Joshua Bennett
Catholicism first came to the territories now forming the United States by way of Spanish and French explorers and settlers in the 16th century. By 1783, there were approximately 24,000-25,000 Catholics in the United States out of a total population of around 3 million. In the 1900s, America was producing a sufficient supply of priests and nuns, and the Catholic population was primarily working class. However, after World War II, the Catholic population increasingly moved into the white-collar status and suburbs. This period also saw the decline in the number of priests and nuns, with new vocations plunging. Despite this, the Catholic population remained sustained due to an influx of immigrants from Mexico and Central America.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Religious fervour of the population | Weak |
| Catholic population in Maryland in 1700 | 3,000 |
| Catholic population in Maryland in 1756 | 7,000 |
| Catholic population in Pennsylvania in 1756 | 3,000 |
| Catholic population in the United States in 1765 | 25,000 |
| Catholic population in Maryland in 1765 | 20,000 |
| Catholic population in Pennsylvania in 1765 | 6,000 |
| Catholic population in the United States in 1783 | 24,000 to 25,000 |
| Catholic population in the United States in 1776 | 25,000 |
| Catholic population in the United States in 1850 | N/A |
| Number of Catholic priests and nuns in the 1900s | Sufficient |
| Catholic population in the United States in 1960 | N/A |
| Catholic population in the United States in 1980 | N/A |
| Catholic population in the United States in 2014 | 20.8% |
| Catholic population in the United States with college degrees in 2016 | 26% |
| Catholic population in the United States earning over $100,000 in 2016 | 36% |
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What You'll Learn
- Catholicism was introduced to the English colonies in 1526
- Catholics were often unwelcome in many colonies
- Catholicism was the largest Christian church in the US by 1850
- Anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant sentiment led to the Know-Nothing party
- Catholics were increasingly moving into the suburbs post-WWII
Catholicism was introduced to the English colonies in 1526
The history of Catholicism in the United States in the 1900s was preceded by a long and complex history of religious persecution and anti-Catholic sentiment. By the 1900s, America was producing a sufficient supply of priests and nuns, and the Catholic population was primarily working class.
Catholicism was first introduced to the territories that now form the United States by Spanish explorers and settlers in the 16th century. The first known Catholic Mass was held in 1526 by Dominican friars Antonio de Montesinos and Anthony de Cervantes, who ministered to the San Miguel de Gualdape colonists for the three months the colony existed. This introduction of Catholicism to the English colonies occurred alongside the establishment of Spanish colonies in present-day Florida (1513), South Carolina (1566), Georgia (1568-1684), and the southwest.
In the 17th century, French expeditions, including sovereign, religious, and commercial aims, established a presence along the Mississippi River and Gulf Coast. This led to the founding of missions such as Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan (1668), St. Ignace on the Straits of Mackinac, Michigan (1671), and Holy Family at Cahokia, Illinois (1699).
Maryland, one of the 13 English-speaking colonies, played a significant role in the history of Catholicism in the United States. Founded by Catholics, Maryland was a rare exception to the widespread anti-Catholic sentiment in the colonies, offering a degree of religious freedom to its Catholic inhabitants. However, this tolerance was not without challenges, as stringent laws against Catholic education and the extradition of Jesuits occurred after the defeat of the Royalists in the English Civil War in 1646.
By the time of the American Revolution, Catholics formed a small fraction of the population in the 13 colonies, with a significant presence in Maryland. The First Amendment eventually voided legislated anti-Catholicism in 1890, but by this time, the Catholic Church in the United States had already experienced significant demographic changes, with Protestant Americans moving west and overtaking formerly Catholic regions.
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Catholics were often unwelcome in many colonies
Anti-Catholic sentiment in the United States dates back to the colonial period. Protestant settlers from Europe brought anti-Catholic attitudes to the Thirteen Colonies of British North America during the British colonisation of the Americas. This prejudice was rooted in the theological heritage of the Protestant Reformation and the European wars of religion (16th–18th century). Two types of anti-Catholic rhetoric existed in colonial society and persisted for centuries. The first type, which dominated anti-Catholic thought until the late 17th century, framed Catholics as the biblical Antichrist or the Whore of Babylon. The second type was rooted in xenophobic, ethnocentric, nativist, and racist sentiments, as well as distrust of increasing waves of Catholic immigrants, particularly from Ireland, Italy, Poland, Germany, Austria, and Mexico.
