Christianity in America
Christian Settlements
The European colonization of North America created a range of Christian societies. From the Spanish Catholics across the Southwest to the Puritans of Massachusetts, Christian communities emerged across the land that is now the United States. Download (PDF...
American Protestant Awakening
The 18th century brought a series of religious revivals to the American colonies. Preachers traveled through Congregationalist, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Anglican communities, speaking to large crowds, urging renewed piety and personal conversions, and...
Enlightenment and Revolution
Enlightenment ideals of reason and religious freedom pervaded the American colonial religious landscape. These values were instrumental in the American Revolution and the creation of a nation without an established religion. Download (PDF) The...
The Protestant Mainstream
In the early 19th century, many so-called “mainstream Protestants”—Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and Anglicans—believed themselves to be responsible for the future of the fledgling United States. Although they founded...
Abolition and Women’s Rights
In the first decades of the 1800s, a growing coalition of Protestants made arguments grounded in scripture for the abolition of slavery. This group laid the foundation for later social movements, including the Women’s Rights Movement. Although cooperation...
African American Christianity
The First Great Awakening led many enslaved people in the United States to convert to Christianity. Through the 18th and 19th centuries, distinct Black churches emerged, seeking autonomy from white Christians. These congregations grew into denominations...
American Catholicism
American Catholicism was defined by waves of immigration: older populations in Maryland and the Southwest were joined in the 19th and 20th centuries by immigrants from Europe and Latin America. Tensions between various nationalities, in addition to a...
The Growth of Eastern Orthodoxy
The decentralized structure of Eastern Orthodoxy resulted in the divided ecclesiastical organization of Eastern Orthodox churches in the United States, where congregations are often drawn together by shared national origins. Download (PDF) Orthodox...
Latter Day Saints Movement
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known for many years as the Mormon Church, is the largest movement descended from the prophetic claims of Joseph Smith. In the mid-19th century, Smith’s followers moved from upstate New York, Smith’s home...
The Social Gospel
Proponents of the “social gospel” connected social reform to scriptural ideals, calling for regulation of the rapidly industrializing, vastly unequal society that emerged in the late 1800s. The century that followed, characterized by war and social unrest...
Evangelicalism, Fundamentalism, and Pentecostalism
American evangelicalism has deep roots in the Protestant tradition, and today the term references a diverse group of Christians who often prioritize spiritual rebirth, personal piety, scriptural authority, and evangelism. Fundamentalism emerged in the...
New Immigrant Christianity
The Immigration Act of 1965 allowed greater numbers of Asian, African, and Latin American immigrants to enter into the U.S. These communities transformed the American religious landscape, bringing their own forms of worship and expression. One resulting...
