Religion and the Revolution

Although the American Revolution was not fought over religious matters, the legacy of the religious strife in the world preceding the revolution provided the impetus for the American founding fathers to see to it that religion would not become a divisive issue in the new republic. Starting with George Mason's Virginia Bill of Rights, written in 1776, which stated that "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience," the state of Virginia and the nation followed a policy of keeping religion and politics officially separated. With the Virginia statute on religious freedom written by Thomas Jefferson, endorsed by James Madison, and enacted in 1786, the states gradually began to remove all connections between governments and churches. (Note: Mason's Virginia Biii of Rights formed the basis for the Declaration of Independence and parts of the Constitution.)

The First Amendment to the Constitution, which stated that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," although it did not apply originally to the several states, did nevertheless foster an atmosphere suggesting a wall between church and state. Anyone who follows current events even in the 21st century understands that religious conflicts have not disappeared from American culture. All the same, the steps taken by the founding fathers to minimize religious controversy have stood the country in good stead.

An additional note should be added here about the relationship of colonial American attitudes toward religion and the coming of the American Revolution. As discussed above, a large number of the colonists who came to America did so in order to be able to a practice their religion freely, without interference from any higher authority. As we have seen, that desire for religious independence was not a cry for universal religious freedom, although in colonies such as Pennsylvania religious diversity was not only tolerated, it was encouraged.

As the colonists became ever more independent-minded in the 1760s and 1770s, however, it could not escape many of them that the British desire to increase its dominion over the American colonies was to be done with the complicity of the Anglican Church. The Anglican Church, after all, was the Church of England, and it was supported by English law with King George at its head. Thus the state controlled religion, and the Church of England helped the state control its people. This propensity to enforce political control through religious doctrine was recognized by the colonists.

As John Adams later noted in a letter to Dr. Jedediah Morse in December 1815, the "apprehension of Episcopacy" contributed to the revolutionary ideas percolating among the American colonists. He went on: "Passive obedience and non-resistance, in the most unqualified and unlimited sense, were [the church's'] avowed principles in government, and the power of the church to decree rites and ceremonies, and the authority of the church in controversies of faith, were explicitly avowed." Thus was the power of Parliament, and the colonists soon began to see "that parliament had no authority over them in any case whatsoever."

With those ideas as background, Adams, Madison, Jefferson and others sought to ensure the American government would never be allowed to use religion as a device to ensure political control. Thus the separation of church and state, embedded in the Bill of Rights, was incorporated into the Constitution as yet another safeguard against tyranny.

The period known as the European Enlightenment was also known as the Age of Reason, a time when the full scope of human existence was carefully examined, with an eye toward trying to perfect human society as much as possible. It was felt that the full application of man's intellect could rescue society from the forces of despotism. Encompassing the years 1715 to 1789, the Enlightenment was probably as important in America as it was in Europe. In that age of classical thinking, the European philosophers studied with great zeal the institutions of modern government with the same intensity with which scientists such as Newton had probed the mysteries of the universe and the worlds of physics and mathematics.

The German word for Enlightenment is "Aufklarung"—literally a "clearing up." It is a useful word because it helps explain what the Enlightenment tried to achieve. From the time of the scientific revolution that grew out of the Renaissance, human knowledge had been growing at an exponential rate, and the Enlightenment sought to draw on that knowledge in order to improve the human condition by improving man's institutions, including government.

In Europe the Enlightenment centered around the salons of Paris, famous for the "philosophes"— popular philosophers—such as Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot and Rousseau. From Paris to Berlin, St. Petersburg to Vienna, the rulers of that era became known as "enlightened despots," monarchs such Frederick the Great of Prussia, Joseph II of Austria and Catherine the Great of Russia. Although they held nearly absolute power over their citizens for the most part, they nevertheless considered themselves to be modern and progressive in the sense that they listened to the popular philosophers of the time. Catherine, for example, corresponded with Voltaire for years and acquired many of his books for Russian libraries. The philosophes offered ideas for reforming society, which led the enlightened rulers to attempt to govern in a way that reflected those uplifting ideas. In practice, society probably changed only modestly during the Age of Reason, but the ideas put forth were quite advanced for their time.

The great irony of the Enlightenment is that those political thinkers like Voltaire saw England as the most enlightened nation in Europe, yet it was the nation where the people first revolted—in the American colonies.12.American political leaders such as Jefferson, Franklin, James Otis, John Adams, and others were heavily influenced by Enlightenment thinking. Indeed, it may be said that the most profound result of the European Enlightenment was Jefferson's Great Declaration, whose ideas were first expressed by George Mason, and which Jefferson himself claimed was a synthesis of American thinking.

