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Jimmy Powell
Mrs. Hope
World Literature and Writers Workshop
9 November 2015
Christianity in the U.S.
Christianity has been the predominant religion in the United States ever since the first
colonists began arriving. The influence of Christianity has been shaping the United States from
its first years as a nation and is still influential today. Christianity has many denominations
however they all support the major belief of one God and that Jesus is the Messiah. Although the
United States is a melting pot of many cultures and religions, Christianity of all the religions
practiced here, has had the greatest influence on the formation of our country.
The early settlers were almost all Christian, but of many different denominations. The
Dutch founded their colony of New Netherland in 1624 and established the Dutch Reformed
Church as the colonys official religion. The Spanish and French brought Roman Catholicism to
the colonies. The British and Germans introduced protestant denominations including the
Anglican Church, Baptist Church, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Quakers,
Mennonites and Moravians which are all Christian religions. . The people who settled this
country came from countries with Christian religions. Of the 55 delegates to the 1787
Constitutional Convention, 49 were Protestants and two were Roman Catholics (Religion in
Colonial America). Still today, Christianity is the most popular religion in the United States with
70.6% of polled Americans identifying themselves as Christian. This is down from 86% in 1990
(Pew Report, May 2015).

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Even though our founding fathers did not want to create a new national church and
wanted people to be free to practice the religion of their choice, Christianity still influenced our
government when its framework was put together (Religion in Colonial America). The First
Amendment of the Constitution states, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof (U.S. Constitution, First Amendment). As
the founding fathers began putting together the framework of the country they indirectly
included some Christian ideas despite them stressing the importance of religious freedom.
Although the United States was built upon a Christian foundation the founders made it clear that
it was not a Christian nation. (Mattera.) Still, some Christian beliefs made their way into
significant U.S. documents.
There is clear evidence that Christianity influenced the Declaration of Independence. The
preamble of the Declaration of Independence states, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. During colonial times many
people were so familiar with the Bible that they would often use sections of it when composing
their own work. Some well known phrases within the Declaration of Independence actually
originate from the Bible, such as pursuit of happiness(Eccl. 3:13; James 1:17). This portrays
that some of the ideas that the United States were built upon are actually Christian teachings.
Although the terms may not sound religious they tie back to the beliefs of Christianity.
Our Constitution also contains references to Christianity. One such example is from the
U.S. Constitution in Article I, Section 7 which states, If any Bill shall not be returned by the
President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same
shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it(U.S. Const.Art.I.Sec.7). Thus, Christian

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policies such as recognizing Sunday as the day of the sabbath for worship and rest, were
incorporated into the Constitution.
In conclusion, Christianity has had a strong influence on the formation of the United
States. Although the founding fathers tried not to include any religious beliefs into the
framework of the country small parts of faith found their way into important documents. Despite
the various and diverse religions found in the United States Christianity has played the biggest
role in forming the United States known today.

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Works Cited
"Americas Changing Religious Landscape." Pew Research Centers Religion Public Life
Project RSS. N.p., 11 May 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
Declaration of Independence, Preamble
Mattera, Bishop. "The Christian Influence Behind the Declaration of Independence." Charisma
News.N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
"Religion in Colonial America: Trends, Regulations, and Beliefs." Facing History and
Ourselves. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
U.S. Constitution Art.I, Sec.7 and Amend. I