Digital Commons Network^™

Vindiciae, Contra Tyrannos: The Influence Of The Reformed Tradition In The American Founding (Chapter 2 Of Faith And The Founders Of The American Republic), Mark David Hall

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

In his magisterial history of religion in America, Yale historian Sydney Ahlstrom estimated that the Reformed tradition was “the religious heritage of three-fourths of the American people in 1776.” This chapter traces the development of Reformed or Calvinist political thought from John Calvin to the American founding. It highlights ways in which Reformed ideas and concerns exacerbated tensions between the American colonies and Great Britain, provided a theological rationale for resisting British rule, and proposed a political framework for republican self-government.