The Evolution of Religious Freedom in North America Prior to the American Revolutionary War
The evolution of religious freedom in North American in the 1600 and 1700s before the American Revolutionary War impacted the Founding Fathers. This effect is reflected in how the nation’s founding documents, like the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, were developed. Many of the colonies were founded because people were seeking religious freedom. Colonists often faced religious persecution in their home countries in Europe. They refused to compromise their convictions and fled their homelands in the hope of finding that in North America. [1] Some examples are included to highlight this situation. Rhode Island was founded in 1636 by Baptist Roger Williams. It was the first colony with no established church and the first to grant religious freedom to everyone, which was established by royal charter in 1663. This charter was the first of its kind in North America; it remained in place and influenced the development of the state constitution in 1842