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Religion in Colonial America Jon Butler OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • Religion in Colonial America Image Not Available • JON BUTLER & HARRY S. STOUT GENERAL EDITORS Religion in Colonial America Jon Butler OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS New York • Oxford To the memory of three wonderful teachers and friends: Anita Rutman, Darrett Rutman, and Paul Lucas Oxford University Press Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogotá Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris São Paulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright © 2000 by Jon Butler Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Butler, Jon. 1940– Religion in Colonial America/Jon Butler. p. cm. — (Religion in American life) Includes index. Summary: Presents the role of religion in early American life as well as the influence of various groups on American religion during the Colonial era. ISBN 0-19-511998-3 (alk. Paper) United States—Religion—To 1800—Juvenile literature. [1. United States—Religion—To 1800. 2. Religion.] I. Title. II. Series. BL2525.B89 1999 200’.973’0903—dc21 99-046294 ISBN 0-19-511998-3 (library edition) 987654321 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Design and layout: Loraine Machlin Picture research: Patricia Burns On the cover: “Wesley Chapel on John Street” by Joseph Beekman Smith. Frontispiece: A wedding party approaches Boston’s Old South Church in this 1756 tapestry. • Contents Editors’ Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Jon Butler and Harry S. Stout C H A P T E R 1 Worlds Old and New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 C H A P T E R 2 Religion in the First Colonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 C H A P T E R 3 The Flowering of Religious Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 C H A P T E R 4 African and American Indian Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 C H A P T E R 5 Reviving Colonial Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 7 C H A P T E R 6 Religion and the American Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121 Chronology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 4 3 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 4 6 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 5 0 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 5 5 Image Not Available • Image Not Available Editors’ Introduction JON BUTLER & HARRY S. STOUT, GENERAL EDITORS C olonial America has always seemed an especially religious place, an impression reinforced by images of Puritans entertaining American Indians at Thanksgiving or of demure Quakers settling peacefully in Pennsylvania. In fact, the religious vitality of early America stretched far beyond the typical stories of Puritans and Quaker