Declaration of Independence John Trumbull

Declaration of Independence, John Trumbull

Next to religion, the concept of the rule of law was the biggest single force in creating the political civilization of the colonies. The law was not just necessary, essential to any civil society, it was noble. What happened in courts and assemblies on weekdays was the secular equivalent of what happened in church on Sundays.

Loyalty or patriotism was determined to some extent by religion. Religion was a big factor, as it was and is in everything connected with America.

America, as a whole, was a religious breakaway from Anglicanism. In 1780, the Presbyterians had 495 churches, and the Congregationalists were by far the largest with 749. James I had not been so far wrong when he called the settlement of America "a seminary for a seditious parliament." If you equate the Congregationalists with the Presbyterians (both being Calvinist), George III was not far wrong either when he called the Revolution "a Presbyterian Rebellion." The English church and state lost the political and military battle because they had already lost the religious battle.

Yankee Doodle
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