In the 1700s, Maryland was one of the few regions among the English colonies in North America with a sizable Catholic population. However, the defeat of the Royalists in the English Civil War in 1646 led to stringent laws against Catholic education and the extradition of Jesuits from the colony. By 1756, the number of Catholics in Maryland had grown to approximately 7,000, further increasing to 20,000 by 1765. In Pennsylvania, there were about 3,000 Catholics in 1756, rising to 6,000 by 1765. By the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783, there were approximately 24,000 to 25,000 Catholics in the United States out of a total population of around 3 million.
Anti-Catholic sentiment intensified in the 19th century due to a large influx of Roman Catholic immigrants from Ireland and Germany. This period witnessed the rise of nativist movements like the Know-Nothings, who vehemently opposed Catholic immigration and influenced politics. Literature and "exposés" alleging debauchery and torture among Catholic nuns and priests also fuelled anti-Catholic fervour, such as "The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk," which became a bestseller despite being based on false allegations. These attitudes often escalated into violence, including the Bible Riots in Philadelphia in 1844, where clashes between Catholic and Protestant mobs resulted in the deaths of fifteen people and the destruction of Catholic churches and homes.
While anti-Catholic prejudice was once rampant among Protestants, political realignments in the late 20th century, particularly the formation of the Christian right, helped strengthen ties between conservative Protestants and Catholics.
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Catholicism was the largest Christian church in the US by 1850
Catholicism was introduced to the English colonies in North America with the founding of the Province of Maryland. By 1700, the estimated population of Maryland was 29,600, about one-tenth of which was Catholic (approximately 3,000). By 1756, the number of Catholics in Maryland had increased to approximately 7,000, which increased further to 20,000 by 1765. In Pennsylvania, there were approximately 3,000 Catholics in 1756 and 6,000 by 1765. By the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783, there were approximately 24,000 to 25,000 Catholics in the United States out of a total population of approximately 3 million.
Maryland was one of the few regions among the English colonies in North America that had a sizable Catholic population. However, the defeat of the Royalists in the English Civil War in 1646 led to stringent laws against Catholic education and the extradition of known Jesuits from the colony. Due to immigration, by 1660 the population of the Province had gradually become predominantly Protestant. During the greater part of the Maryland colonial period, Jesuits continued to conduct Catholic schools clandestinely. Maryland was a rare example of religious tolerance in a fairly intolerant age, particularly amongst other English colonies, which frequently exhibited a militant Protestantism. The Maryland Toleration Act, issued in 1649, was one of the first laws that explicitly defined tolerance of varieties of Christianity.
Catholicism was also present in other colonies, including the French and Spanish colonies, as they later became part of the contiguous United States. These Catholics were centred in what became Florida, Texas, California, Puerto Rico, and much of the rest of the Southwest. Most of the Catholic population in the United States during the colonial period came from England, Germany, and France, with approximately 10,000 Irish Catholics immigrating by 1775, and they overwhelmingly settled in Maryland and Pennsylvania. In the French territories, Catholicism was established through the founding of missions such as Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan (1668), St. Ignace on the Straits of Mackinac, Michigan (1671), and Holy Family at Cahokia, Illinois (1699).
By the 1850s, the Archdiocese of Baltimore was acknowledged as a Prerogative of Place, conferring leadership responsibilities on its archbishop. The Archdiocese of Baltimore was the first diocese established in the United States in 1789, with John Carroll (1735-1815) as its first bishop. By 1850, Catholicism was on the verge of becoming the largest Christian denomination in the U.S. for the first time in the country's history. The U.S. population had increased by 35% in a decade, while the Catholic population increased by 270%, reaching 1.6 million or 7% of the total U.S. population.
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Anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant sentiment led to the Know-Nothing party
Catholicism first came to the territories now forming the United States before the Protestant Reformation, with Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, and the southwest. In the French territories, Catholicism was established through the founding of missions in Michigan, Illinois, Detroit, St. Louis, Mobile, and New Orleans, among other places. By 1756, the number of Catholics in Maryland had increased to approximately 7,000, which further increased to 20,000 by 1765. Pennsylvania, too, saw a rise in its Catholic population, from 3,000 in 1756 to 6,000 by 1765. By the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783, there were approximately 24,000 to 25,000 Catholics in the United States out of a total population of approximately 3 million.
