Papist Patriots: The Making of an American Catholic Identity

by Maura Jane Farrelly

"The persons in America who were the most opposed to Great Britain had also, in general, distinguished themselves by being particularly hostile to Catholics." So wrote the minister, teacher, and sometime-historian Jonathan Boucher from his home in Surrey, England, in 1797. He blamed "old prejudices against papists" for the Revolution's popularity - especially in Maryland, where most of the non-Canadian Catholics in British North America lived.

Many historians since Boucher have noted the role that anti-Catholicism played in stirring up animosity against the king and Parliament. Yet, in spite of the rhetoric, Maryland's Catholics supported the independence movement more enthusiastically than their Protestant neighbors. Not only did Maryland's Catholics embrace the idea of independence, they also embraced the individualistic, rights-oriented ideology that defined the Revolution, even though theirs was a communally oriented denomination that stressed the importance of hierarchy, order, and obligation. Catholic leaders in Europe made it clear that the war was a "sedition" worthy of damnation, even as they acknowledged that England had been no friend to the Catholic Church. So why, then, did "papists" become "patriots?"

Maura Jane Farrelly finds that the answer has a long history, one that begins in England in the early seventeenth century and gains momentum during the nine decades preceding the American Revolution, when Maryland's Catholics lost a religious toleration that had been uniquely theirs in the English-speaking world and were forced to maintain their faith in an environment that was legally hostile and clerically poor. This experience made Maryland's Catholics the colonists who were most prepared in 1776 to accept the cultural, ideological, and psychological implications of a break from England.

Genres: History, American History, Religion

324 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2011

Reviews

[William Edmund Wilkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Farrelly makes the argument that events in the colony of Maryland created a group of English Catholics with unique ideas of clergy-lay relations as well as unique ideas of separating political life from religious affiliation. Those ideas shaped a new kind of Catholic Church over here and paved the way for religious liberty for all. Farrelly points out key moments in Maryland's colonial history which set back the proprietors, the Catholic Calvert family of their Lords Baltimore. The Ingle-Claiborne Rebellion of 1645-46 paralleled the English Civil War. The takeover by the Protestant Associators in 1689-91 paralleled the so-called Glorious Revolution. From 1692 to 1776, the Penal Period in Maryland was marked by the civil and legal disability of Maryland's Catholics. In November 1689, they were barred from public office. In December 1692, they were barred from the practice of law. Discriminatory taxes were assessed in 1699 and 1704, then doubled in 1717. Any troubles back home--such as the Jacobite Risings of 1715 and 1745--or the European wars with France resulted in trouble for Catholics in Maryland from their Protestant persecutors. The loss of the Act Concerning Religion which had guaranteed religious toleration 1649-89 was a major step backward, but its memory was a basis for the first amendment. Farrelly also points out the role of Maryland in setting the distinction between rights conferred by colonial charter from those generally held by Englishmen back home--an important precursor to thoughts of independence. A few slips in the book that only a Catholic would catch, such as confusing 'novitiate' (a place for new applicants to a religious order to start their formation) with 'novice' (a person who joins). But overwhelmingly a valuable contribution to any study of colonial Maryland and the role of Maryland Catholics in the story of the making of America.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book about the history of Catholics in the Maryland colony prior to the Revolution. It explored the particular brand of English Catholicism that the colonists brought with them and how that led to a different outlook and practice for American Catholics versus Continental European Catholics. It was interesting, but not as meaty as I would like. It was a rather quick read and ended abruptly at the Revolution.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the book had a weak thesis and a misleading title, Farrelly provides new information in an easy read.