GENEALOGY
Tips & Tricks
Religion in the Thirteen Colonies
Source: Chronology & Background Charts of Church History, by Robert C. Walton
| COLONY |
CHARTER DATE |
CHARTER RECIPIENT |
FIRST SETTLED |
SETTLED BY |
MAIN REASON for COMING |
RELIGIOUS ORIENTATION |
ESTABLISHED CHURCH |
| CONNECTICUT | 1662 | John Winthrop, Jr. (Royal Colony) |
1634 | Puritans |
Expansion from Massachusetts Bay |
Congregationalist | Congregationalist |
| DELAWARE | 1683 | Duke of York | 1638 | Swedish | Economic Gain |
Lutheran | None |
| 1693 | Part of Pennsylvania |
Dutch | Dutch Reformed |
||||
| 1704 | Separate Government |
English | Anglican | ||||
| GEORGIA | 1732 | James Oglethorpe |
1733 | English | Relief
for those in debtors' prison |
Anglican |
Church of England (1758) |
| 1752 | Royal Colony |
German |
Religious Freedom |
Moravian | |||
| MARYLAND | 1632 | Lord Baltimore |
1634 | English | Refuge for Roman Catholics Personal Empire for Calverts |
Roman Catholics & Others |
Church of England (1691) |
| 1691 | Royal Colony |
||||||
| MASSACHUSETTS | 1664 | Pilgrims | 1620 | Pilgrims |
Economic Gain |
Separatist | Congregationalist |
| 1664 | Mass.
Bay Company |
Puritans |
Establish Theocracy |
Congregationalist | |||
| 1664 | Royal Colony |
||||||
| COLONY |
CHARTER DATE |
CHARTER RECIPIENT |
FIRST SETTLED |
SETTLED BY |
MAIN REASON for COMING |
RELIGIOUS ORIENTATION |
ESTABLISHED CHURCH |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE | 1679 | Royal Colony |
1623 | Puritans | Expansion from Massachusetts Bay |
Congregationalist | Congregationalist |
| NEW JERSEY | 1664 | John
Berkeley, George Carteret |
1638 | Swedish |
Economic Gain |
Lutheran | None |
| Dutch |
Expansion from New York |
Dutch Reformed |
|||||
| 1702 | Royal Colony |
English |
Religious Freedom |
Quaker | |||
| NEW YORK | 1664 | Royal Colony |
1624 | Dutch | Economic Gain |
Dutch Reformed |
Church of England (1692) |
| NORTH CAROLINA | 1712 |
Separate Government from SC |
1653 | English |
Economic Gain |
Anglican |
Church of England |
| 1729 | Royal Colony |
||||||
| PENNSYLVANIA | 1681 | William Penn |
1681 | English | Religious Freedom |
Quaker | None |
| German | Fleeing Religious Thirty Years War |
Lutheran | |||||
| Religious Freedom |
Mennonite, Brethern, Amish, Schwenkfelder, Moravian |
||||||
| RHODE ISLAND | 1644 | Roger Williams |
1636 | English |
Radicals Fleeing Massachusetts Bay |
Congregationalist | None |
| 1663 | Renewed | ||||||
|
SOUTH CAROLINA |
1663 | Carolina Company |
1670 | English | Economic Gain |
Anglican | Church of England (1704) |
| French | Religious Freedom |
Huguenots | |||||
| VIRGINIA | 1606 |
Virginia Company |
1607 | English |
Economic Gain |
Anglican |
Church of England |
| 1624 | Royal Colony |
||||||
| COLONY |
CHARTER DATE |
CHARTER RECIPIENT |
FIRST SETTLED |
SETTLED BY |
MAIN REASON for COMING |
RELIGIOUS ORIENTATION |
ESTABLISHED CHURCH |
Return to Genealogy Tips & Tricks
