Dbq American Religon

Leaving Europe for the settlers would be the beginning of a way to finding their religious power in America. Religion played a major role to many of the settlers in deciding who should have authority during the colonial times. Many people believed that it was a natural right of humanity as to who should have power. These beliefs caused up of series of arguments and complex views of authority.
The volume of authority the king had over the colonies would be devastating almost immediately. Different views of dealing with this and other problems were always resolved through religious practices of the situations, especially as more enlightened beliefs spread. Although most of the colonial settlers interpreted their rights of liberty and freedom as powers granted by God to be defended, some felt that turning their backs on the government was the same as betraying God. During the colonial period the religious persecution in Europe was uncertain so it was no surprise that numerous colonial solutions would have similar religious foundations, even though opposing arguments such as Jonathan Mayhew’s and Jonathan Boucher’s. (Doc. A, B)
The dilemma of authority over these colonies were always present, but became more intense in the early 1700’s. The Great Awakening was a society against the authority of ministers, led by preachers such as Jonathan Edwards and Thomas Jefferson. (Doc. C) This supported feelings that the Bible could be interpreted individually. The movement affected colonists of all types and circumstances, leaving them with a democratic mindset. Do we all believe that a colonist should be controlled by a superior plantation owner or wealthy merchant? These are questions that were once not answered. The effect of this religion based questioning caused rising tensions towards the authority of the king.
The Great Awakening had peaked by the 1740’s, allowing conflict over authority to continue. By the 1750’s many colonists had reached the conclusion that other