Protestant Empire: Religion and the Making of the British Atlantic World

311 Pages·2010·29.168 MB·English

by  Carla Gardina Pestana

Protestant Empire
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Protestant Empire
Religion and the Making
of the British Atlantic
World
Carla Gardina Pestana
University of Pennsylvania Press
Philadelphia
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Copyright(cid:2)2009UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
Allrightsreserved.Exceptforbriefquotationsusedforpurposesofrevieworscholarlycitation,none
ofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformbyanymeanswithoutwrittenpermissionfromthe
publisher.
Publishedby
UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
Philadelphia,Pennsylvania19104-4112
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericaonacid-freepaper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Pestana,CarlaGardina.
ProtestantEmpire:ReligionandtheMakingoftheBritishAtlanticWorld/CarlaGardina
Pestana.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindex.
ISBN978-0-8122-4150-1(alk.paper)
1.GreatBritain—Churchhistory. 2.GreatBritain—Colonies—Africa—Religion. 3.Great
Britain—Colonies—America—Religion. I.Title.
BR757.P47 2009
270.09171(cid:2)241—dc22
2008042299
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To the memory of my father, Ray Gardina
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contents
Introduction 1
one
ReligionbeforeEnglishExpansion 15
two
ReformationandthePoliticizationofReligiousExpansion 33
three
ExportingtheReligiousTensionsoftheThreeKingdoms 66
four
RestorationSettlementandtheGrowthofDiversity 100
five
BattlingoverReligiousIdentityintheLateSeventeenthCentury 128
six
ReligiousEncountersandtheMakingofaBritishAtlantic 159
seven
RevivalismandtheGrowthofEvangelicalChristianity 187
eight
RevolutionaryDivisions,ContinuingBonds 218
conclusion
TheBritishAtlanticWorldinPerspective 256
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viii contents
suggestions for further reading 267
notes 277
index 287
acknowledgments 301
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introduction
The expansion of Europefromitspeninsulaintootherpartsoftheglobe
was one of the most significant events to shape the modern world. Among
themanyeffectsofthiscataclysmicmovementofpeopleandinstitutionswas
the intermixture of cultures that occurred in the colonies that Europeans
created.Europeanscrossedoceans,encounterednativeinhabitants,andinter-
acted with them in a myriad of ways. What emerged from these encounters
was,ashistoriansJamesH.MerrellandColinG.Callowayhavepointedout,
anewworldforeveryoneinvolved.1Centraltothecreationofthisnewworld
wasaclashofreligiousbeliefsandpractices.Asaresultofculturalencounters,
allreligionswerechanged—EuropeanChristianitynolessthanNativeAmer-
ican spirituality. When Europeans moved out into the Atlantic basin, they
brought together the diverse religious traditions and experiences of people
fromthreecontinents.
By 1800 Christianity had reached into sub-Saharan Africa, both in the
Kongo, where Portuguese Catholics had introduced Catholicism centuries
before,andmorerecentlyinSierraLeone,anewcolonyunderBritishauthor-
itypeopledbyProtestantsettlersofAfricandescentwhowerestronglycom-
mitted to the Christian faith. Native religions had been reshaped by the
introduction of Christianity in vast areas of North and South America.
Roman Catholicism had become an indigenous religion over centuries of
adaptationinLatinAmericatothesouthandinQuebectothenorth, while
ProtestantChristianityhadmadeseriousinroadsinsomecommunitiesinthe
broadcentralswathofNorthAmerica. Themovementofpeopleswiththeir
beliefsandpracticeshadspreadnotjustChristianitygenerallybutcompeting
versions of that faith, so that in Anglophone areas of the Atlantic world a
variety of Christian faiths were flourishing and vying for adherents, from
BaptistsandMethodiststoMoraviansandQuakers,by1800.ThoughChris-
tianity was dominant among the new religions, the other Old World
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