Chapter 2: European Colonies and Native Nations, 1600-1660

Question: How did the English Civil War affect the colonies in America?

Maryland in the 1640s verged on total anarchy. Identify the statements that describe the Act Concerning Religion (or Maryland Toleration Act) and its impact on society at that time.

Correct Answer(s):
1. The law established freedom of religion as the law of the land, and it was the foundation on which modern understandings of religious liberty were created.
2. The act did not establish religious toleration and liberty in the sense we know it today, as people who denied the divinity of Jesus Christ were punished.
3. It guaranteed all Christians the "free exercise" of religion, institutionalizing the principle of religious toleration that had been applied since the colony's beginning.
4. The law was a milestone in the history of religious freedom in colonial America.