From Limited Tolerance to Political Freedom: Religion in America between 1620 and 1820
Abstract
In this paper I will argue that religious diversity and the development of unique
religious cultures in the various colonies along with the growth of the notions of tolerance
and freedom resulted in the political establishment of religious freedom in America. In
Part 1, I will discuss the concept of religious diversity, the cultural background of the
development of unique religious cultures in Britain's American Colonies, and the
historical development of the concepts of tolerance and freedom. In Part 2, I investigate
the issues of the religious cultural development and diversity found in colonial America
between 1620 and 1740. In Part 3 my investigation turns to these same two issues
between 1740 and 1820. Part 4 of this essay will discuss the role of the developing
notions of religious tolerance and freedom and finally the establishment of political
religious freedom.