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Religion During the Columbian Exchange
597
Now Christianity is a very large part of today's religion.
The Pilgrims
Francis Xavier
During this time there was a Catholic missionary, Francis Xavier, who co-founded the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits. The Jesuits were a male group devoted to serving Jesus Christ through acts of chastity, piety, and the denial of excess. By living a simple lifestyle, they hoped to demonstrate their love of God and win converts.
There is a story of the Pilgrims landing in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620 in order to escape religious persecution under the Church of England. The Church of England or Anglican Church was a Protestant form of Christianity and the official religion of England. Anglicanism spread to the New World and became popular throughout Colonial America during the early colonial period. In Virginia it was the official religion until 1786, when Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was enacted.
Religion During the Colombian Exchange
The Spanish
The Spanish showed great energy in their missionary activities. They set up their missions throughout the Americas, where priests and other church leaders attempted to evangelize Native American groups.
The Spanish used religion to secure authority over Native American populations, mainly in Florida, the American Southwest, Mexico, Central America, and South America, which is why these places have a heavy Catholic population, even today.
Christianity Comes to America
Christianity first came to the Americas with the Europeans. Different from today, there was no "official" separation between church and state, and politics and religion were very much mixed. So when explorers such as Columbus or Ponce de Leon or John Cabot claimed land in the name of a king, they were also claiming that land for God. Roman Catholicism was the official religion of Spain, so Spanish explorers and soldiers called conquistadors sought to spread Catholicism throughout their colonies (in addition to accumulating wealth and power).