EARLY AMERICAN RELIGIOUS GROUPS
These English Protestants wanted to “purify” the Church of England.
Puritans
Massachusetts Bay governor who spoke of a “city upon a hill.”
John Winthrop
A New England Congreationalist who wrote in defense of "religious affections" in the First Great Awakening
Jonathan Edwards
She led a celibate communal movement and was believed by followers to embody Christ’s female aspect.
Ann Lee
The First Amendment clause preventing an official national church.
Establishment Clause
Catholic missionaries active among Indigenous peoples, especially in New France.
Jesuits
Banished from Boston for her antinomian teachings.
Anne Hutchinson
English evangelist whose itinerant preaching electrified the colonies.
George Whitefield
The celibate communal sect founded by Ann Lee.
Shakers
The First Amendment clause guaranteeing individuals the right to practice their religion freely.
Free Exercise Clause
Also called the Society of Friends, they emphasized the Inner Light.
Quakers
Founder of Rhode Island and advocate of church-state separation.
Roger Williams
Supporters of the First Great Awakening were known as these.
New Lights
This group anticipated Christ’s return in 1843–44.
Millerites
He described a “wall of separation between Church & State.”
Thomas Jefferson
The established church in several colonies with episcopal governance.
Catholic proprietor of Maryland who promoted religious toleration.
Lord Baltimore (Cecil Calvert)
19th‑century revivalist famous for “new measures” and anxious benches.
Charles Finney
The religious movement founded by Joseph Smith.
Latter‑day Saint movement / Mormonism
Principal architect of the First Amendment and advocate for religious liberty.
James Madison
A pacifist Anabaptist group that settled heavily in Pennsylvania.
Mennonites
DAILY DOUBLE! - Term meaning that faith alone frees one from the obligation to obey moral law.
Antinomianism
The region of western New York aflame with revivalism and reform.
Burned‑over District
A pietistic group known for music, missions, and communal devotion in PA and NC.
Moravians
DAILY DOUBLE! This Transcendentalist minister and writer emphasized self-reliance and intuitive religious experience.
Ralph Waldo Emerson