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Jan 1, 1096
The Crusades begin
These were a series military actions taken by the Catholic nations of Medieval Europe during the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries against the Muslim rulers of Israel at this time. The Pope and several Catholic nations like France and England wished to reclaim Israel, which is seen as a Holy Land for Jews, Christians, and Muslims, for Christianity and were temporarily successful but the Christian Crusader states founded these eventually fell again to Muslim rule. -
Oct 30, 1517
Martin Luther initiates the Protestant Reformation
As the Catholic Church began selling questionable indulgences for Christians to essentially "pay of their sins" and many priests also became more concerned about financial rather than spiritual wealth, one German Catholic monk by the name of Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg and a Protestant Reformation against the Catholic church began. Growing competition between Catholicism and Protestantism would lead to similar competition in settling the New World. -
Aug 20, 1521
Spain colonizes New Spain which eventually spreads Catholicism to the Southwest and Florida
After Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes led a successful conquest against the Aztecs in 1521, the Spanish began extensively settling Mexico and Central America and even extended their reach to the American Southwest and Florida. While in these regions, the Spanish set up numerous Catholic missions and sought to actively convert the Native people of these regions, but they would also often face a great deal of conflict with animist Native Americans who resisted said forced conversion. -
John Winthrop born
Winthrop drew historical fame for his "Model of Christian Charity" speech where he called the New England colony "a city on a hill" due to its unique Reformed model of Christian obedience and foundation by a group which wished to worship God in their own way without persecution. He would go on to become the governor of the Massachusetts colony and envisioned the colony as a beacon for religious righteousness around the globe. -
Anglicanism arrives in North America with the founding of Jamestown
Although the English set up Jamestown in Virginia as a primarily economically-focused colony, the settlers were still highly religious by today's standards and church attendance was required in the colony by law. Anglicanism was different from the Catholicism brought previously by the Spanish in southwestern regions of the US due to its origins in the Protestant Reformation that had taken place during the previous century. It was still seen as retaining Catholic elements and practices by some. -
Pilgrims arrive in Plymouth, Massachusetts seeking religious liberty
Unlike the Anglicans south of them, the Pilgrims came to the Massachusetts area to escape religious persecution in England. While they were less fervently religious than the Puritans who came soon after them, the Pilgrims established a somewhat democratic theocracy in the Plymouth area but were relatively tolerant of different religious views. They were also relatively tolerant of Native American groups nearby and believed they needed to separate from the Anglican Chufch rather than change it. -
Dutch Reformed Church established in New Netherlands
Similar to the Jamestown colony, the Dutch set up their colonies in the Mid-Atlantic region for primarily economic reasons and were quite religiously tolerant for trade and financial purposes. Nevertheless, their settlement on the Hudson River Valley in modern-day New York led to a influx of Dutch Calvinists to North America which would later found the Reformed Church in America and had much in common with Scots-Irish Presbyterian immigrants at the time. -
Puritans arrive in Massachusetts
By far the most religious group to arrive on the east cost of North America by this point, the Puritans were strict Calvinists who wished to "purify" the Anglican Church of its Catholic tendencies and also fled persecution by fleeing to New England. They believed in predestination and that only a select group of believers would be saved making them very strict, diligent, and exclusive. They believed in firmly traditional gender roles and were superstitious as proven with the Salem Witch Trials. -
Maryland founded by Lord Baltimore as a refuge for English Catholics
Although the colonies in New England had provided religious safe havens for Calvinists, none of the English colonies were that open to Catholics at this time so English Catholic leader Lord Baltimore was granted his own colony north of Jamestown to use as a haven for English Catholics. Given the Marian devotion held by many Catholics, the colony was named Maryland, and the 1649 Maryland Toleration Act ensured religious freedom for all Christians in Maryland. -
Rhode Island is founded as a colony for religious freedom by Roger Williams
After being banished by the strict Puritans in Massachusetts for his "heretical" practices and "new ideas", Williams migrated south to found the new small colony of Rhode Island which was established upon the principles of seperation of church and state, religious freedom, and a "majority-rules" democracy. All three of these principles would become important to Americans founders during their drafting of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. -
Roger Williams founds the First Baptist Church in America
In his newly founded haven of religious freedom in Rhode Island, Roger Williams would come to find the first Baptist church in North America. This is important in US history because Baptist churches and their evangelical Protestant counterparts would play an important role in shaping each Great Awakening, and they also would become the largest Protestant denomination in the US by the 21st century with the rise of the Southern Baptist Convention. -
