The Pros And Cons Of The American Revolution

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It is a widely accepted myth, that the early colonists held religious freedom to be among their most prized rights. While it is true, that some did make the transatlantic journey to escape religious persecution, the reality of the matter is that once here, the societies that they set up were predominantly Protestant. They required tax-payers to support the state church, and in many towns, attend services with regularity. In fact, prior to the American Revolution, there was a good deal of discrimination against Quakers and Catholics in colonial society. As nice as it would be to say that all this changed overnight after the Revolution, the truth is that it did not. The Revolution did, however, present lawmakers and government officials with a comparatively blank slate on which to write new laws, and draft new policies. Indirectly, the Revolution did end up helping non-Protestants achieve equal social status.…show more content…
Constitution was drafted. Once the final copy was completed, it had to be ratified by the separate states, in order to become the official last word in federal law. Prior to the Revolution, as aforementioned, non-Protestants were prohibited from holding public office in many areas, and within the newly-drafted Federal Constitution, Article 6 stated that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” (Document 4, Massachusetts Debates Federal Constitution). This was by no means the only controversial point, but it did provoke some heated debates among state officials at the convention to ratify the Federal Constitution (Document 4, Massachusetts Debates Federal Constitution). However, in the end, the Constitution ratified, included Article 6, and ushered in a new era for public servants in
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