The situation of the Catholic Church in the Thirteen Colonies was characterized by an extensive religious persecution originating from Protestant sects, which would barely allow religious toleration to Catholics living on American territory. Nonetheless, Catholics were a part of colonial history from the beginning, especially in Maryland , a colony founded by Catholics, and Rhode Island , a colony founded explicitly for religious toleration. The situation was complicated greatly by the evolving role of the English Crown , which acted as both Supreme Governor of the Church of England and the Head of State of the thirteen colonial governments in almost all periods of colonial rule.
63-562: Maryland Catholics Maryland Puritans Puritan privateers ( pirates ) William Claiborne The Plundering Time (1644–1646), also known as " Claiborne and Ingle's Rebellion ", was a period of civil unrest and lawlessness in the English colony of the Province of Maryland . The causes of the rebellion included William Claiborne 's disputed claim with the Calverts over Kent Island, Maryland ,
126-522: A color, of a particular trade or office, or of a certain art or craft. Abenaki natives, converted by Jesuit missionaries from Quebec , were the first Catholics of New Hampshire . Originally settled by Anglicans , in 1641 New Hampshire came under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. Few Catholics appear among the early settlers, as they were banned by the charter of the Plymouth Council , which excluded from New England all who had not taken
189-573: A granite pedestal of Cecil, 2nd Lord Baltimore (1605–1675), is located on the steps of the western end at the St. Paul Street entrance of the Baltimore City Circuit Court House , the third courts structure on the nearby colonial-era Courthouse Square site (located to the east along North Calvert Street ), constructed 1896–1900 (now renamed the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse since 1985 for
252-596: A noted local and Civil Rights Movement leader, Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. [1911–1984], known as "The 101st Senator") in Baltimore, Maryland . The statue of Cecil, Lord Baltimore, sponsored by the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Maryland , was dedicated November 21, 1908, and now faces a fountain and tree-shaded small plaza/park across the street, developed/laid out in 1964, between East Fayette and East Lexington Streets. Before
315-477: A population of 34,000 (around 9% of the population). In 1757, Pennsylvania recorded fewer than 1,400 Catholics out of a population of about 200,000. In 1790, when the newly founded United States (formerly the Thirteen Colonies ) counted almost four million people in the first national census , there were fewer than 65,000 Catholics (about 1.6% of the population). John Carroll , first Catholic bishop assigned to
378-624: A representative from Bergen County, was excluded from the General Assembly of 1668 because of his religious convictions. In 1691 the New York Assembly passed the first anti-Catholic enactment, which was followed by laws strongly opposed to Catholics and their beliefs both in New York and New Jersey. Lord Cornbury, when appointed governor in 1701, was instructed by Queen Anne to permit liberty of conscience to all persons except "papists". In 1670
441-458: A stretch of land on the Atlantic coast, lying between Virginia and Florida. The grantees were created "absolute lords proprietors" of the province of Carolina, with full powers to make and execute such laws as they deemed proper. In 1674 the population was about four thousand. After 1729 Carolina became a royal province, the king having purchased from the proprietors seven-eighths of their domain. Under
504-591: Is in the upper corner of the banner over the black and gold (yellow) chevrons depicted on the Calvert family's shield and coats-of-arms . Today, this historical colonial/provincial flag is often displayed throughout the state, especially at historical, heritage and festival events such as for the French and Indian War era, (1754–1763) at colonial Fort Frederick in Washington County in the mountainous western panhandle of
567-540: Is said that in 1680 there was not one Catholic in the colony, and for a long period their number must have been small. The area of Delaware was first settled by Swedish colonists under the leadership of Peter Minuit , former governor of New Amsterdam . In 1655 the Swedish settlements surrendered to the Dutch, who in 1664 surrendered to the English. From its earliest settlement, at no time did religious intolerance ever appear in
630-536: Is stated that the "Quakers and Roman Catholics were long accustomed to bury their dead at their own plantations." Again in 1751 a like report from the Dover Mission states: "There are about five or six families of Papists , who are attended once a month from Maryland with a priest." In January 1772, Father Matthew Sittensperger, a Jesuit known under the name of Manners, purchased a farm in Mill Creek Hundred which
