Role Of Religious Toleration In 1634

In 1634 the first safe haven for Catholics was chartered by King Charles I, and named after his wife, Queen Henrietta Maria. Maryland was founded by Lord Baltimore, who established the key principle of religious toleration through his instructions. “ His Lord requires his said Governor & Commissioners that in their voyage to Mary Land they be very careful to preserve unity & peace amongst all the passengers on Ship-board, and that they suffer no scandal nor offence to be given to any of the Protestants, whereby any just complaint may hereafter be made, by them, in Virginea or in England, and that for that end, they cause all Acts of Roman Catholic Religion to be done as privately as may be, and that they instruct all the Roman Catholics to be silent upon all occasions of discourse concerning matters of Religion; and that the said Governor & Commissioners treat the Protestants with as much mildness and favor as Justice will permit. And this to be observed at Land as well as at Sea” (Baltimore,
This was the first time that a colony allowed for religious toleration. To further strengthen this principle, the Maryland Assembly passed the Maryland Toleration Act in 1649. This act protected all Christian based religions from persecution. However the Protestants repealed it in 1654, and once again Catholics and many non-Puritan societies were persecuted, but in 1658, the Calvert family once again gained control and re-instituted the Toleration Act. This is very important to America because this developed and influenced the most important characteristic of the United States, religious freedom. Religious freedom is one of the basic human rights defined in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, and the Catholic influenced Toleration Act was the major stepping stone to that freedom. The struggles that Catholics made to keep that act, represents the same struggles America fights with to keep the same freedom (The Maryland Toleration