Portfolio Reflection

Daniel Stanaj

Steven Berg

History 151

12/10/2018
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Daniel Stanaj

Steven Berg

History 151

12/10/2018

Portfolio Reflection

In our wonderful journey into the past to learn how the great nation of the United States

of America was founded and the reasons it was founded, and I have concluded that America

was seeking religious freedoms. During this era of pre-America there was ridicule, judgement

and persecution if you chose not to participate in the nation’s religion of choice. The question

given to me today is, What can I, as an historian of the early United States, learn and apply

from the history of our ancestors to my own role in contributing to and acting responsibly for

the betterment of society. The topic I decided to write about is religion, morals and traditions.

There were many ways that societies used religion, morals ,and traditions some for the better of

the nation, country and some as a control tactic. I will go into detail about this and how it

influenced the United States of America to become the great nation it is today.

In the early times when mankind wasn't as developed as it is today there were morals

that North American tribes carried across generations. These traditions typically dealt with

eating, sleeping, hunting, and each tribe worshipped some sort of deity 1​​ . Life back in these

times were simpler compared to modern society that we know of today. Looking back to

pre-american civilization the North American tribe’s traditions was something passed along
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from generation to generation and highly respected. “​These traditions lacked sacred texts and

fixed doctrines or moral codes and were embedded in societies without wealth, mostly without

writing, and without recognizable systems of politics or justice or any of the usual indicators of

civilization.” 1​​ Due to not having any written sacred texts, doctrines or moral codes, the term

religion did not translate well into their language. ”​There were over 200 North American tribes

speaking over 200 different languages.” 2​​ So the Native American tribes would have been very

different from one another but from my perspective the main reason for the lack of

documentation is they looked at religion as a way of life and not something you can choose to

follow, since there were over 200 different tribes 2​​ and none of them left any sort of text it is

safe to assume that much. The reason that there would have been so many different deities is

because of the fact that there were so many different tribes and different languages you could

say this would be a time where you would not be persecuted for religious beliefs because there

was none. In the eyes of the North American tribes religion was a concept that would take

many years even decades before they understood the very concept of it, so each tribe lived and

waged war and was thankful for everything given to them.

What brought European settlers to the North America anyways? Here is the cause

“​England was divided in the 1500s by great religious turmoil. When Henry VIII broke with the

Catholic Church in 1533, decades of religious strife ensued.” 3​ ​At this time the Catholic church

held a lot of power in Europe and it has been that way for many centuries and drove many of

the citizens residing in Europe to seek a new life where they could practice religion the way

they wanted too. “​In 1607, 144 English men and boys established the Jamestown colony” 4​​ the

first American Colony was born. So people had to deal with religious persecution by the
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Catholic church for over 74 years! “Where else but in the New World could such a golden

opportunity be found? The land was unspoiled. Children could be raised without the corruption

of old English religious ideas.” 3​

What was it that people were looking for? People wanted freedom to do as they pleased

to raise their children the way they felt, without interference from other big organizations such

as religious churches or governments telling them what to believe in and how to practice it.

John Locke “​refuted the doctrine of the divine right of kings and replaced it with a theory of a

“social contract” 5​​ and ​“the care of souls is not committed to the civil magistrate […] [Thus]

the civil power ought not to prescribe articles of faith or doctrines, or forms of worshipping

God, by civil law.” Rather, “the whole power of civil government is concerned only with

men’s civil goods, is confined to the care of the things of this world, and has nothing whatever

to do with the world to come.​.” 5​​ What John Locke wrote and spoke about caused some of the

biggest ripple effects even to this day. He inspired men such as Roger Williams to do the same

to preach the ideals of a better society where people could do as they pleased within reason of

course. 6​

To answer the question what can I as a historian of the early United States, learn and

apply from the history of our ancestors to my own role in contributing to and acting

responsibly for the betterment of society? Well what I have learned is that it is okay to seek a

life where I do not feel persecuted for my beliefs or lifestyle as long as it is not harming anyone

or myself. In doing so it will only promote a better me which will result in a positive influence

to everyone I interact with. To be a man who speaks my mind and to speak for the good of all.
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That is how we lead ourselves to a better society, to look for new ways to fix the problems at

hand, peacefully if possible.

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Notes

1. Refer to ​www.britannica.com​ ​North America section for information regarding

Native American beliefs.

2. Module 2: Pre-Columbian North America in the introduction section. This

showed how many different languages and tribes there could of been before

colonists settled here in North America.

3. Module 4: The Colonies Seeking Religious Freedom (I wanted to show when

exactly that England broke away from the Catholic church because this would

be the beginning for people to seek more religious freedoms.)

4. Module 3: Europe in the New World in the Jamestown section of Early

Struggles (For the first time in a long time a new nation began to be formed and

the people who contributed to this sought religious freedom and money so this

was a big stepping stone in the right direction).

5. http://oxfordre.com​ T
​ he Historical Antecedents of Church-State Separation

Paragraph 3 and this is to show a summary of what John Locke did.

6. http://www.americaslibrary.gov​ ​I briefly talked about Roger Williams, read

pages 1-4 for comparison to John locke.

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Works Cited

The First March From Selma,​

www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/colonial/jb_colonial_williams_4.html.

“Early America - US History.” ​HIST 151,​

bbaddins.schoolcraft.edu/addins/hist151/etext/m2_intro.html.

“Early America - US History.” ​HIST 151,​

bbaddins.schoolcraft.edu/addins/hist151/etext/m3_jamestown.html.

“Early America - US History.” ​HIST 151,​

bbaddins.schoolcraft.edu/addins/hist151/etext/m4_newengland.html.

Green, Steven K. “The Separation of Church and State in the United States.” ​Oxford

Research Encyclopedias​, 8 June 2017,

oxfordre.com/americanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefor

e-9780199329175-e-29.

Sullivan, Lawrence E., and Christopher Jocks. “Native American Religions.” ​Encyclopædia

Britannica,​ Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 7 July 2016,

www.britannica.com/topic/Native-American-religion.