In the 1900s, America was producing a sufficient supply of priests and nuns. The Catholic population was primarily working class until after World War II, after which they increasingly moved into white-collar status and left the inner city for the suburbs. The Catholic population was sustained by a large influx from Mexico and Central America.
In the 1800s, anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant sentiment led to the formation of the Know-Nothing party. The party, officially known as the American Party, was an outgrowth of the strong anti-immigrant and anti-Roman Catholic sentiment that started to manifest itself during the 1840s. A rising tide of immigrants, primarily Germans in the Midwest and Irish in the East, seemed to pose a cultural, economic, and political threat to native-born Protestant Americans. In 1849, the secret Order of the Star-Spangled Banner formed in New York City, and soon after, lodges were formed in nearly every other major American city. Members, when asked about their nativist organizations, were supposed to reply that they knew nothing, hence the name "Know-Nothing".
The Know-Nothing party dominated politics in several states, including Rhode Island, where in 1855, William W. Hoppin held the governorship, and five out of every seven votes went to the party, which dominated the Rhode Island legislature. In the same year, Know-Nothing candidate Levi Boone was elected mayor of Chicago and barred all immigrants from city jobs. The party also did well in state and local elections in 1852, and in 1854, it won additional adherents from the ranks of conservatives who could support neither the pro-slavery Democrats nor the anti-slavery Republicans. When Congress assembled on December 3, 1855, 43 representatives were avowed members of the Know-Nothing party.
Party members supported the deportation of foreign beggars and criminals, a 21-year naturalization period for immigrants, mandatory Bible reading in schools, and the elimination of all Catholics from public office. They wanted to restore their vision of America, with temperance, Protestantism, self-reliance, American nationality, and work ethic enshrined as the nation's highest values.
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Catholics were increasingly moving into the suburbs post-WWII
Catholicism has had a long and complex history in the United States, with the country's Catholic population growing and changing over the centuries. By the 20th century, Catholics constituted about one-sixth of the US population. This population was primarily working class and largely made up of immigrants from countries like Ireland, Germany, England, and France, with substantial numbers also coming from Canada and, later, Mexico.
Post-World War II, there was a significant shift in the demographics and geographical distribution of Catholics in America. The Catholic population increasingly moved away from the inner cities and into the suburbs, coinciding with their growing white-collar status. This mass suburbanization had a profound impact on the Catholic Church and its relationship with American society.
The book "Crabgrass Catholicism: How Suburbanization Transformed Faith and Politics in Postwar America" by Stephen M. Koeth explores this very phenomenon. Koeth argues that the postwar suburbanization of Catholics led to significant changes in the structure and practices of the Catholic Church. It revolutionized the Catholic parish, the relationship between the clergy and the laity, and conceptions of parochial education.
The move to the suburbs also influenced Catholic participation in US politics. The 1960s marked a transformative period, with religion playing a divisive role in the presidential campaign. This decade also saw a revolt against the conformism of the 1950s, leading to the Second Vatican Council's reforms to make the Church more modern and accessible. However, Koeth suggests that these liberalizing reforms within the Church were, in fact, a result of the earlier mass suburbanization, which had already catalyzed a shift in Catholic engagement with politics and society.
The suburbanization of Catholics in postwar America had far-reaching consequences, shaping not only the internal dynamics of the Catholic Church but also its role and perception in the broader cultural and political landscape of the United States.
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Frequently asked questions
Catholicism was first introduced to the United States through Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida in 1513, South Carolina in 1566, and Georgia from 1568 to 1684.
In the 1830s and 1840s, anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant sentiments led to the formation of the Know-Nothing Party. There were acts of violence, such as the burning of a convent in Boston in 1834 and anti-Catholic riots in Philadelphia in 1844. Many Americans believed that the increasing Catholic immigration was part of a papal plot to take over the United States.
By 1900, America was producing a sufficient number of priests and nuns. The Catholic population was primarily working class, and they experienced increased acceptance in American society.
In the 1960s, there was a notable decline in the number of priests and nuns, with many leaving their traditional habits and practices. At the same time, the election of John F. Kennedy, the grandson of an Irish Catholic immigrant, as President of the United States in 1960, marked a significant shift in Catholic-Protestant relations, reducing discrimination against Catholics.
After 1980, Catholic bishops became actively involved in politics, particularly on issues related to abortion and sexuality.
