What was the Toleration Act of 1649?

riotgrrl

The Maryland Toleration Act was a law passed in 1649 by the colonial assembly of the Province of Maryland mandating religious toleration of all Christian denominations. As the first such law, it is often seen as a precursor to the First Amendment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_Toleration_Act Jan 31 05, 1:14 PM

starrise

In 1634, a group of Catholics came to Maryland, there were rich landowners, servants, craftspeople, and farmers who had learned beneficial lessons from the Jamestown settlers. They raised corn, cattle, and pigs, so they would have food to eat and later started growing tobacco for profit. Soon afterwards, even though the Catholics founded Maryland, many Protestants had started to move into the area and there were many religious conflicts between the beliefs of the Catholics and the Protestants. Lord Baltimore created a Toleration Act of 1649, which was also known as the Act Concerning Religion, to attempt to reduce conflicts among the two religious groups. The Toleration Act of 1649 made it a crime to restrict the religious rights of Christians and was the first law supporting religious tolerance passed in the English colonies. The Toleration Act did not stop all religious conflict, but it helped show that the government some religious freedom and protected the rights of minority religious groups. Oct 11 08, 10:58 AM