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Philadelphia is the birthplace of religious freedom and democracy in America.
During the founding era of the United States, Philadelphia contained more religious diversity than anywhere else in the country. The history of that diversity is central to the story of American beginnings.
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In just a few blocks, one can today pass a church that was the tallest structure in colonial America, a church built before Pennsylvania was founded as an English colony, the first urban Catholic Church in the British colonies, the first fully independent Black denomination in the United States, and the oldest Jewish congregation in North America.
If one were to walk the streets of Philadelphia in the eighteenth century, they might have seen George Whitefield evangelize, arguably the first celebrity in American history. Or they might have heard Richard Allen preach, a former slave who founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church. One could have entered the print shop that produced the first copies of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense or heard freethinker Elihu Palmer reject the divinity of Jesus Christ. Maybe they would have run into Haym Salomon, a Jewish merchant who helped finance the American Revolution. Perhaps they would have listened to Alice of Dunk’s Ferry, a slave and toll-collector who worshiped at Christ Church and became one of the nation’s first oral historians.
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From its founding, Pennsylvania stood out among the other British colonies for its commitment to religious freedom, a practice new enough at the time that William Penn, the founder and first proprietor of Pennsylvania, could reasonably call it his “holy experiment.” In practice, the experiment was broader than Christianity, and Penn’s legal guarantee is written in such a way that it theoretically included all monotheists. At one point during the colonial era, Philadelphia was home to the only legally operating Roman Catholic church in the British Empire and the only place in the entire English-speaking world where public mass was permitted.
However, there were limits to this freedom. Even in a city known for religious freedom, there were many who did not benefit from its promises. Muslims who arrived on slave ships were largely invisible in early Philadelphia and likely felt pressure to convert to Christianity. Practitioners of the English Occult tradition risked imprisonment and fines. Even Black and Native American Christians face pressure to conform to the expectations of the dominant white Christianity. In the 1840s, violence erupted in Philadelphia streets when the Protestant nativists attacked Catholic immigrants.
What about the freedom not to believe in God or reject the Bible?
Philadelphia became a hotspot for deists and freethinkers. Many of these groups were tolerated and able to start their own deist clubs. However, the public expression of freethinking had limits. In 1791, Christians managed to successfully stop Elihu Palmer from giving a series of public lectures rejecting the divinity of Jesus Christ.
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The city’s religious diversity gave birth to many civic institutions that had to accommodate a wide range of beliefs and practices, providing a model for the founders’ commitment to the non-establishment of religion.
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What did these religious groups believe? Did they all support the American Revolution? Did they all allow women to preach? Did any of the churches oppose slavery?
In Philadelphia, there was not a single religious perspective on any issue. Religious institutions, groups, and persons played various and important roles in both supporting and resisting forms of oppression and exploitation.
The American Revolution split religious communities and families. Both sides used Biblical imagery to support their positions. At Christ Church, there was both loyalist and revolutionary sentiments in the congregation. Christ Church produced multiple chaplains to the Continental Congress, including the one who gave the first prayer to the Continental Congress at Carpenters’ Hall. Most of Philadelphia’s Jewish population supported the revolutionary cause and Mikveh Israel gained the nickname the “Synagogue of the Revolution.” Much of Philadelphia’s Quaker population opposed involvement in the American Revolution, due to their pacifist stance, but a small but influential contingent of Quakers supported the war effort and subsequently founded the “Free Quakers” in 1783.
When William Penn arrived to establish his colony in 1682, the land to the east of the Lenapewihittuk, now known as the Delaware River, the home of the Lenni Lenape had been considered sacred to them for many centuries. When the Dutch and the Swedes began to colonize the area in the 1620s and 30s, they began to claim spaces for themselves by marking the landscape with their own settlements and places of worship. William Penn’s arrival in 1682 ushered in an era of accelerated immigration and migration that continues to this day.
The modern historic district of Philadelphia contains many sites that indicate the wildly diverse people who have called the area home. Some sites are grand and highly visible, such as Historic Christ Church towering over 2nd and Market Streets while other sites are more subtle such as Mikveh Israel cemetery, situated on a quiet residential street. In many cases, there are no visible signs at all to indicate the presence of past sacred activity.
