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UNDER THE COPE OF HEAVEN UPDATED ED: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America

by Patricia U. Bonomi

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Paul said: " In her book, Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society and Politics in Colonial America, Patricia Bonomi writes a social history of the British colonies in North America through the American Revolution. Her work focuses on the diversity of Christia In her book, Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society and Politics in Colonial America, Patricia Bonomi writes a social history of the British colonies in North America through the American Revolution. Her work focuses on the diversity of Christian congregations in the colonies and the relationship between politics and religion in British North America. This relationship seems to be characterized by lay participation in religious congregations and a lack of deference for the authority of the clergy. These two aspects of American Christianity were also present in American colonial politics. Bromoni argues against the notion that people living in the British colonies were less religious in the eighteenth century than they had been during the previous century. She contends that this notion is the result of historians placing too much emphasis on the perception of the clergy in colonial America.
Bromoni’s book is written thematically and is divided into two parts. The first part of the book is dedicated to a study of the place of religion in the society of British America. In this part of her book Bromoni describes the religious diversity in the colonies including Congregationalists in New England, Quakers in Pennsylvania, Reformed in New York, and Anglicans in the southern colonies. Many of these groups, especially the Quakers and Congregationalists, expected to build an ideal world in the colonies. In this ideal world, clergymen found themselves overworked as they struggled to meet the spiritual needs of their widely dispersed parishes. In some areas itinerate clergymen traveled from town to town delivering sacraments to believers. In other regions congregations relied on volunteers to direct services. The parishioners in the British colonies tended to fall along a spectrum from extremely pious, characterized by frequent attendance of religious services, to “horse shed” Christians who rarely attended services or spent more time on Sundays talking to neighbors about prices for farm products rather than listening to sermons. These church-goers were mostly older and more women than men attended services regularly. After the Great Awakening these demographics shifted as more men and younger Christians began participating in church services. Finally, in general there seems to have been more lay participation in congregations than was the case in Europe at the time.
The second part of the book deals with the part that religion played in politics in colonial and revolutionary America. First, Bromoni discusses the way that the Great Awakening altered the religious and political culture of the colonies. During the Awakening, not only did the participants in religious activity become younger, but they demanded more out of their clergy in terms of “being converted” rather than simply being qualified through education. Parishioners were also willing to question and challenge the clergy. This willingness to question authority transferred to politics as colonists in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Virginia became willing to challenge the authority of local officials. Second, the author describes the impact of religion on the American Revolution including the controversy over plans to install an Anglican Bishop in the colonies and the promotion of the revolutionary cause by local clergy. In the revolution, the colonials did not turn to anti-clericalism as would be the case in other revolutions.
The pivotal event described in Bromoni’s work is the Great Awakening in the British colonies during the 1740s. Bromoni points out that this religious movement resulted from the desire among lay Christians for a “converted” clergy rather than simply a professional, educated clergy. Though this religious movement took on a different form in each of the regions discussed in the book, the Great Awakening enhanced the willingness of colonists to challenge authority, both religious and political. This lack of deference to authority carried over to the controversy over the possible appointment of an Anglican Bishop for the colonies and the American Revolution.
Under the Cope of Heaven should be upheld as an example of excellent scholarship and thorough historiography. Drawing on a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, Bromoni manages to write a highly compelling and accessible read. These sources include census data, immigration records, sermons, letters, period images, journals, and public records. A great example of the way that Bromoni uses images to enhance the validity of her argument can be seen in her chapter on the American Revolution. Bromoni argues that British plans to install an Anglican bishop in America contributed to discontent with parliament. This discontent can be seen in a piece of revolutionary propaganda from the 1770s which Bromoni uses to prove her point.

Question: Bromoni argues that the short supply of ministers among German congregations resulted in high levels of volunteerism in the German religious community. Lacking leadership, German congregations would appoint a minister from among themselves. German Christians volunteered their time in the “initial gathering of congregations, building of churches, and conducting of services.” (82) Bonomi further argues that voluntary associations emerged as instruments of change by the nineteenth century. If German Christians were accustomed to volunteerism, did German colonists volunteer for service in the continental army in greater numbers than other colonists during the American Revolution? ...more "

Sep 30, 2013 08:44PM · see review