693-536: Is the namesake of Anne Arundel County , Maryland. Harford County is named for Henry Harford (1758/1760–1835), the illegitimate son of Frederick, 6th and last Baron Baltimore (1731–1771). Leonardtown, Maryland , now county seat of St. Mary's , is named for the younger brother of the Cecil, 2nd Lord Baltimore, the 28-year-old Leonard Calvert (1606–1647), who arrived in the Colonial settling expedition of 1634 and set up
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#1732852868237756-579: The American Revolution , a common flag used by military units of the colonial militia of the Province of Maryland was known as the Calvert Arms Flag . This flag had the original Union Jack from the Acts of Union 1707 as a canton in the upper corner, with a St. George's Cross and a St. Andrew's Cross to represent the patron saint of England and Scotland , respectively. This Union Jack canton
819-584: The English Civil War led to stringent laws against Catholic education and the extradition of known Jesuits from the colony, including Andrew White , and the destruction of their school at Calverton Manor. During the greater part of the Maryland colonial period, Jesuits continued to conduct Catholic schools clandestinely from their manor house in Newtowne. After Virginia established Anglicanism as mandatory in
882-669: The House of Commons at Westminster . Irish peers ranged between people owning little or no property in Ireland to those having their main homes and large estates there. In the British Isles , the family's main home was a landscaped mansion and estate ("park") in the Home Counties . In 1705, the 4th Baron sold to the Crown a house and gardens (owned by virtue of his wife) known as Woodstock Park, which
945-622: The North American territories, and his younger brother, Leonard Calvert (1606–1647, ruled 1634–1647), traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to become the first colonial Governor of Maryland . As holders of an Irish peerage , the Lords Baltimore had a seat, if they wished to take it up, in the medieval-founded Irish House of Lords (upper chamber of the Parliament of Ireland in , which
1008-564: The Oath of Supremacy . Catholics were denied the right of freemen under the Royal Commission of 1679, which required the Oath of Supremacy, and this was endorsed by the General Assembly held at Portsmouth the following year; and in 1696 a test oath was imposed on the people under pain of fine or imprisonment. The proscription of Catholics continued under the state constitution even after the adoption of
1071-618: The Parliamentary privateers and regained control of the colony effectively ending the rebellion initiated by Claiborne and Ingle. Succumbing to illness, Lord Baltimore died the following summer in 1648. The Maryland colonial assembly issued the Maryland Toleration Act of 1649 to mollify the two factions. A Parliamentary victory in England renewed old tensions leading to the Battle of
1134-614: The Slave Insurrection of 1741 schoolmaster John Ury was tried and executed for his alleged role in the uprising. New Jersey was founded as a proprietary colony by grant to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, who attracted settlers not only from England but from Scotland, New England, and particularly from Long Island and Connecticut. These planters were largely Calvinists from Presbyterian and Congregational communities, and occupied mainly land in Newark , Elizabeth , and upon
1197-586: The Anglican Church. Rhode Island, under the leadership of Roger Williams allowed freedom of religion for all faiths upon its founding. Maryland was an example of religious toleration in a fairly intolerant age. The Act of Toleration , issued in 1649, was one of the first laws that explicitly defined tolerance of varieties of religion. It has been considered a precursor to the First Amendment . In 1700 Maryland recorded fewer than 3,000 Catholics out of
1260-854: The Barons Baltimore ("Lords Baltimore"), including Baltimore County , Baltimore City , Calvert County , Cecil County , Charles County , Frederick County , Leonardtown , St. Leonard , and Calvert Cliffs . There are also Charles Street and Calvert Street in Baltimore . Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore is the namesake of Cecil County, Maryland , Cecil Avenue, Cecil Elementary School and Calvert Street in Baltimore , along with another Calvert Street (alley) in Brooklyn (a South Baltimore city neighbourhood bordering suburban Anne Arundel County ) and Calvert Street in Washington, D.C. His wife, Anne Arundell,