Sacred Spaces
This project endeavors to render visible the sites and spaces often left out of contemporary conversations about the founding of the U.S. - Explore the map above to learn more…
Welcome Park
This is the site of William Penn’s Philadelphia home. It was in this house that Penn wrote the Charter of Privileges for Pennsylvania colonists, which created a legal framework for freedom of religion unique in the Western world.
Old St. Joseph’s
321 Willings Alley, Philadelphia, PA 19106
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Pennsylvania’s oldest Roman Catholic Church, which was once the only legally operating Roman Catholic Church in the British Empire. Pennsylvania’s religious freedom was tested here, when the church’s right to operate was unsuccessfully challenged by one of Penn’s Anglican sons after his death.
Washington Square
210 W Washington Square, Philadelphia, PA 19106
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Located at the margins of the colonial city, this was an early gathering space for Philadelphia’s Black community. Because of the diverse African origins of many in this community, this is the most likely public space where Muslims gathered to pray.
Independence Square
111 S Independence Mall W, Philadelphia, PA 19106
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This site is anchored by Independence Hall, where the both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were debated and signed. Congress Hall, on the same block, is where John Adams took the oath of office in the first democratic transfer of chief exective power in U.S. history.
Liberty Bell
526 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
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Cast for the 50th anniversary of Penn’s Charter of Privileges, it’s famous inscription “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants thereof” is a reference to Pennsylvania’s religious freedom that became a call for abolition.
President’s House
6th St &, Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
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The home of our first two presidents, this location was also the place of enslavement for a number of Black people brought from Virginia by George Washington, who rotated them out of the state every six months to avoid Pennsylvania’s anti-slavery laws.
First Amendment Monument
Fifth and Market Streets
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Located with Independence Hall in the background, this monument marks a free speech space dedicated to the protections of the First Amendment to the constitution, including both freedom of religion and freedom of speech
It reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting he free exercise thereofr; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition he Government for a redress of grievances." - The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, December 15, 1971
Mikveh Israel
44 N 4th St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
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Pennsylvania’s oldest synagogue, this congregation also claims to be the oldest Jewish congregation in the U.S. with an unbroken history.
St. George’s Methodist
324 New St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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The oldest Methodist church in the U.S., it predates the founding of Methodism as a separate tradition. A walkout from this church led to founding of the African Methodist Epispocal Church, the oldest Black denomination in the U.S.
St. Austine’s Catholic Church
250 North 4th Street, Philadelphia, PA 191
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This Catholic church was burned to the ground by Protestant nativists during the Bible Riots of 1844.
Arch Street Quaker Meeting
320 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
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Built on a site granted to the Philadelphia Quakers by William Penn in 1701, the current building was the site of the yearly meetings of all of the Quakers in the region.
Christ Church
22–26 North 2nd St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Perhaps the most historic religious congregation in the U.S., this building hosted virtually everyone who worked on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. One of its ministers ordained the first Black priest in U.S. history.
Tamanend Statue
2 N Front St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
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A Lenni Lenape leader who worked with William Penn, Tamanend is remembered as a great leader of dialogue. The Lenni Lenape were the first people living in the Philadelphia region, which they called Weccacoe.
About this project
Research for this project is made possible with funding from a Digital Projects for the Public Discovery Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The principal investigator on this grant is David M. Krueger, Ph.D., the research director is Mr. John Bright, the research intern is Gabriel Raeburn, Ph.D. and the digital and design director is Ms. Sayge Martin.
Affiliated Humanities Scholars
Majid Alsayegh, Board member Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council and the Dialogue Institute
Elizabeth Hayes Alvarez, Ph.D., Dartmouth University
Rick Bell, Ph.D., University of Maryland
Anthea Butler, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
John Fea, Ph.D., Messiah College
Kirsten Fischer, Ph.D., University of Minnesota
Katie Oxx, Ph.D., St. Joseph’s University
Morgan L. Ridgeway, Ph.D., Harvard University
Rabbi Lance Sussman, Ph.D., Rabbi Emeritus of Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel
Rev. Mark Tyler, Ph.D., Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church
Steven Weitzman, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania