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Religious Tolerance in Colonial America, a la Shmoop.

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AMERICA! FOUNDED ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM!

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Or was it all just a lie?

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A marketing ploy like the ones realtors use to sell real estate? Let's take a look.

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Pilgrims wanted the freedom to practice their religion,

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but persecuted anyone who practiced other religions.

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However, they weren't the first Pilgrims in North America.

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French Protestants had already established a colony in Florida.

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The Spanish soon established a Catholic fort

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and then proceeded to wipe the French off the map.

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There were a few early voices of reason.

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John Wise thought that religion corrupted government.

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But he thought government corrupted religion, too.

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When the colonies of Rhode Island, Maryland,

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and Pennsylvania were founded, religious tolerance was built into their charters.

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Like people buying that Gotye single on iTunes...

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...everyone else had to jump on the bandwagon. All the new colonies opted for religious tolerance.

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But there were still a bunch of mixed-up laws throughout the country.

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Like in Massachusetts, where only Christians could hold public office...

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...and if they were Catholic, they had to renounce the pope to do so.

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New York banned Catholics from public office.

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In Maryland, Jews didn't have full civil rights.

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James Madison eventually argued for complete separation of church and state.

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Thomas Jefferson embraced freedom, checking an item off his bucket list.

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What do you think? Were we founded on religious freedom?

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Or was Separation of Church and State simply a reaction to colonial intolerance?

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Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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