America s Influence On The Building Of The United States

The functionality of America would not be the same without religion, it has been a monumental influence in the building of the United States. Over the course of American history, the ideas and influence of religion has played a significant role in shaping the lives of people and the culture of the nation. Throughout the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s, groups such as the Puritans, Great Awakening preachers, and abolitionists left a lasting Christian legacy on specific peoples such as Native Americans, and African Americans. The Puritans were a group of religious reformers who came from the Church of England during the middle of the 1600s. Puritans arrived in New England with their families and established small villages of yeomen farmers that†¦show more content†¦Because the Puritans believed that Native Americans should convert to Christianity it lead to â€Å"Religious differences between the two groups prevented each group from having a common understanding of another and led to each one seeing demons and devils in the other†. The Puritans thought it was their job to tell the Native Americans about the Bible and the Christian God. The Puritans were very narrow-minded when it came to religion. They claimed the religious beliefs and the rituals of the Indians were the ways the devil and witches act. The religious differences led to conflicts between the two groups. In the first half of the 1600’s the outbreaks of violence between them were short- lived but eventually it led to a greater conflict in 1670, Metacom’s war. Metacom believed conversion was not the answer. He started an alliance with smaller tribes and began to attack white Puritan settlements. The Puritans became angry and in retaliation, they began to attack Indians. â€Å"This caused a large number of casualties and sold hundreds of captives into slavey†. The Native Americans had to give up and in result they lost their land and their culture. In the middle of the 1 700s colonial America experienced its first major religious revival, a movement that is widely known in history as the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening consisted of religious meetings and revivals that brought them closer to God. Meetings were led by preachers of the Awakening,