1323-674: The Calvert family, who were Lord proprietors of the palatinates Province of Avalon in Newfoundland and Maryland Palatinate (later the Province of Maryland and subsequent American State of Maryland ). A reference to "Lord Baltimore" is to any one of the six barons and most frequently in U.S. history to Cecil, 2nd Baron Baltimore (1600–1675, ruled 1632–1675), after whom the port city of Baltimore, Maryland (1729/1797) and surrounding Baltimore County (1659) were named, which took place in his lifetime due to his family's holdings. His father Sir George had supported English colonization of
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#17328528682371386-578: The Catholics of British (English-speaking) possessions in America. The last British Catholic bishops to oversee the Catholics of the newly formed United States were Richard Challoner , 1758–81, and James Robert Talbot , 1781-90. Talbot was succeeded by the American, John Carroll , who became the first American-born Catholic bishop. Lords Baltimore Baron Baltimore , of Baltimore, County Longford ,
1449-519: The Church of England formed the earliest religious settlements in North America. Monsignor John Tracy Ellis wrote that a "universal anti-Catholic bias was brought to Jamestown in 1607 and vigorously cultivated in all the thirteen colonies from Massachusetts to Georgia ." Some colonies supported an established church, which received tax support from the colonial legislature. Eighty-one years before
1512-466: The Church of England, much of early American religious culture exhibited the anti-Catholic bias of these Protestant denominations. Near the close of the reign of Charles I (d. 1649), the forced emigration of the Irish brought many to Massachusetts. However, their number is hard to estimate because the law obliged all Irishmen in certain towns of Ireland to take English surnames—the names of some small town, of
1575-523: The English to establish the first permanent settlements within the boundaries of Connecticut . In 1664 the New Haven Colony , then comprising the various settlements along the coast, was forced to unite with those in the Connecticut valley, thus forming one commonwealth thereafter known as Connecticut. The vast majority of the population remained distinctively English of Puritan origin. Congregationalism
1638-620: The English took the province from the Dutch in 1664, they granted full religious toleration to the other forms of Protestantism, and preserved the property rights of the Dutch Reformed Church , while recognizing its discipline. The General Assembly of the province held in 1682 under the famous Governor Thomas Dongan , an Irish Catholic nobleman, adopted the Charter of Liberties, which proclaimed religious liberty to all Christians, although this charter did not receive formal royal sanction. In 1688
1701-729: The Severn , now present-day Annapolis in 1655. Catholic Church in the Thirteen Colonies American anti-Catholicism has its origins in the Reformation . British colonists, who were predominantly Protestant, opposed not only the Catholic Church but also the Church of England , which they believed perpetuated some Catholic doctrine and practices, and for that reason deemed it to be insufficiently Reformed. Protestants discontented with
1764-699: The Stuart Revolution in England reversed this policy of liberality, and the Province of New York immediately followed the example of the mother-country in intolerance and legal persecution of the Catholic Church and its adherents. In 1697, although the Anglican Church was never formally established in the Province of New York, Trinity Church was founded in the City of New York by royal charter and received many civil privileges and munificent grants of land. The Dutch Reformed Churches continued, however, to enjoy their property and
1827-756: The United States, in 1785 estimated the number of Catholics at 25,000; 15,800 in Maryland, 7,000 in Pennsylvania and 1,500 in New York. There were only 25 priests. Until the end of the Continental Congress or Congress of the Confederation in 1789, Catholics were under a titular bishop of the Catholic Church in England and Wales or Vicar Apostolic of the London District whose jurisdiction included
1890-621: The World." James Oglethorpe , who had followed up a brilliant military career as aide-de-camp to Prince Eugene by a still more brilliant parliamentary career, had conceived the plan of settling a colony in the New World with worthy, though unfortunate and economically unproductive, inmates of the wretched English prisons. According to the colony's by-laws, freedom of worship was to be granted to all prospective colonists "except papists". In royal colonies such as Georgia , citizens were expected to belong to
1953-414: The apprehension and bringing to justice of all Catholic priests. The records of Norfolk County (1687) show Fathers Edmonds and Raymond arrested. In 1699 Catholics were deprived of their right of voting, and later a fine of 500 pounds of tobacco was imposed upon violators of the law. They were declared incompetent as witnesses in 1705, and in 1753 such incompetency was made to cover all cases. Massachusetts
