prefigured the principles of religious freedom and separation of church and state laid down in the founding documents of the US. Hutson describes the founding of the federal and state governments and the founders' attitudes toward religion's role in government. Hutson's own expertise and the Library of Congress's rich documentation of this period give particular weight and interest to this period.
Synopsis
In a clear and original treatment of a controversial topic, historian James H. Hutson describes the rise of organized religion in America and its interaction with government from the arrival of Protestant and Catholic groups in New England and the middle Colonies in the early 17th century to the establishment of new religious groups in the early decades of the 19th century.
"Hutson has done a stunning job in synthesizing a huge amount of material in elegant and vigorous prose. He has been everywhere and read everything. This is a tour de force". -- Patricia U. Bonomi, author of Under the Cope of Heaven
"This book undertakes an immense task in a few pages -- to tell succinctly the story of religion and the formation of the American republic between colonization and the 1840s ... It brims with lively words from contemporaries that give an urgency and intimate flavor to the narrative ... This is superb work". -- Jon Butler, Yale University
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p.123-124) and index.