Religion in the Chesapeake Colonies by Andrea R

     The colonists had many forms of religions to choose from. Most religions that were available had some form of Christianity. Chesapeake colonists’ passion was their tobacco crops. The excitement that other settlers had for religion was not such excitement in the Chesapeake colonies.

     Protestant was the religion that was prominent in the region. This religion followed the doctrines of the Church of England.  It was expected of all the followers to go to church on Sunday, it was required by law. There were also church courts that would condemn wrong doing. One of the problems faced by the church was the lack of organization. The church was governed from London. The needs in England were different in these colonies. The problems in the colonies did not relate to its necessities. Any person that wanted to become a priest had to go to England for the education. Many colonists did not want to take that career path and many priests trained in England did not want to have to go live in the Chesapeake colonies.

     The weakness in the church of the colonies had a positive effect on other religions that moved to the colonies. The church required religions to register at the local parish. One of the requirements was that weddings were held by the local priest. Other than that, religions were free to worship as they wanted to.

     Virginia’s colonists had to worship the Church of England, it was the law and they had to maintain it with taxes. It lines between the government and religion was unclear. The gentleman of Virginia did not like the authorities of religion’s power centralized. So they took the power of the parish and courts and this way gaining control over it.

     Maryland had many Catholics. The Roman Catholic Church was officially the Church of England up until 1534. After an argument with the Pope the king decided to pass a law that made him the head of the church. It became the Church of England. After this happened Lord Baltimore went to America and established a colony were the catholic people could go and could be free from the Church of England. The Catholics that had arrived to Maryland were escaping religious discrimination. But as the population grew the colony was still nominally Protestants.

     Anglicans did not like the religious view of Native Americans and most Africans. They tried to get them to be supportive of their religion and beliefs. The Indians maintained firmness against Christianity. But they did get some Africans to start going to their established churches.

     The Chesapeake slaves began following Christianity. They attended meetings and listened to preachers. The Baptist and Methodists took them in. Christianity helped them believe that there would be an end to their slavery and liberation in the end.

     Most colonists went to church every Sunday like they were supposed to. Sometimes it was more of a socializing scene than anything else. Faith was a private issue and discussed between family members.

     Maryland and Virginia were both tobacco colonies, this shared devotion made them very similar in very aspects, religion was one of them.

Murrin, J., Johnson, P., et al. Liberty, Equality, Power. A History of the American People. Fifth Edition. Thomson Wadsworth 2008.