A New Society

             Between the settlement at Jamestown in 1607 and the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the most important change that occurred in the colonies was the extension of British ideals far beyond the practice in England itself. Changes in religion, economics, politics, and social structures illustrate this Americanization of the transplanted Europeans.
             By 1763, although some colonies still maintained established churches, other colonies had accomplished a virtual revolution for religious toleration and separation of church and state. The two "established" churches at the time were the Anglican and Congregational churches. The Anglican Church was the church of the king of England. This was the official faith in Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and a part of New York. The reason for being mainly in the south was that the southern colonies emulated England more than the northern colonies did. This was also the major foothold of the king's authority. Thee British officials tried to impose their beliefs on the rest of the colonies, but they put up a strong opposition to it. The northern colonies were Congregationalists, which had come from the Puritan church. This religion was fiercer and less worldly then the Anglican religion. In the Anglican religion hell was less scorching, sermons were shorter, and amusements like Virginia fox hunting were less frowned upon. The Congregationalist church was then established in all the New England colonies except independent minded Rhode Island. At first Massachusetts taxed all residents for the church, but later excepted members of other well-known religious denominations. Although no matter how close Presbyterianism is related to Congregationalism, it was never made official by any colony.
             In a similar economic revolution, the colonies outgrew their mercantile relationship with the mother country and developed an expanding capitalist system on their own. The
             ...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
A New Society. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 06:08, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/100534.html