Protestant Empire: Religion and the Making of the British Atlantic World

Chapter Four. Restoration Settlement and the Growth of Diversity

four Restoration Settlement and the Growth of Diversity The year 1660 marks a traditional divide in the political history of Britain and the British Atlantic world. It brought an end to twenty years of revolutionary upheaval and a return of the Stuart dynasty to the throne. The political restoration of monarchy had predictable religious consequences, since, as a matter of course, the Church of England returned as the official state religion . Yet, the events of the previous two decades made it impossible to return to the status quo of 1640, a time when each of the three kingdoms had a distinctive established church, and diversity (save for the residual Catholicism ) was comparatively rare. Since then, religious options had increased drastically. New approaches to religious difference had to be developed, and in the negotiation between old expectations and new realities, the colonies often led the way. By 1660, the English presence in the Atlantic had strengthened , with local governance structures that had largely survived the test of revolutionary upheaval, a colonial population of perhaps two hundred thousand ; emerging regional differences; and a nascent imperial policy. Events of 1640 to 1660 had, to a large extent, shaped the religious culture of the plantations , and because of this the Restoration of 1660 did not herald a sharp reversal. Such changes as the rise of African slavery and the related influx of new beliefs, the first serious effort to convert Indians, the rising numbers of Europeans adhering to diverse versions of Christianity, and the novel presence of Jews continued. Changes in the institutional infrastructure furthered more than they hampered these trends, so that the two—official policy Restoration Settlement 101 changes and long-term trends—tended to be mutually reinforcing. From 1660 to the end of the century, people at the imperial center and those on the periphery adjusted to this complex environment in which the one ruler– one faith model was overthrown. The English colonial world was well on its way to becoming noteworthy for its religious multiplicity, a trend that was furthered by the rising number of African slaves after mid-century. The majority of the Africans who were imported into the English-controlled colonies before 1690 were adherents of traditional West African faiths. Where large numbers of slaves were imported —such as the Caribbean islands—these captive Africans melded various traditions into a shared system of belief and practices. In such settings, Europeans observed ‘‘Idolatrous dances’’ and other ‘‘Heathen rites’’ among Africans; one minister who criticized such practices argued that they ought to be eradicated by proselytizing slaves in the Christian faith.1 Most masters left communal practices alone, however, unless they perceived them as threatening their own interests. They evinced little concern for the salvation of their slaves, a neglect that was also reflected in the utter lack of attention to this issue that prevailed in the trading posts in West Africa itself. Whereas charters to establish colonies invariably mentioned the conversion of Indians, those granted to trading companies in Africa skirted the topic of religious mission. These trading forts were purely economic endeavors, and they eschewed any pretense of an evangelical role. Indeed, Charles II’s charter of 1672 mentioned God only in laying out the wording of the oath that company officers were required to take—a clear indication that conversion was not an aspect of these endeavors .2 Trading forts were analogous to royal naval ships in that they ideally had a chaplain to conduct services for the crew or, in this case, the company employees. Such was the outward limit of the English religious presence in Africa for generations. With more frequent interactions with the Africans they purchased and employed, English planters had the means and the possible motive to Christianize their slaves; but only a few advocated that captive Africans receive instruction in these years. William Berkeley, long-time governor of Virginia, reportedly encouraged the conversion of three ‘‘Mahometan’’ (or Muslim) slaves, offering them freedom and a plantation if they would convert to the Church of England. According to a story later circulating in Virginia, he succeeded with two of the men, while the third held out, receiving baptism only at the age of eighty.3 A handful of English or Welsh religious leaders 102 chapter 4 advocated the Christianization of slaves. Traveling Quaker missionaries, such as George Fox, urged slave owners to teach their slaves about Christianity...