Religious History in the United States

Religious History in the United States, From Early Civilization

In my essay, I will be explaining how religious ideas and institutions have shaped American history. I will also discuss how history played a role into the ideals of what the citizens of this county wanted regarding religion.

The history of religion within the United States did not begin with European settlement. It began with the natives of this land. Native American religion is very closely connected to the land in which Native Americans live. The natives of this country had many religious practices, most of which revolved around the belief in an invisible spiritual force, pertaining to the "three 'life crises' of birth, puberty, and death", spirits, visions, and communal ceremonies. Native American religions were, and are, very diverse spiritual practices. Some were unique to individual tribes that spanned the region of the Americas, however, some religious practices were practiced by more than one tribe throughout different regions. In Native American religion, there was a strong emphasis on the importance of personal spirituality and its relationship with each individual’s daily life. Even to this day, Native American religious ceremonies are often directly related to farming and hunting within the community. They believed that the sacred spirits could be found in all kinds of living and inanimate things such as plants, trees, animals, water and wind. Through their religious ceremonies, they aimed to harness the assistance of the powerful supernatural forces to serve their interests. Native American religions tend not to be institutionalized but rather personal. Their idea of idol worship made understanding of their faith and religious practices problematic for early European settlers. Because of this, along with many other reasons, many pre-contact religions of the native people died due to the forced assimilation by the European-American society.

People came to North America for...