Today, we regard religious freedom as a basic human right. In the United States, it is often referred to as the “first freedom,” the very foundation on which our other freedoms rest. But this was not always so.
The first European settlements in the American colonies brought with them their experience of official or “established” churches. This had been the practice in Europe for many centuries. Civil and religious leaders shared the authority for maintaining political and moral order. Following this familiar pattern, several American colonies set up official churches. In Virginia, the first English colony, the Church of England (Anglican Church) became the official faith. In Massachusetts, Puritan Congregationalism became the established church; in New York it was the Dutch Reformed Church. In these colonies, there was little room for dissent. Those who expressed alternative religious views often faced imprisonment, public whipping, or expulsion, and in extreme cases, even death.
Quaker Mary Dyer being led to execution by Boston Puritans, 1660
Yet there were always people who resisted the idea of established churches. Dissenting religious views didn’t simply disappear. Baptists and Quakers came to Puritan New England; Jews and Lutherans settled in New York; Presbyterians and Roman Catholics could be found in Virginia. Some of these dissenting groups struggled for acceptance within the establishment; others formed separate colonies without established churches. Rhode Island, for example, was founded by Baptist Roger Williams after being forced to flee from Massachusetts. Its charter specifically affirmed freedom of conscience and respect for religious differences. Pennsylvania was founded by Quaker William Penn as a “holy experiment” that welcomed religious diversity as part of a radical new vision of pluralist democracy. And Maryland was carved out of existing Virginia territory in part to provide a safe haven for Catholics.
Even in colonies that had an official church, the realities of colonial life meant that establishment was precarious. New settlers with diverse beliefs were constantly arriving, distances were vast and communication was poor, and there was a shortage of trained clergy. Moreover, different colonies had established different churches. When the colonies began to unify politically and move toward independence from England, these and other factors prevented any uniform national church from taking hold. Religious liberty became o
ne of the central rallying principles of the revolution.
In Virginia, the Church of England was formally disestablished with the passage of Thomas Jefferson’s famous Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786. By the time United States Constitution was ratified in 1788, most states had done away with established churches. Even where establishment lingered, the rights of dissenting religious groups were now recognized. In 1833, Massachusetts became the last state to formally abolish its established church.