18th Century Religion

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Community Expansion and Religious Changes in the 17th and 18th Centuries For the majority of the 16th through 18th centuries, Sephardim and Ashkenazic Jewish settlers roamed Europe to escape political pressures and discover new economic opportunities. Political and religious differences would make this difficult as increasingly countries in Europe banned Jews from settling in their cities. In other cities, Jews might be forced to live in walled in or gated ghettos only entering the cities at certain times of the day. Throughout the inquisition, Jewish people were given the opportunity to convert to Christianity or leave the area. While some sought safety from the inquisition in places such as Italy, Amsterdam, and England, others ventured…show more content…
For settlers in the North American colonies, life would be disrupted again as the American Revolution required Jews to choose sides. Those who felt tied to the land or non-British trading routes most often sided with the Americans and those who still had ties to the British or were heavily involved with British trading routes, tended to side with the British. Those that were able to help monetarily fund the revolutionary movement like Haym Salomon, would obtain a mythical stature among later generations as tales of s heroic contributions were greatly exaggerated. Salomon would obtain the mythical title of “Financier of the Revolution,” after his supposed grand contributions to the revelation. While it was true that he did “raise funds and negotiate trade with foreign governments,” (Wenger, 126) and leave his family ion debt, it was not because he had spent all his money financing the revolution as was later claimed. Those who had supported the English either returned to England or stayed and lived quietly. After the American Revolution, life would change yet again. While the constitution and bill of rights brought freedom of religion, each state had its own interpretation of this. Whereas Massachusetts accepted everybody as citizens and allowed any taxpayer to hold office, Pennsylvania restricted Jews and Atheists from holding office. These restrictions only applied at the state level as the bill of rights preached separation of church and state as well as religious freedom. These freedoms allowed anybody born in the United States to be considered a citizen (except African Americans and Native Americans) and they accordingly obtained the right to run for office on a federal level (i.e. congress, senate, etc) even if they were not accepted at the state
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