Anne Hutchinson banished to Rhode Island for religious views
Much like her predecessor Roger Williams, Hutchinson would flee to Rhode Island after being banished by the Puritans for her heretical religious views. However, her story is slightly different given that the "heretical" views she outlined while in Massachusetts promoted an increased role for women in the church which was severely frowned upon by male Puritan church leaders. Hutchinson's desire to include women in the whip church would inspire many women to become involved in temperance later on. -
Pennsylvania established as a colony with religious freedom by Quaker William Penn
Although Penn was originally granted a colony in Pennsylvania to be made into a haven for Quakers, a British Protestant sect known for its pacifism and egalitarianism, Penn instead followed the lead of Roger Williams and ensured this his colony would guarantee religious freedom to Christians. Penn's Quaker ideals took this even further by granting greater rights to women and Native Americans in his colony although they were still by no means equals. -
Anglicans begin trying to convert African slaves leading to a blend of African religions and Christianity
Although the slave trade had been taking place for a century before this and religious syncretism had already emerged in the Carribean, it wasn't until the late 17th and early 18th centuries that African slaves began being shipped primarily to the American south in large numbers. The British traders and colonists began attempting to convert slaves with some success although a large number maintained native African animist or even Muslim beliefs. This led to the rise of black churches later on. -
Jonathan Edwards begins preaching in Boston
Jonathan Edwards became the most prominent American preacher in the 13 colonies when he adopted the ideas of the Great Awakening which were emerging in Germany and the United Kingdom and blended them with traditional Puritan theology in England. He gave a number of fiery sermons in frighteningly hushed tones like "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", and he promoted traditional Puritan ideals like predestination and strict morality but gave them new popularity and energy. -
George Whitefield arrives in America
Although he was originally a founding Methodist preacher from England, Whitefield moved to the Georgia colony and began travelling throughout the American colonies and delivering fired-up sermons much like Jonathan Edwards. He used pamphlets and new print media to spread word of his religious gatherings and promoted "New Light" Christianity which was distinct from the "Old Light" Christianity practiced by most Anglicans in the colonies. New Lights were more energetic and active in worship. -
First Great Awakening challenges religious establishment
With energized leaders like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield in the American colonies, this Christian revitalization movement which began in Germany and England with the rise of the Methodist movement there. As it spread to the American colonies, it gained immense popularity by both preaching fundamentalist Christian views while also include new and energized styles of worship and congregational involvement which challenged the religious establishment or "Old Light". -
Richard Allen is born
Allen was originally born intro slavery in Delaware, but given his shared religiosity and Methodist theology with his wealthy owner owner, he was able to buy his own freedom in 1780. Although he was able to preach at some Methodist churches in Philadelphia, he was often restricted to certain services for blacks only. Thusly, Allen decided it was time for a denomination to be formed that would give African-Americans equal rights to worship and helped found and lead the AME. (See below) -
First Amendment passes and guarantees religious liberty to Americans and reaffirms the lack of an established state church in the US
Although the Constitution already included a clause prohibiting "religious tests" in the American government, many anti-Federalists found this far to vague and not far-reaching enough in defending rights to worship, so once a Bill of Rights was agreed upon, the First Amendment included a clause protecting freedom of worship for all religions and freedom to establish religious groups. This amendment, however, did not prevent all discrimination against minority religions thoughout US history. -
The African Methodist Episcopal Church is founded
After realizing the unfair treatment given to African-Americans in the mainstream Methodist Church, Allen called for the creation of a new denomination guaranteeing equal rights to worship for African-Americans. This organization was thusly founded in Philadelphia and would provide a place of sanctuary to slaves and free blacks across the US and also promoted egalitarian activism and literacy with its national organizing and Sunday schools. -
Second Great Awakening emerges
Following the decline in the Evangelical emergence that came with the First Great Awakening during the mid-18th century, religious values would again come to the political and social forefront for much of the early 19th century with a greater degree of focus on social and societal advancement and improvement from a Christian lense. Evangelical and Quaker leaders would begin pushing for various reforms like abolition, asylum reform, and temperance with their Christian pretenses as backing. -
Joseph Smith founds the LDS Church
After he claimed to see a vision from God in which a renewed message was revealed to him, Joseph Smith wrote his new knowledge in the Book of Mormon and would go on to found his own church which promoted the importance of moral standards and permitted polygamy (the latter of which would go on to be frowned upon by the church in later decades). He would gain a significant religious following, and he would migrate with his followers first to Nauvoo, Illinois whilst facing much discrimination. -
Quakers and Evangelicals help found the American Anti-Slavery Society
Although more traditional churches like the Episcopal and Congregationalist churches were generally more permissive of slavery, Quakers and Evangelical Christians (e.g. Methodists and Baptists) would lead a push against slavery with the founding of this organization. Most Quakers and Evangelicals believed that those who were granted spiritual self-determination by God should also be granted earthly self-determination, and this accompanied calls by similar groups for other social reforms. -
Irish and German Catholic Immigrants beginning arrive to America in large numbers
Particularly following the Irish Potato Famine and political unrest in Southern Germant during the 1840s, a large number of Catholics from Europe would begin migrating to the United States and gathered largely along the east coast and formed large communities in major Northern cities. While they faced broad economic and social discrimination, the Catholic Church provided support for struggling Irish and, to a lesser degree, German immigrants. -
Mormons begin trek from Illinois to Utah to escape persecution
After Joseph Smith had been killed by an anti-Mormon mob two years earlier, a new leader by the name of Brigham Young took charge of his Mormon followers, and they began a long journey to Utah to escape the religious persecution they found in Illinois. After a year long journey, they settled primarily in the Salt Lake Vally in Utah, and they eventually tried to gain independence from the US by demanding territory in the Southwest which they called "Deseret" but the US government refused. -
Conflict emerges between denominations on the issue of slavery
During the 1850s much like the nation as a whole, Christian denominations began disagreeing on the issue of slavery and whether or not to support it. Many more traditional denominations promoted the "positive good" argument to support slavery and even attempted to use scripture to justify the "mutually beneficial" nature of slavery. Contrastingly, many Presbyterians, Quakers, Baptists, and Methodists argued against slavery and this subsequent rise in new denominations led to the 3rd Awakening. -
Know-Nothing Party emerges and begins targeting Catholics
Although they originally organized under the Order of the Star Spangled Banner in 1850, this group promoting nativist (white, Protestant, Anglo-Saxon) superiority formed the American Party in 1851. The Know-Nothing's targeted Catholics as "foreigners" who were "loyal to the foreign papacy before the American republic". This group was strong in areas of the Northeast which had high levels of immigration, and although short lived, contributed to long-term anti-Catholic sentiment in the US. -
Women's Christian Temperance Union forms and Christian support for the temperance movement rises
Much like slavery before the Civil War, temperance became a primarily political issues focused on by Christian groups in the US with the largest such Christian group supporting temperance being the Women's Christian Temperance Union. This group was most prominently led by Frances Willard and pioneered what would later emerge as the social gospel movement through it calls for social reform given the religious duty they arepgued was held by Christians to promote family and morality. -
Protestant boarding schools emerge for Native Americans on reservations
As the United States became more focused on extensively settling the West following the Civil War, one tactic employed by white settlers and missionaries involved assimilating Native Americans into white culture through the establishment of Christian boarding schools. This actually led to some interdenominational conflict as well since different religious groups would fight over areas in which they could convert Native Americans, but ultimately led to a decline in indigenous religions. -
Increase in Jewish and Catholic European immigrants to America
As the American economy industrialized and expanded, many immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe were attracted to the Northeastern and Midwestern industrial cities of the US. Many Jews fled Eastern Europe to escape persecution, but still found much in the Northeast even though they were given some independence in forming local communities, and Catholics would come to dominate the Northeast and Midwest respectively with immigrants from Italy, Poland, the Balkan States, and Ireland. -
The Social Gospel Movement emerges
This movement coincided with the broader progressive and temperance movements and involved the defense of the urban poor and promoted Christian ideals of generosity and altruism. Settlement houses are an example of how this movement attempted to relieve the plight of the urban poor by providing food and housing, and many women who were involved in their churches became active in this movement which reestablished the Christian values of selflessness and charity during this new industrial era. -
18th Amendment passes in a success for Social Gospel Movement and Christian progressives
For decades, religiously-affiliated groups like the Women's Christian Temperance Union and the American Temperance Society had lobbied for a ban on alcoholic beverages which they argued ruined families and Christian moral standards. This was the first widespread area of religious political activism in the US that achieved considerable success as their lobbying got the passage of this amendment banning the sale and consumption of alcohol although it was eventually overturned. -
Scopes Monkey Trial regarding the teaching of revolution decided upon in favor of the church and creationism
As biology teacher John P. Scopes had attempted to teach on evolution in his classroom, many religious Americans decried his attempt to indoctrinate his Tennessee students in irreligious theories, so he was put on trial against Democratic candidate turned Evangelical lawyer William Jennings Brian. Although Scopes' lawyer Clarence Darrow crafted a strong defense of evolution and Scopes, he was eventually found guilty even though he had innovatively challenged the religious status quo. -
21st Amendment passes repealing the 18th Amendment
Since the 18th Amendment was generally ineffective in preventing the consumption of alcohol across the US since many still did so illegally through speakeasies and black market buying, the federal government eventually realized it was time to repeal this unsuccessful and generally unpopular amendment. This was a major defeat for the religious temperance lobby and also represented a shifting tide in the 30s and 40s towards government rather than religious aid which would shift back in the 50s. -
Evangelical preacher Billy Graham emerges with a religious crusade in LA
The Cold War provided a potent context for a religious revival in the US during the 50s as American democracy competed with "godless communism" in the Soviet Union. As church membership spiked from 1940 to 1960, many preachers seized on this opportunity like Evangelical preacher Billy Graham who used new forms of media like radio and TV to broadcast his religious messages and revivals like those held in LA and Madison Square in 1949 and 1957 respectively. -
"In God We Trust" allowed to appear on currency to combat Soviet state atheism with America on Judeo-Christian values
Given the religious context of the Cold War with the USSR openly declaring state atheism and the US being a generally religious nation, the US government even seized on this opportunity to provide a contrast to and competition with the USSR by declaring the US a nation founded on Judeo-Christian values. After "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, the US Treasury also approved the addition of "In God We Trust" to US currency to reemphasize these values. -
Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. ties religion to Civil Rights by founding the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Following his leadership of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and rise to national fame, Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. decided to create a network of African-American churches and their members across the South known as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. These black churches helped organize the civil rights movement and spread its messaging across the South, and MLK himself often referenced Biblical messages in his speeches on civil rights. -
John F. Kennedy becomes the first Catholic elected president
Although Al Smith was the first Catholic to be nominated by a major party (the Democratic Party just like JFK) to run for the presidency, anti-Catholic sentiment still wasn't uncommon in the US during the early 20th-century and it contributed to his electoral loss. However, by 1960, Catholics like the Kennedy family had become far more integrated into the political mainstream, so this shift was even more apparent when Protestants set aside denominational biases and elected JFK president in 1960. -
Moral Majority founded leading to rise of Christian Right
Founded by Evangelical Reverend Jerry Falwell, this organization was among the first in the US to begin advocating the large scale involvement of Evangelical conservatives in American politics. Organizations like these which catered to the emerging religious rights primarily grew due to conservative Evangelical and Catholic opposition to the social changes of the 70s with the legalization of abortion in 1973 with Roe v. Wade and reemergence of the Equal Rights Amendment. -
Conservative resurgence leads to rise of televangelism
Capitalizing on the precedent set by traveling and image savvy Evangelical minister Billy Graham, a number of popular preachers began using TV as a means to reach broader audiences accompanying the resurgence of religion and conservatism during the late 70s and early 80s. Popular "televangelists" included Pat Robertson of the "700 Club" and Tammt Bakker of the "Praise the Lord Club" who brought Christian broadcasting into the American mainstream. -
Newly mobilized Evangelicals credited with election of Ronald Reagan
While Evangelicals had previously been largely uninvolved in political affairs to a major degree, the emerging culture war of the 70s and election of 1980 marked a sharp shift in the religious and political status quo. Many conservative Evangelicals were captured by Reagan's appeals to "old-fashioned values" and religious references in speeches as well as his support for supply-side economics and military expansionism which would come to define many Evangelical politicians even today. -
ERA defeated due to Evangelical opposition and leadership of Phyllis Schlafly
Although Schlafly herself was a devout Catholic, she was able to gain a massive following amongst Evangelical Protestants in her "STOP ERA" campaign which vehemently opposed the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Schlafly and many other religious conservatives argued that the ERA would affirm the constitutionality of abortion, women in the military, and gay marriage, social issues which said religious conservatives strongly opposed on personal spiritual and moral grounds. -
Following terrorist attacks on 9/11, President Bush promotes tolerance of Muslim-Americans
Although anti-Muslim sentiment had been (and largely continued to be even after Bush's actions) rising before the events of 9/11, Bush visited a mosque and reaffirmed the rights of Muslim-Americans whom he and many others argued mustn't be viewed in the same way as radical terrorists like those who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks. However, disagreements on Muslim immigration would come to add to the ever-growing cultur war between liberals and the largest religious right.
