The Protestant Reformation and its effects

in America

By: Ariel P, Sara B, Melanie L, Melissa G, and Angeline P

Pascack Hills High School, Montvale, New Jersey, USAJane Yeam, World History

First off, the Protestant Reformation was a major 16th century European movement created to reform the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.

Began in both Germany and Switzerland. Then traveled to France, Holland, Scandinavia, Bohemia, Hungary, England and Scotland until it reached North America in the 17th century.

Lots of people in Europe were arguing about beliefs. Some people wanted to stay Catholic, others wanted to become one of a variety of Protestant faiths. Some wanted to make society more man-centered, others wanted to make society more truly religious. People were dying for their beliefs and churches were being destroyed.

The Puritans were the great mass of people who came to America’s shores in Massachusetts Bay, beginning in 1630.  The influence of the Puritans brought with them from England and other countries has become part of the legacy of American religious history.

A philosopher named John Locke was schooled in humanism and created a philosophy on the American government. Locke's system of government was instead of supposing that people behaved to please God and fulfill religious obligations, he figured that people behaved because they knew it offered them safety. If we all agree not to murder each other, then we ourselves do not get murdered.

In 1517 a monk named Martin Luther began to criticize the power and corruption of the Pope and the Catholic church because the Pope forgave people's sins in exchange for money. He also criticized the Pope for not allowing the Bible to be translated into other languages. He nailed a paper explaining these issues to a church in Wittenberg.

For hundreds of years popes only allowed bibles to be printed in Latin and Greek. Luther pointed out that very few people in Germany could read these languages; therefore, to find out what was in the Bible they had to rely on priests. Luther wanted people to read the Bible for themselves so he translated it into German.

There are currently more than 10,000 American-born varieties of Christianity. For example there are Catholics, Episcopalian, Protestant, etc. Event though they are all Christians they all emphasize on different aspects.

The End