Religious Life of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century / The Faith of Our Fathers

The author traces the development of religion in early Virginia from initial settlement through the seventeenth century, examining worship practices, church organization, and the established church's legal and social role. He explains how population growth—through voluntary immigrants, indentured servants, and transported convicts—shaped congregations and public order, and contrasts Virginia's dispersed, tobacco-centered society with New England's communal, theocratic towns. The narrative addresses relations with Indigenous peoples, community responses to famine and violence, and efforts to build churches, schools, and charitable institutions. It also treats the arrival of people of African origin and the resulting religious and social changes, and concludes with bibliography and appendices.