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2016-837: The bitter relations between the Catholic minority elite and the Protestant majority, and the political partisanship of the English Civil War . The dark period marked a combination of the fall of the British King and religious intolerance, which led directly to the event. In 1638, the first provincial Maryland governor Leonard Calvert seized a trading post on Kent Island established by Captain William Claiborne . In 1644, William Claiborne led an uprising of Protestants and retook Kent Island. Meanwhile, privateer Captain Richard Ingle ,
2079-413: The capital of New Jersey) for the purpose of ministering to the Catholics in those places. Robert Vanquellen, a native of Caen , France, and a Catholic, lived at Woodbridge, and was surveyor general of that section of New Jersey in 1669 and 1670. Catholics were, however, regarded with some suspicion, and considerable bigotry at times manifested itself. A Catholic by the name of William Douglass, when elected
2142-610: The co-commander of Claiborne, seized control of St. Mary's City , the capital of the Maryland colony. Catholic Governor Calvert escaped to the Virginia Colony . The Protestant pirates began plundering the property of anyone who did not swear allegiance to the English Parliament , mainly Catholics. In 1647, the Rebellion was finally put down by Maryland Governor Lord Baltimore, who successfully led Maryland colonial forces against
2205-494: The colony, many Puritans migrated from Virginia to Maryland. The government gave them land for a settlement called Providence (now called Annapolis ). In 1650, the Puritans revolted against the proprietary government and set up a new government that outlawed both Catholicism and Anglicanism. In March 1655, the 2nd Lord Baltimore sent an army under Governor William Stone to put down this revolt. Near Annapolis, his Catholic army
2268-577: The coming of the English to Jamestown in 1607, a settlement was made in Virginia by Spaniards from San Domingo , under the leadership of Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón . Accompanied by the Dominican Fathers Antonio de Montesinos and Antonio de Cervantes with Brother Peter de Estrada, the expedition set sail in three vessels from Puerto de la Plata, in June 1526. The severity of the winter, the rebellion of
2331-405: The control of North America, resulted in the enactment by the provincial legislature from time to time of proscriptive laws against the Catholics. Catholic priests and teachers were ordered to keep away from the province or, if they by any chance came there, to depart at once. Severe penalties were provided for disobedience to these laws extending to long imprisonment. In the disturbances and panic of
2394-447: The crown by his father, Admiral Penn. Penn, a devout member of the Society of Friends , was impelled by desire to provide a safe home for persecuted Quakers. Penn was far in advance of his time in his views of the capacity of mankind for democratic government, and equally so in his broad-minded toleration of differences of religious belief. Penn's Quaker beliefs helped an attitude of toleration toward all Christian denominations spread among
2457-477: The death of Elizabeth Evelyn (née Mynne), a mid-17th century-built neighbouring fine house known as Woodcote Park . Its ownership in the family passed down to the heirs of the 6th Baron. His latter-day home in London itself was on Russell Square : the handsome mansion on the south-east side of the square, at the corner of Guilford Street, was built, in 1759, for the eccentric and profligate Lord Baltimore ... it
2520-458: The federal constitution. Catholicism was introduced to the English colonies in 1634 with the founding of the Province of Maryland by Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore , based on a charter granted to his father George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore . The first settlers were accompanied by two Jesuit missionaries travelling as gentlemen adventurers. However, the 1646 defeat of the Royalists in
2583-521: The foundation of South Carolina was laid in a settlement on the Ashley River and a governor was appointed. In 1673 Charleston was fixed as the permanent site for the settlement, a number of Dutch immigrants from New York having arrived the year before. The colony was further augmented by Presbyterian Scotch-Irish in 1683, but the most important addition was the coming of the French Huguenots upon
