Religions+in+Colonial+America

Religion played an important role for colonists in colonial America. Many people came to America for the reason of being able to practice their religion freely. They arrived in Jamestown first in the early 17th century       , and then thirteen colonies were formed by these European religious groups. (This photo, taken in the 1890's, shows a 1639 Jamestown church tower. The tower was one of the last remnants of the first permanent settlement in colonial America)

Although the reason that these religious groups (Puritans and Quakers) came to Amercia was to escape the unfair treatment in religion, unfortunately, the same situations were happened in their religious groups as well. For example, in order to control Puritans, the religious leader would execute harsh punishment to those people who didn't follow strict rules. Therefore, many other religious groups in colonies, such as Baptists, Catholics and Protestants came up later.

And finally, the religion's control had become a part of politics and made a lot of influences in colonial life.