The Evangelical fight for religious liberty in revolutionary Virginia
This paper argues that to achieve full religious liberty and a strict church-state separation as represented in the Act for Establishing Religious Freedom (AERF) of 1786, Evangelicals in Revolutionary Virginia capitalised on the sentiments of anti-establishment politicians, the newfound freedo...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Final Year Project (FYP) |
| Language: | English |
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Nanyang Technological University
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/171499 |
| _version_ | 1826121803435606016 |
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| author | Pang, Daniel Wen Zhe |
| author2 | Ivy Yeh |
| author_facet | Ivy Yeh Pang, Daniel Wen Zhe |
| author_sort | Pang, Daniel Wen Zhe |
| collection | NTU |
| description | This paper argues that to achieve full religious liberty and a strict church-state
separation as represented in the Act for Establishing Religious Freedom (AERF)
of 1786, Evangelicals in Revolutionary Virginia capitalised on the sentiments of
anti-establishment politicians, the newfound freedom afforded to them in the
nascent state’s Declaration of Rights (DOR), their strategically-worded petitions,
and the waning influence of and growing fissures within the established Church
of England (COE). Colonial Virginia’s demography vastly transformed during
the Great Awakening as there was a substantial influx of Evangelicals who then
dissented against the COE. The American Revolution (AR) provided them with
a monumental opportunity to end preferential treatments for the COE and gain
greater religious freedom. The DOR and underlying discord within the COE
provided further impetus for the Evangelicals’ cause. Evangelicals would further
pressurize the legislature and COE through petitions and newspaper articles,
thwarting their opponents in their veiled attempts to regain control. When the
Revolutionary War’s epicentre shifted to the South, the COE lost further ground
to the Evangelicals. With the further weakening of the COE and AR’s conclusion,
the path was clear for the Evangelicals’ political allies to pass the AERF on 16
January 1786. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:38:08Z |
| format | Final Year Project (FYP) |
| id | ntu-10356/171499 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:38:08Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Nanyang Technological University |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1714992023-10-28T16:55:38Z The Evangelical fight for religious liberty in revolutionary Virginia Pang, Daniel Wen Zhe Ivy Yeh School of Humanities hyyeh@ntu.edu.sg Humanities::Religions::Christianity Humanities::History::United States This paper argues that to achieve full religious liberty and a strict church-state separation as represented in the Act for Establishing Religious Freedom (AERF) of 1786, Evangelicals in Revolutionary Virginia capitalised on the sentiments of anti-establishment politicians, the newfound freedom afforded to them in the nascent state’s Declaration of Rights (DOR), their strategically-worded petitions, and the waning influence of and growing fissures within the established Church of England (COE). Colonial Virginia’s demography vastly transformed during the Great Awakening as there was a substantial influx of Evangelicals who then dissented against the COE. The American Revolution (AR) provided them with a monumental opportunity to end preferential treatments for the COE and gain greater religious freedom. The DOR and underlying discord within the COE provided further impetus for the Evangelicals’ cause. Evangelicals would further pressurize the legislature and COE through petitions and newspaper articles, thwarting their opponents in their veiled attempts to regain control. When the Revolutionary War’s epicentre shifted to the South, the COE lost further ground to the Evangelicals. With the further weakening of the COE and AR’s conclusion, the path was clear for the Evangelicals’ political allies to pass the AERF on 16 January 1786. Bachelor of Arts in History 2023-10-27T07:34:43Z 2023-10-27T07:34:43Z 2023 Final Year Project (FYP) Pang, D. W. Z. (2023). The Evangelical fight for religious liberty in revolutionary Virginia. Final Year Project (FYP), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/171499 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/171499 en application/pdf Nanyang Technological University |
| spellingShingle | Humanities::Religions::Christianity Humanities::History::United States Pang, Daniel Wen Zhe The Evangelical fight for religious liberty in revolutionary Virginia |
| title | The Evangelical fight for religious liberty in revolutionary Virginia |
| title_full | The Evangelical fight for religious liberty in revolutionary Virginia |
| title_fullStr | The Evangelical fight for religious liberty in revolutionary Virginia |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Evangelical fight for religious liberty in revolutionary Virginia |
| title_short | The Evangelical fight for religious liberty in revolutionary Virginia |
| title_sort | evangelical fight for religious liberty in revolutionary virginia |
| topic | Humanities::Religions::Christianity Humanities::History::United States |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/171499 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pangdanielwenzhe theevangelicalfightforreligiouslibertyinrevolutionaryvirginia AT pangdanielwenzhe evangelicalfightforreligiouslibertyinrevolutionaryvirginia |