Although the locus of Enlightenment thinking is generally considered to have been the salons in Paris and Berlin, the practical application of those ideas was carried out most vividly in the American colonies. The Enlightenment was important to America because it provided the philosophical basis of the American Revolution, beginning with the political thought of John Locke. The Revolution was more than just a protest against English authority; as it

Turned out, the American Revolution provided a blueprint for the organization of democratic societies well into the modern age. And although imperfectly done, for it did not address the terrible problem of slavery, the American Revolution was an enlightened concept of government whose most profound documents were the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.

To feel the full impact of the Enlightenment on America one needs only to look at the first inaugural address of Thomas Jefferson, who, along with Benjamin Franklin, is considered the American most touched by the ideas of the Age of Reason. Jefferson wrote:

"If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it."

Women in Colonial America

Early life in the American colonies was hard—everyone had to pitch in to produce the necessities of life. There was little room for slackers; as John Smith decreed in the Virginia colony, "He who does not work, will not eat." Because men outnumbered women by a significant margin in the early southern colonies, life there, especially family life, was relatively unstable. But the general premise that all colonials had to work to ensure survival meant that everyone, male and female, had to do one's job. The work required to sustain a family in the rather bleak environments of the early colonies was demanding for all, including the children, both boys and girls.

While the women had to sew, cook, take care of domestic animals, make many of the necessities used in the household such as soap, candles, clothing, and other necessities, the men were busy building, plowing, repairing tools, harvesting crops, hunting, fishing, and protecting the family from whatever threat might come, from wild animals to Indians. It was true that the colonists brought with them traditional attitudes about the proper status and roles of women. Women were considered to be the "weaker vessels," not as strong physically or mentally as men and less emotionally stable. Legally they could neither vote, hold public office, nor participate in legal matters on their own behalf, and opportunities for them outside the home were frequently limited. Women were expected to defer to their husbands and be obedient to them without question. Husbands, in turn, were expected to protect their wives against all threats, even at the cost of their own lives if necessary.

It is clear that separation of labor existed in the New World—women did traditional work generally associated with females. But because labor was so valuable in colonial America, many women were able to demonstrate their worth by pursuing positions such as midwives, merchants, printers, and even doctors. In addition, because the survival of the family depended upon the contribution of every family member—including children, once they were old enough to work—women often had to step into their husband's roles in case of incapacitation from injury or illness. Women were commonly able to contribute to the labor involved in farming by attending the births of livestock, driving plow horses, and so on. Because the family was the main unit of society, and was especially strong in New England, the wife's position within the family, while subordinate to that of her husband, nevertheless meant that through her husband she could participate in the public life of the colony. It was assumed, for example, that when a man cast a vote in any sort of election, the vote was cast on behalf of his family. If the husband were indisposed at the time of the election, wives were generally allowed to cast the family vote in his place.

Women were in short supply in the colonies, as indeed was all labor, so they tended to be more highly valued than in Europe. The wife was an essential component of the nuclear family, and without a strong and productive wife, a family would struggle to survive. If a woman became a widow, for example, suitors would appear with almost unseemly haste to bid for the services of the woman through marriage. (In the Virginia colony it was bantered about that when a single man showed up with flowers at the funeral of a husband, he was more likely to be courting the widow than offering condolences.)

Religion in Puritan New England followed congregational traditions, meaning that the church hierarchy was not as highly developed as in the Anglican and Catholic faiths. New England women tended to join the church in greater numbers than men, a phenomenon known as the "feminization" of religion, although it is not clear how that came about. In general, colonial women fared well for the times in which they lived. In any case the leading role in the family practice of religion in New England was often played by the wife. It was the mother who brought up the children to be good Christians, and the mother who often taught them to read so that they could study the Bible. Because both men and women were required to live according to God's law, both boys and girls were taught to read the Bible.

The feminization of religion in New England set an important precedent for what later became known as "Republican motherhood" during the Revolutionary period. Because mothers were responsible for the raising of good Christian children, as the religious intensity of Puritan New England tapered off, it was the mother who was later expected to raise children who were ethically sound, and who would become good citizens. When the American Revolution shifted responsibility for the moral condition of the state from the monarch to "we, the people," the raising of children to become good citizens became a political contribution of good "republican" mothers.

Despite the traditional restrictions on colonial women, many examples can be found indicating that women were often granted legal and economic rights and were allowed to pursue businesses; many women were more than mere housewives, and their responsibilities were important and often highly valued in colonial society. They appeared in court, conducted business, and participated in public affairs from time to time, circumstances warranting. Although women in colonial America could by no means be considered to have been held "equal" to men, they were as a rule probably as well off as women anywhere in the world, and in general probably even better off.

It is useful to recall that until the beginning of the American Revolution (and even for a time after), many or most Americans were loyal subjects of their royal majesties, the kings and queens listed below. One of the great paradoxes of Western history is that although these British monarchs were not always everything their subjects wished them to be, they ruled reasonably well, and their subjects were among the freest and best governed in the world. Thus it is interesting that the first modern revolution of any size took place in the least likely country on Earth.