The Reformation in Europe brought with it much unrest in England, as much discussed, the unrest often played out as Anglican vs. Catholic vs. Puritan. On the continent, this played out in events like the 30 Years War (1618-1648). This unrest is a major player in the formation of the American colonies as various groups looked to escape incarceration, violence, political persecution, and war.
In a previous post, we touched on the arrival of Puritans, as the Pilgrims settled in Massachusetts. Before arriving in Massachusetts, the Pilgrims migrated to the Netherlands, seen as a place of religious tolerance. At around the same time as the Pilgrims get settled in Massachusetts, (we'll talk about state sponsored monopolies in the future), the Dutch West Indian Company organized the colony of New Netherlands, including founding a port city on the Hudson River, New Amsterdam (today's New York).
New Netherlands initially finds its fortunes in the fur trade, As noted in 1626,"The ship which has returned home this month [November] brings samples of all sorts of produce growing there, the cargo being 7246 beaver skins, 675 otter skins, 48 mink, 36 wild eat, and various other sorts". The colony itself is naturally founded by Calvinist Dutch Reformers, and it is to the best of my understanding that my earliest ancestor in the US was a deacon in the First Dutch Reformed Church (Teunis Covert).
It is clear that in the 1620's on the Atlantic Coast in what will be the 13 colonies of the American Revolution, there are English Puritans in Massachusetts, Dutch Reformers in New Amsterdam (New York City), Anglicans and Africans in Jamestown, and of course the Native Americans who already had their own established nations and religions here. But a little deeper digging into religious unrest in Europe will reveal others fleeing persecution and landing in New Amsterdam.
As noted in the post about Christopher Columbus, he set out from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. In 1492, Jews are expelled from Spain. Many eventually end up in the Netherlands, as noted by Bradford (one of the Pilgrims) as place of religious freedom. Religious unrest in Europe doesn't just present itself in the form of Catholic monarchs like Ferdinand and Isabella, the Reformation itself poses a threat to European Jews. Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation, writes a treatise entitled the "Jews and Their Lies":
"Therefore be on your guard against the Jews, know that wherever they have their synagogues, nothing is found but a den of devils in which sheer self glory, conceit, lies, blasphemy, and defining of God and men are practiced....First set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. This be done in honor of our Lord..."-Martin Luther
A reformed Europe isn't any safer for the Jewish people, if anything it may have been less safe. Just as other persecuted peoples flee to the Western Hemisphere, Jews begin to arrive in New Amsterdam in 1654 and found the Congregation Shearith Israel..
Other examples of religious plurality can be found further south. Maryland, named after the Virgin Mary, is found by Cecil Calvert, remembered in US History classes as Lord Baltimore. Maryland is founded as a haven for English Catholics, much like the Puritans, finding a home further away from the English Crown is a safer option than living in England. The Charter of Maryland is granted in 1632 by King Charles I. Catholics were looking for refuge from the Protestant Reformation, and would still find persecution through out the US History, as the fear of "papists" was on full display as late as the 1928 presidential election and anti-Catholicism dogged even JFK during his presidential run.
At this point in the 17th Century, the three main factions openly engaged against one another in the British Isles are now setting up their own havens across the Atlantic. Dutch Reformers have a colony wedged in between with a Jewish congregation in the main port. By the time the Congregation Shearith Israel is setup, it's been 35 years since the first Africans arrived in Jamestown, and enslaved Africans were first sold in the Massachusetts colony 16 years earlier. If Colonial America is starting to sound more diverse than you remember, that isn't an accident or mistake. Someone makes the decisions about what ends up in textbooks and is taught in schools (do some googling on the Texas State Board of Education).
In doing some digging on Maryland, I came across an interesting account from later in colonial history, a story from around 1730, which got me thinking a little bit more about what the world of the 17th and early 18th Century looked like. The account from 1730 is of Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, a Senegambian merchant and son of a Muslim cleric, who is sent by his father to sell two of their slaves at a port near the Gambia River. Ayuba has the misfortune of being attacked while en route by Mandigo bandits; he stripped of his valuables, clothing, etc, and sold into slavery at the port himself. Ayuba ends up in Maryland where he comes to be known as Job.
While assigned to work on the plantation, he "withdraw(s) into the woods to pray; but a white boy frequently watched him, and whilst he was at his devotion would mock him, and throw dirt in his face. This very much disturbed Job, and added considerably to his other misfortunes; all which were increased by his ignorance of the English language." Ayuba was a Muslim, enslaved, practicing his religion in the American colonies in 1730.
Historically speaking, at the time Columbus set sail, Islam had spread throughout the Middle East, across North Africa, into Spain, and across the Black Sea as various kingdoms and empires from the Saracens to the Ottomans rose and fell. The map below represents the spread of Islam today according to Pew Research.
It stands to reason that Ayuba wasn't the only Muslim person to be enslaved and brought to the United States. History Detectives from PBS estimates that 10 to 15% of enslaved Africans brought to the US were Muslims. If that holds true, that means 2 or 3 of the original slaves brought to Jamestown would have been Muslim. The Africans forcibly brought to the United States were largely purchased at ports along Africa's west coast. Looking at the PEW map, it's entirely possible that 10-15% is accurate.
Of course, these people would have been enslaved and not been allowed to practice their religion freely, and for the most part not allowed to read or write either, so it's hard for us to know exactly who these people were, how many there were, etc. And when we think of these enslaved peoples as property, we forget that they had unique cultures, languages, and religions which were forcibly stripped from them upon being enslaved.
Based on the evidence and accounts available, we must acknowledge that the American Colonies were in fact not really Christian colonies. As has already been argued, in the 17th Century there is no overarching "Christianity", that's a more modern concept, and it's abundantly clear that the three main Abrahamic religions were present in the American Colonies prior to the American Revolution. In the future we'll circle back to this point when we go deeper on the First Amendment, the Freedom of Religion.
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