Can History be Taught Well without Mentioning "Church"

I have stated many times that religion was an important of the history and culture of our country. But the role of religion in our founding and development is being downplayed or even ignored in some history texts (see the post The Bible Removed from History? on this blog). In fact, one of the purposes of this blog is to help restore knowledge of that part of our history.

Consider this example. Did I have to go to some right-wing blog source to find it? No, just to the Stamford Historical Society. It is from an article with the heading Stamford’s Colonial Period 1641–1783, and points out that the church had a very strong role and influence in the town.

During the colonial period, two major forces dominated life in Stamford and these were the authority of the New Haven Colony over Stamford on the one hand and the power of the Congregational Church on the other. Stamford was established as a settlement belonging to the New Haven Colony. In 1640 the Connecticut Colony and the New Haven Colony were separate jurisdictions, each with its own government and court system. Stamford chafed under New Haven until Charles II of England issued the Connecticut Charter in 1662 under which New Haven was merged into the Connecticut Colony. The Congregational church was the key force that dominated all spiritual and secular affairs. Until 1731 Town Meetings and church meeting were one.

The Congregational Church later lost its tight grip on the town as other Christian denominations became more present. Read the whole article below:

Portrait of a Family: Stamford through the Legacy of the Davenports