"In the beginning," wrote British philosopher John Locke, "all the
world was America." What role did religion play in the founding of
the United States? What religious ideologies influence colonization
and missionary efforts among early settlers? How did religion impact
the revolutionary fervor and the emergence of an American national
identity? This course will provide a historical survey of religion
in America from the seventeenth century to the mid-nineteenth
century. The emphasis will be placed on primary documents
surrounding specific case studies, including the New England
witchcraft trials, the Antinomian crisis, slave religion in old
Virginia, Thomas Jefferson's "Gospel of Jesus", and the Cane Ridge
revival. In addition, specific attention will be payed to concepts
critical to the study of early American religion, including Puritan,
mission, revival, deism, nativism, and the frontier. Requirements
will include four 3-page papers as well as a midterm and final
examination.

In addition to the standard readings, graduate students will read
and discuss in special seminars with the instructor key works in the
historiography of early American religion. Requirements include
attendance at R335 and special graduate seminars, midterm and final
exams, research paper (10-15 pages) assessing a set of primary
documents.