Religion and the founding: colonial diversity, the Great Awakening and religious freedom
Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
The Great Awakening
Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: A wave of religious revivals across the colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. Preachers such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield drew large crowds, and new congregations formed. Historians argue it taught many colonists to question established authority; they debate how much it shaped the Revolution. Source card "Virginia before 1786". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In colonial times the Church of England was Virginia's official church, supported by taxes. In 1784 and 1785 a bill to tax for teachers of the Christian religion was debated. Madison argued against it, and it failed. Source card "Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1786)". Who made it: drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1777; James Madison guided it through the General Assembly. When: passed January 16, 1786. Where: Richmond, Virginia. For whom: the people of Virginia. Why: to end the state's power to force or punish religious belief. Line 1 (Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (passed January 1786), section I; as printed in 1823, p. 85): "…that our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry…" Line 2 (Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (passed January 1786), section II; as printed in 1823, p. 86): "…[no man shall] be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever… but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion…" Below the cards: burthened is an old spelling of burdened. Civil rights here means a citizen's rights under the law.
In Milo's cards, when was the Great Awakening?
- 1777
- The 1730s and 1740s
- January 16, 1786, when the statute passed
- 1784 and 1785
What do historians argue the Great Awakening taught many colonists, Noah asks?
- To write the Constitution
- To build synagogues
- To question established authority
- To obey Virginia's official church and its tax
Who drafted Virginia's statute, and who guided it through the assembly, Pia asks?
- Edwards guided it
- Whitefield drafted it
- Jefferson drafted it; Madison guided it
- Madison drafted it, and Jefferson guided it through
Which line says no one may be forced to support any religious worship, Ren asks?
- The Great Awakening card
- Line 2
- Neither line
- Line 1, about physics or geometry
Which line says civil rights do not depend on religious opinions, Tala asks?
- Line 2, about worship and ministry
- Neither line
- The card on Virginia before 1786
- Line 1
By Line 2, what shall all men be free to do, Zee asks?
- Vote twice
- Profess and argue for their religious opinion
- Support the official church with taxes
- Study physics or geometry
How did the statute change the rule described on the Virginia before 1786 card, Ari asks?
- No one could be forced to support a church
- It closed the churches in Virginia
- It made the Church of England the official church
- It taxed teachers
Esme reads the word burthened in Line 2. What does it mean, by the note?
- Taught
- Elected
- Burdened
- Freed from a duty or tax
Which sentence about the Great Awakening is careful, by the card, Kira asks?
- It happened in 1786
- Historians debate how much it shaped the Revolution
- It had no effect on any colonist
- It caused the Revolution, and historians agree
Luz's note says, "Madison drafted the statute in 1786." Which fix is right?
- Change it: Jefferson drafted it, in 1777
- Leave it: Madison wrote each word of it
- Change "drafted" to "drifted"
- Change "statute" to "statue"