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2646-519: The government of the Swedish colony which grew into the State of Delaware. Prior to 1772 no definite records are obtainable regarding any regularly established Catholic church in the present State of Delaware. The Catholics in the State prior to the latter part of the eighteenth century were very few in number. In 1730 Cornelius Hallahan, an Irish Catholic settled in Mill Creek Hundred in New Castle Country on an estate called by him Cuba Rock, near
2709-704: The lords proprietors, there was much religious discrimination and even persecution; but there was little under the Crown except as to holding office. The disqualification for office involved in denying the truth of the Protestant religion remained in the Constitution until the Convention of 1835. The Dutch Colony of the seventeenth century was officially intolerantly Protestant but was in practice tolerant and fair to people of other faiths who dwelt within New Netherland. When
2772-484: The north shore of Monmouth County . The Calvinists brought with them into East Jersey their distinctive views upon religious and civil matters. East Jersey resembled New England in civil government; West Jersey resembled Virginia. The comparative liberality of the proprietary rule of Berkeley and Carteret, especially in religious matters, attracted some Catholic settlers to New Jersey. As early as 1672 Fathers Harvey and Gage visited both Woodbridge and Elizabethtown (then
2835-424: The official religion of the colony until after the American Revolution. The first English settlement was established on the Connecticut River at Windsor by traders from the Plymouth Colony in 1633. In the same year the Dutch from New Amsterdam had sailed up the river and erected a trading house and fort where the city of Hartford now stands, a few miles below Windsor. The Dutch soon after withdrew, leaving
2898-399: The population of Pennsylvania and into the colony's laws. The first Constitution of Pennsylvania adopted by the freeholders established religious liberty, but was not accepted by the Privy Council. The Frame of Government of 1701 guaranteed liberty of conscience to all who confessed and acknowledged "one Almighty God", and made eligible for office all who believed in "Jesus Christ the Savior of
2961-403: The present location of Mount Cuba, Delaware . The first Catholic services in the State were probably held at his house. The Apoquiniminck Mission, in the lower part of New Castle Country, was established before 1750 by Jesuits from St. Xavier's Mission in Cecil County, Maryland . In a 1748 report from the Episcopal Mission at Dover (Kent Country) to the clergymen of the Pennsylvania province, it
3024-403: The protection of their rights undisturbed by the new Anglican foundation, the inhabitants of Dutch blood being then largely in the ascendant. This condition continued many years, for when the Revolution occurred in 1776 the majority of the inhabitants of the Province of New York were not of English descent. The political conditions at home, and also the long contest between England and France for
3087-422: The provincial government in the new capital of St. Mary's City . The main downtown street in Cumberland, Maryland , is named Baltimore Street, along with Baltimore Avenue, the main north–south highway of commercial business along the Atlantic coast to the resort town of Ocean City . The Baltimore Road, which runs through the town of Bladensburg was made famous due to its role in the Battle of Bladensburg and
3150-467: The revocation of the Edict of Nantes , who settled on the Cooper River , and were later admitted to the political rights of the colony. In 1697 religious liberty was accorded to all "except Papists". An attempt was made in 1704 to exclude Dissenters from the Assembly, but the law was annulled by Queen Anne . The Crown assumed control in 1721. Pennsylvania was established in 1681 by a grant of 40,000 square miles to William Penn for services rendered to
3213-400: The settlers, and the hostility of the natives caused the abandonment of the settlement in the spring of 1527. In 1624 Virginia was made a crown colony . Because of the establishment of the English Church, hostility was shown to adherents of other beliefs and to Catholics in particular. Lord Baltimore attempted in vain to plant a Catholic colony in Virginia (1629–30). Stringent legislation
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#17328528682373276-411: The state. The modern flag of the State of Maryland still bears the Calvert-Crossland family / Lord Baltimore coats-of-arms and shield, and has been used since the 1880s with the four quarters reunited after the tragic splits in the border states of the American Civil War , with the Northern Union Army regiments using the black and gold chevrons and the Southern Confederate States Army units using
