Books in Brief: The American Revolution and Religion

The American Revolution and Religion, by Thomas O’Brien Hanley (Consortium Press, 347 pp., $13.95). This volume is a detailed study of the impact of the revolutionary period on the religious life and institutions of Maryland. Its theme is that the fall of the “confessional state” with the disestablishment of the Episcopal Church under the Maryland Constitution of 1776 gave rise to new and more vital religious institutions in a Christian society. This society valued toleration and conscience and hence abolished all religious tests, except that a declaration of Christian belief was required to hold office (but not to vote). The 1776 constitution marked a return to Maryland’s original policy of toleration under the first Lord Baltimore, which had been ended by the establishment of the Church of England in all the colonies in 1689. Mr. Hanley carefully examines the religious life of various denominations, especially the Episcopalians, and adduces many items of interest in support of his view of a revitalized Christian society stemming from the Revolution. Of special note is the great degree of toleration shown for religious scruples against fighting in the Revolutionary War itself, ranging from those of the Quakers, who were even allowed to proselytize their pacifism, to those of Episcopalians, many of whom doubted the permissibility of resistance to the constituted authorities.

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J. C. Meyer

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The American Revolution and Religion, by Thomas O’Brien Hanley (Consortium Press, 347 pp., $13.95). This volume is a detailed study of the impact of the revolutionary period on the religious life and institutions of Maryland. Its theme is that the fall of the “confessional state” with the disestablishment of the Episcopal Church under the Maryland Constitution of 1776 gave rise to new and more vital religious institutions in a Christian society. This society valued toleration and conscience and hence abolished all religious tests, except that a declaration of Christian belief was required to hold office (but not to vote). The 1776 constitution marked a return to Maryland’s original policy of toleration under the first Lord Baltimore, which had been ended by the establishment of the Church of England in all the colonies in 1689. Mr. Hanley carefully examines the religious life of various denominations, especially the Episcopalians, and adduces many items of interest in support of his view of a revitalized Christian society stemming from the Revolution. Of special note is the great degree of toleration shown for religious scruples against fighting in the Revolutionary War itself, ranging from those of the Quakers, who were even allowed to proselytize their pacifism, to those of Episcopalians, many of whom doubted the permissibility of resistance to the constituted authorities.