Christianity and the American Revolution: Christian History Timeline
Robert Calhoon is professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is author of Dominion and Liberty: Ideology in the Anglo-American World (1994).
April 1, 1996
Christianity FIRST HINTS—1740s & 1750s 1740s Great Awakening inspired by George Whitefield’s preaching spreads through colonies 1747 Jonathan Edwards’s The Visible Union of God’s People envisions Americans bound together by shared conversion experience 1750 Jonathan Mayhew’s Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance announces Christian duty to resist tyranny PRELUDE—1760s 1768–1769 Northern Anglicans demand appointment of a colonial bishop 1768 John Witherspoon becomes president of the College of New Jersey; unites Presbyterians and introduces Scottish Common Sense philosophy TURNING POINT—1770–1776 1772 Boston Committee of Correspondence indicts British policies, including prospect of a colonial Anglican bishop; John Allen preaches on The Beauties ofLiberty 1774 May, Quebec Act condemned as extending “Papist Rule”; Sept., Baptist Isaac Backus demands that First Continental Congress, meeting in Carpenter’s Hall, Philadelphia, protect Baptists’ religious liberty 1775 July, Continental Congress calls for day of prayer and fasting; preachers debate whether to submit to British authority 1776 July, Declaration of Independence invokes “the laws of nature and of nature’s God”; Sept., New Jersey Dutch Reformed split on political lines; Dec., North Carolina constitution restricts officeholding to Protestants; Dec., Virginia disestablishes the Anglican church WAR & AFTERMATH—1777–1789 1777 Aug., Pennsylvania officials deport 40-plus Quakers for “disloyalty;” Nov., Lutheran patriarch Henry Muhlenburg defends his neutrality 1778-1780 Henry Alline, “Nova Scotia’s Whitefield,” ignites a Canadian revival that spreads to New England 1778 South Carolina permits Anglican-like churches that meet certain criteria 1779 Virginia considers public subsidies for churches 1780 Massachusetts decides to continue public funding of Congregational churches 1781 Presbyterian Samuel McCorkle preaches against looting and abusing of loyalists 1786 Virginia adopts Thomas Jefferson’s Statute for Religious Liberty 1788 Presbyterians establish a national denomination 1789 George Washington takes presidential oath on the Bible, adding “So help me, God.” The Revolution FIRST HINTS—1740s & 1750s 1740–1748 King George’s War—French and British maneuver to dominate North America 1760 George III becomes king of England 1756-1763 Seven Years’ War—British expel French from North America PRELUDE—1760s 1763 Peace of Paris ends Seven Years’ War; British government in financial straits 1764 Sugar Act—Britain tightens enforcement of the acts of trade, seeking more revenues from colonies 1765 Stamp Act—Americans complain of taxation without representation 1767 Townshend Acts—attempts to indirectly tax the colonies TURNING POINT—1770–1776 1770 Boston Massacre—five protesting Bostonians killed 1773 Boston Tea Party protests Tea Act of 1773 1774 Intolerable Acts: including quartering of troops in homes; First Continental Congress meets 1775 Apr., Battles of Lexington and Concord force a British retreat; May, Second Continental Congress seeks repeal of British policies; creates Continental Army and names George Washington commander; June, Battle of Bunker Hill 1776 Jan., Thomas Paine’s Common Sense ignites feelings for independence; July, Thomas Jefferson pens Declaration of Independence; Dec., Washington crosses Delaware and defeats British at Trenton WAR & AFTERMATH—1777–1789 1777 Battle of Saratoga: American victory prompts France to support United States 1777–1778 Washington’s army suffers through winter at Valley Forge 1778 June, Battle of Monmouth: longest action of the war a draw 1781 Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, forcing peace negotiations 1783 Treaty of Paris—British recognize American independence 1787 U.S. Constitutional Convention 1789 Bill of Rights guarantees religious freedom Copyright © 1996 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian History magazine.
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