II. The Changing Religious Outlook

During the seventeenth century Virginia was the only English colony on the American continent in which the majority of the people adhered to the faith of the Established Church of the mother country. In Maryland the church was set up by law in 1692. For a generation after the founding of South Carolina the door was open to all sorts of Dissenters. When at last, in 1704, a conformity bill was passed, the Anglicans comprised but a third of the population. Elsewhere the Church of England had but few adherents, and lived only by sufferance. So in creasing changes were inevitable. ^{1Thomas J. Wertenbaker, The First Americans, 1607-1690, p. 115.}PFF3 140.2

We have observed that the seventeenth-century New Englanders were prolific writers. The energies of the most vigorous minds of the period, clerical and lay, were expended chiefly in theological discussion, ^{2Ibid., pp. 237, 238.} including a goodly number of prophetic expositions. The ministry especially devoted their time to ex pounding their beliefs and answering their opponents. Thus of the one hundred three works published in Boston from 1682 to 1689, fifty-six were sermons and thirty-nine others were religious in character. ^{3Ibid., pp. 241, 242.} And while the clergy encouraged education, they had taken the pains to control and direct it. The textbooks were chosen with a view to inculcating the precepts of the church, and the schools were supported from church funds. ^{4Ibid., p. 245.} The interests of all were thus bound together.PFF3 140.3

We have also noted that two conflicting tendencies were at work by the close of the seventeenth century-toward greater toleration on the one hand, and, on the other, toward established churches and persecution for dissenters. ^{5There was persecution for Roman Catholics in Maryland. Becoming a royal province in 1691, with the Church of England established, all citizens were taxed for its support. Laws were passed aimed directly at Catholics, forbidding them to hold public office, taking away their franchise, and denying the right of holding public religious services. Priests were forbidden to preach, hear confession, or to administer the sacraments. (Sanford H. Cobb, The Rise of Religious Liberty in America, pp. 397, 398; James Truslow Adams, Provincial Society, 1690-1763, p. 155.)} The former was more noticeable farther north. But in 1691 the new charter of Massachusetts did away with the Congregational test for the franchise. An alteration in the control of the school sys tem resulted. Similarly, the towns had become too large to be served by a single church, and there were divisions to suit the needs of the neighborhoods. So by 1700 there were a number of Baptist churches in New England, and the sectarian spirit began to melt away. Mutual toleration was growing.PFF3 141.1