Maryland Toleration Act
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The Maryland Toleration Act, also known as the Act Concerning Religion, was passed in 1649 by assembly of the Province of Maryland mandating religious toleration.1 The Calverts, who founded Maryland, needed to attract settlers to make the colonial venture profitable. In order to protect the Catholics from the immigrating Puritans and Protestants, the Calverts supported the Act Concerning Religion. The Act allowed freedom of worship for all Christians in Maryland.2
The typically understood view that Maryland was intended as a safe haven for Catholics has been disputed by many historians who view Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore also known as Lord Baltimore, as founding the colony for primarily economic and not religious reasons.3 The growing numbers of Puritans and their power led to the Toleration Act of 1649, which protected many of the religious rights of Catholics and Protestants, but not those of other religions.
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[edit] Significance
In 1652 newly immigrated radical Protestants from Virginia overthrew established government. Under their rule the restrictive Act Concerning Religion of 1654 was passed and it was not until 1658 when Lord Baltimore regained control. When Charles II of England regained full control of his country in 1660 Maryland began to flourish. The ideas within the act of 1649 were finally revised and put into law in 1676.6
While the act in itself is a monumental step forward for freedom it is not without its own hypocrisy. The act in theory is tolerant of all religious practices and allows for protection of some groups from persecution, but it denies the freedom of religion for those who are not Christian. “What prevailed eventually were insights into valid principles of freedom, which won devoted adherents. These disciples of liberty left to subsequent generations a tradition of such principles.”7 Basically it provided some form of freedom of religion.
[edit] Notes
- Note 1: William Macdonald, Select Charters and Other Documents Illustrative of American History, 1606-1775 (The Macmillan Company, 1899), 104.
- Note 2: Perry G. E. Miller, "Colonial Religious History," Church History, Vol. 4 No. 1 (March 1935), 45-48.
- Note 3: Iva L. Peters, "A Social Interpretation: Maryland," Social Forces, Vol. 4 No. 3 (March 1926), 511.
- Note 4: Evart B. Greene, "Persistent Problems of the Church and State," The American Historical Review,(January 1931), 260.
- Note 5: Thomas O'Brien Hanley, Their Rights and Liberties: The Beginnings of Religious and Political Freedom in Maryland, (Maryland: Newman Press, 1959), 115.
- Note 6: William Macdonald, Select Charters and Other Documents Illustrative of American History, 1606-1775 (The Macmillan Company, 1899), 105.
- Note 7: Thomas O'Brien Hanley, Their Rights and Liberties: The Beginnings of Religious and Political Freedom in Maryland, (Maryland: Newman Press, 1959), 124.
[edit] Bibliography
- Allen, Ethan Maryland Toleration: Or, Sketches of the Early History of Maryland, to the Year 1650 Baltimore: J.S. Waters, 1855.
- Gambrall, Theodore C. "Studies in the Civil, Social, and Ecclesiastical History of Early Maryland." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Vol. 4. New York: T. Whittaker 1893.
- Krugler, John D. "Cecil Calvert." American National Biography. Vol. 3. New York: Oxford 1999.
- Greene, Evart B. "Persistent Problems of the Church and State." The American Historical Review. Washington D.C.: American Historical Association 1931.
- Hanley, Thomas O'brien. Their Rights and Liberties: The Beginnings of Religious and Political Freedom in Maryland. Maryland: Newman Press, 1959.
- Macdonald, William. Select Charters and Other Documents Illustrative of American History, 1606-1775. Norwood MA: The Macmillan Company 1899.
- Maclear, J. F. Church and State in the Modern Age: A Documentary History. Oxford University Press 1995.
- Miller Perry G.E. "Colonial Religious History."Church History Vol. 4. 1935.
- Peters, Iva L. "A Social Interpretation: Maryland." Social Forces. Vol. 4 University of North Carolina Press 1926.
- Wiersema, Garry. "The Maryland Toleration Act (1649)." From Revolution to Reconstruction, 1999. Retrieved from "http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1601-1650/maryland/mta.htm"
- Staff or associates of Christian History Institute "Maryland Toleration Act." Christian History Institute, 1999.
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