The experience of the King's church in Early America was shaped by the unfolding imperial policies of the English government after 1675. London-based civil and ecclesiastical officials supervised the extension and development of the church overseas. The recruitment, appointment and financial support of the ministers was guided by London officials. Transplanted to the New World without the traditional hierarchical structure of the church - no bishop served in the colonies during the colonial period - at the time of the American Revolution it was neither an English-American, or American-English church, yet modified in a distinctive manner.

'It is evident that the book is the product of a great deal of research.' - Stephen Taylor, English Historical Review

'...the institutional overview and quantitative information make the book a useful addition to the literature on early American Religion.' - Travis Glasson, William and Mary Quarterly

'...an important resource, both in terms of its narrative and its immense bibliography, for the study of the Church of England in colonial North America.' - Edward L. Bond, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

'a welcome and worthy addition to the series...What sets this book apart...is a newly undertaken mining and marshaling of archival material both in the United Kingdom and the United States.' - Church History

Autorentext
JAMES BELL is Visiting Research Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute in the University of Oxford and is the author of several books and numerous articles. He has taught at Princeton University, Barnard College, The College of Wooster, and The Ohio State University. His research interests are seventeenth and eighteenth century English and American History.

Inhalt
List of Charts Preface Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Some Useful Dates PART I: THE ORIGINS OF IMPERIAL ECCLESIASTICAL POLICIES The National Church: A Servant of Imperial Interests: 1584-1660 Bishops and Statesmen: New Policies for an Imperial Church Royal Government, Royal Officials and the Church PART II: THE IMPLEMENTATION OF IMPERIAL POLICIES BY CIVIL AND CHURCH OFFICIALS The Royal Governors and Ecclesiastical Duties The Commissaries: Deputies of the Bishop of London Clerical Incomes: Provincial Establishments Financial Lifeline from London: The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel PART III: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE TRANSFORMS THE KING'S CHURCH Conventions of the Clergy Local Parish Governance: The Americanization of the English Vestry The Making of an Eighteenth-Century American Anglican Clergyman New England Critics of Imperial Church Policy PART IV: EPILOGUE The King's Church: A Casualty of the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War Epilogue APPENDICES Index