Question by Woman: Did Americans ever tolerate freedom of religion before the bill of rights was added to the Constitution?
Were Americans ever intolerant of different religions before the bill of rights legally allowed freedom of religion?
Best answer:
Answer by pizza369m
I believe that the Puritans in Massachusetts were not very tolerant to other religions.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Herky 1966
August 13, 2011 at 6:07 pm
not in some places. Rhode Island was founded by a group who found the Puritans too unaccepting for example. Up to the Revolutionary war most churches were Anglican. In the northern states their were some Presbyterian and Methodist groups scattered about. Before the revolution preachers were supposed to get a license from the throne to preach. Churches in the didn’t worry too much about this, as very few non-Anglican priests were given licenses anyway. In the south the Anglican church fought the encroachment of their religious monopoly by sending militia or even mobs to arrest, beat or even kill non licensed priests. The Methodist and Presbyterian leaders in the South were looked at as a huge threat because they drew large crowds from the poor and even from slaves who embraced the idea that you could get to heaven through a personal relationship with God and not have to go through the Anglican institution which was more for the land owners anyway.