The First Prejudice

Reviews / Votes

"The religious diversity of early America has been fully documented in historical scholarship. How religious tolerance was conceived, codified, and practiced has garnered less attention. This anthology by Chris Beneke and Christopher S. Grenda initiates a productive conversation about the contours of religious difference in early America." (Philadelphia Magazine of History and Biography) "A delightful array of essays from established scholars in the study of Anglo-American religion and society. The collection boasts generous quotations from primary sources in the essays and includes extensive endnotes that reflect recent scholarship." (Journal of American History) "The First Prejudice offers an invaluable exploration of the complicated development of religious tolerance in Early American culture. Beneke and Grenda draw extensively from America's relation to its English and European roots, avoiding simplistic formulations in favor of a multifaceted analysis of Early American religious culture." (Eighteenth Century Studies) "Creatively and thoughtfully connecting the two historiographical traditions that examine religious tolerance and intolerance in early America-church-state history and religious history-this edited volume's essays use the ideological and legal arguments favored by church-state historians and the emphasis on ecclesiastical identity and practice common in religious history. The result is a surprisingly cohesive collection of essays that, given their chronological and geographical breadth, demonstrate the cultural and judicial ubiquity of religious prejudice while highlighting often unexpected opportunities for religious toleration, coexistence, and exchange in early America." (Journal of Southern History) "The collection covers a wide geographical area, from the northern Colonies to the American South. In this way, the authors illustrate how, over time and space, Americans struggled to define toleration and apply it to their communities, often resulting in some form of religious tolerance, though religious prejudice continued well into the 19th century in the form of local customs, policies, and language. Written by well-respected historians, this is a valuable contribution to the study of US religious and cultural history." (Choice)