religious toleration

When many of us think about the past, we think about words.  Words fill the diaries, newspapers, speeches, account books, government documents, and other items that we use to tell the story of the past.  Thus far, our blog series has focused on words: we explored what...

Since the Spectacle of Toleration project celebrates the 350th anniversary of the 1663 Charter of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, let’s spend some time discussing its historical context and the document itself.  Many of us may know that the Charter granted...

In our last few posts here at the Spectacle of Toleration blog, we have been discussing “How Christian an Understanding?,” the June 21 event sponsored by the Newport Historical Society.  Our first panelist, John Fea, author of Was America Founded as a Christian...

In previous posts, we explored what it means to think historically,and historicized the concept of the separation of church and state.  As we mentioned before, Roger Williams was one of the first people to articulate the separation of church and state, and he founded Rhode Island...

Before we can get into complicated historical debates about the role of religion and politics in the past, we must first understand how historians think.  Many of us know a great deal about the past.  Our elementary, middle, and high school teachers taught us useful and important...

When strung together, words like “religion,””history,” and “politics” can be contentious.  To help us make sense of our past, the Spectacle of Toleration program will explore questions about religion in American history throughout 2013.  This...