» Answer Sheet to the True/False Quiz

(All explanations come from the Library of Congress Web site.)

1. From the beginning of the formation of new American governments at both state and national levels, most American statesmen took it for granted that religion was crucial to a republic.

True: Most agreed with Alexis de Tocqueville's observation that religion was "indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions."

2. The average American rebelling against Britain believed that God supported his cause.

True: At the beginning of the war some ministers were persuaded that, with God's help, America might become "the principal Seat of the glorious Kingdom which Christ shall erect upon Earth in the latter Days."

3. In early America, there was a widespread and articulated acceptance of all religions and of non-believers.

False: Nothing in this Web site indicates anything except that the new American nation saw itself as Christian.

4. From the start, formal religious services were prohibited in the official halls of government because they violated "the wall of separation between church and state."

False: According to the Web site, "it is no exaggeration to say that on Sundays in Washington during the administrations of Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) and of James Madison (1809-1817) the state became the church. Within a year of his inauguration, Jefferson began attending church services in the House of Representatives. Madison followed Jefferson's example, although unlike Jefferson, who rode on horseback to church in the Capitol, Madison came in a coach and four."

5. Chaplains in the army served Jews and atheists as well as Christians.

False: Congress appointed chaplains for itself and the armed forces, sponsored the publication of a Bible, and imposed Christian morality on the armed forces.

6. Indians who converted to Christianity were rewarded by the new government.

True: Congress granted public lands to promote Christianity among the Indians.

7. Nineteenth-century evangelicals believed that converting people to Christianity was good for the nation.

True: Converting their fellow citizens to Christianity was, for evangelicals, an act that simultaneously saved souls and saved the republic. The American Home Missionary Society assured its supporters in 1826 that "we are doing the work of patriotism no less than Christianity."

8. After 1776, taxes no longer supported religion.

False: Religious taxes were laid on all citizens, each of whom was given the option of designating his share to the church of his choice.

9. The "Great Awakening" in the 1730s and 1740s is a term that indicates a revival of religious energy.

True: "Between 1700 and 1740, an estimated 75 to 80 percent of the population attended churches, which were being built at a headlong pace. Toward mid-century the country experienced its first major religious revival. The Great Awakening swept the English-speaking world, as religious energy vibrated between England, Wales, Scotland and the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s."

10. Thanksgiving Day marked the only day in the year reserved for thanksgiving and prayer during colonial times and the Revolutionary War.

False: National days of thanksgiving and of "humiliation, fasting, and prayer" were proclaimed by Congress at least twice a year throughout the war.

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