3339-470: The subsequent " Burning of Washington " during the War of 1812 . On the Avalon Peninsula in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador of the northeastern Dominion of Canada , there is a settlement named Calvert , and in nearby Ferryland there is a "Baltimore School". There are also several other towns and villages across North America in the several states with the name of "Baltimore", "New Baltimore" or "Old Baltimore". A life-sized bronze statue on
3402-404: The various economic, social, and military campaigns in Ireland, such as the Plantations of Ireland , and finally also as a way of giving people in Great Britain the honour of a peerage which did not also grant a seat in the English, (later British), House of Lords , the upper chamber of the British Parliament in London , thereby excluding them from sitting in the more powerful lower chamber of
3465-411: Was a title in the Peerage of Ireland . It was created in 1625 and ended in 1771, upon the death of its sixth-generation male heir, aged 40. Holders of the title were usually known as Lord Baltimore for short. The title was granted in 1625 to Sir George Calvert (1580–1632), and it became extinct in 1771 on the death of Frederick, 6th Baron Baltimore . The title was held by six members/generations of
3528-405: Was abolished in 1801 when the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) came into being with the merger / takeover between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the British-dominated former Kingdom of Ireland . Irish peerages (titles of nobility) were usually awarded to major landowners likely to support the status quo of British / Protestant domination in Ireland , others involved in
3591-495: Was at first called Baltimore House. Hither his lordship decoyed a young milliner, Sarah Woodcock, and was prosecuted for having caused her ruin, but acquitted. He died in 1771 at Naples, whence his remains were brought to London, and lay in state , as we have mentioned, at Exeter Change ... The house was subsequently occupied by the equally eccentric Duke of Bolton . The Lords Baltimore had notable early siblings and descendants: There are many locations in Maryland named after
3654-415: Was decisively defeated by a Puritan army in what was to be known as the " Battle of the Severn ". The Puritan revolt lasted until 1658, when the Calvert family regained control and re-enacted the Toleration Act . This was overturned again during the time of the Glorious Revolution when Protestants in Maryland rose up again and deposed the Catholic led government of the colony, establishing protestantism as
3717-429: Was enacted against Catholics. In 1641 a decree declared that adherents of the pope were to be fined 1000 pounds of tobacco if they attempted to hold office. The following year all priests were given five days within which to leave the colony. In 1661 all persons were obliged to attend the Established services or pay a fine of £20. The governor issued orders to magistrates, sheriffs, constables, and people to be diligent in
3780-424: Was first settled by English religious dissenters. Quakers , Jews , and Catholics were not permitted in the colony. Catholics avoided Massachusetts during the colonial period after laws passed in 1647 and 1700 forbade Catholic priests to reside in the colony under pain of imprisonment and execution. Despite many of the British colonists, such as the Puritans and Congregationalists , fleeing religious persecution by
3843-523: Was known as Coffee Run, and here a log chapel called St. Mary's and a residence were erected. Father Sittensperger was succeeded by the Rev. Stephen Faure who, with other Frenchmen, was driven from St. Domingo by slave uprisings and settled at Wilmington . In 1785 Delaware was one of the four states (the others being Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia) where Catholics were not virtually under civil disabilities . In 1663 Charles II , of Catholic sympathies, granted to Sir George Carteret and seven others
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#17328528682373906-450: Was promptly demolished and replaced by Blenheim Palace , a site regally granted to the victorious Duke of Marlborough as a gift. It swiftly became the only private mansion termed a palace in England; however, this loss was partially recouped when the 4th Baron inherited an additional manor house and farm in Epsom , Surrey , on the death of his distant cousin Lady Ann(s) Lewknor (née Mynne), his father having already owned, since 1692, from
3969-455: Was the established religion supported by public taxation. The earliest settlers in Rhode Island were led by Roger Williams and other refugees from Massachusetts. Rhode Island was the first colony to declare freedom of religion for all faiths, including all denominations of Christianity, in 1636. In 1739 there were thirty-three churches in the colony; twelve Baptist , ten Quaker, six Congregational or Presbyterian , and five Episcopalian . It
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