The Role of Religion in the Formation of America - Essay Example

Plymouth Plantation was an important settlement for the people who were fleeing religious persecution and searching for an appropriate place to worship their God. Thus, the people of the Plymouth Plantation were very religious and its social and legal systems were intimately linked to the religious beliefs of the settlers. The influence of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Plantation on the formation of our country is indisputable and the people and events of this colony have formed part of our folklore.

Similarly, the works of Roger Williams, the controversial young Puritan minister and the founder of Rhode Island, have greatly influenced the formation of our country. He advocated sexual equality and complete freedom of worship, and he was against any government over the religious practice of the people. With the consent of the Parliament in 1644, he formed a single government for the various settlements around Providence called the Rhode Island which permitted worship by every faith without obstruction.

Therefore, the works of Roger Williams in Rhode Island contributed heavily to the formation of our country which provides maximum religious freedom in the contemporary world. Another significant event in the history of the United States of America which contributed to the growth of representative government is the First Great Awakening which also indicates the role of religion in the formation of our country. The First Great Awakening, which refers to the transatlantic religious revival in the Middle Colonies in the 1730s, had an immense influence on the religious behavior of our nation.

George Whitfield, the catalyst of the Great Awakening, was concerned with religious emotionalism and this important event in the history of the US influenced several aspects of the religious nature of our nation today. Thus, the First Great Awakening created divisions in American Protestantism such as the "Old Lights" and the "New Lights". It also resulted in the formation of new Protestant sects which emphasized the need for religious toleration in our country. The First Great Awakening also empowered women, introduced revivalism into American religion, emphasized egalitarianism, and influenced political behavior in our nation.

Most importantly, the First Great Awakening in the 1730s and 1740s "revived religion for a time and caused many to think for themselves. As a result, many people, or their children, were willing to rebel against England when the time came New denominations also came out of the First Great Awakening, including the Presbyterians and the Baptists." (Merriman, 68) In conclusion, religion played a formative role in the formation of the United States of America and this becomes obvious in a reflective analysis of the role of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Plantation, Roger Williams in Rhode Island, and to the First Great Awakening in our history.