As a Brit, I dont know much about American history. What I do know is that the pilgrim fathers were Puritans, but were only a small proportion of early European colonists, the majority I assume were Catholic Spanish colonists. Later, the British Colonies would have been CofE (Episcopalian) wouldnt they?
But this leads to some questions. How exactly did Christianity spread so rapidly and so differently in form than that of European Christians? (I believe this has something to do with the colonisation of the mid west but where did the whole "Fire and Brimstone" stuff come from and how did it hold such sway?)
How did Puritanism and Puritanical views become so prevalent (no or little alcohol, issues with dancing, banning books etc) when they would have been a tiny proportion of settlers set against Catholics and more liberal Episcopalians?
Why did the practice and importance of religion not diminish in the USA as it has in Europe, particularly in countries such as the UK, where the country is officially Christian but is also one of the most Secular countries in the world? (I think this may have something to do with the cold war?)
Its always bugged me that the USA has such extreme and loud Christian hardliners in a country responsible for more science and technology than any other, which, while not mutually exclusive, usually leads to diminished practising of faith. With luck you can provide me with the answers.
Happy late Christmas everyone!
Small point: Prohibition and anti-alcohol had nothing to do with the Pilgrims or Puritans. Alcohol was a common and accepted feature of colonial New England society. One of the best examples of this is seen in William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation which describes the building of a brewery as one of the first things the Pilgrims did upon their arrival. The Puritans and Separatists did take issue with people drinking to drunkenness, or "excess," but they did not view alcohol as intrinsically evil like the later temperance movement did.
The question might be more appropriate in /r/asksocialscience as much of the study on this was done using sociological methodologies. I am not an expert on the topic but I remember reading some of Hans Joas' works in college that discusses some of the differences in religiosity between the US and Europe. I can't point you to the specific citations right now, but one of the major issues was the long history of separation of church and state. In Europe, the church was often an extension of state power and in many European countries, clergy are still state officials that must follow certain guidelines. In fact, there are cases of pastors in Europe who are not even required to profess to believe what they preach. Sociologists theorize the lack of faith is due to a watering down of the teaching through state intervention. In the US, there never has been such intervention at the same scale as Europe and this allowed not only more autonomy in religious teaching, but also the ability to create many more independent sects or denominations with little oversight. This was particularly the case in the Great Awakening and the revivalist period of the 1800s. Hundreds of different religious groups sprung up and they often competed to gain followers by providing more charismatic or entertaining sermons. This trend is still evident today in the US. Sorry I cant provide more specific citations, but Joas is a good start.
hi! there's room for more input here, but you may be interested in these