USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Long before the First Amendment was adopted, the assembly of the Province of Maryland passed “An Act Concerning Religion, ” also called the Maryland Toleration Act of 1649. The act was meant to ensure freedom of religion for Christian settlers of diverse persuasions in the colony.

Detailed explanation-2: -Toleration Act passed: compulsory attendance at parish churches abolished. Act prohibiting trade with the Royalist colonies Virginia, Bermuda, Barbados and Antigua. General-at-Sea Ayscue to be sent to recover Barbados.

Detailed explanation-3: -Cecil Calvert, the first proprietor of the Province of Maryland and the 2nd Lord Baltimore, wrote the Maryland Toleration Act of 1649, prohibiting discrimination of Trinitarian Christians.

Detailed explanation-4: -*The Toleration Act of 1689 made by the Parliament of England gave all non-conformists, except Roman Catholics, freedom of worship, thus rewarding Protestant dissenters for their refusal to side with James II. They had to promise to be loyal to the British ruler and their heirs.

Detailed explanation-5: -Maryland was created as a haven for Catholics; thus only Catholicism is permitted there. Religion should be the basis for all political law in the colony. Uniformity of religion is required for a tranquil prosperous community.