Divine Right was the concept of the unquestionable authority of monarch rule based upon the belief that their rule derived from "God's will" during the colonial period. New waves of eighteenth century immigrants brought their own religious fervor across the Atlantic and the nation's first major religious revival in the middle of the eighteenth century brought in new vigor into American religion. New groups of people migrated to the New World with ideas of a government, parallel to that of their mother country, England in which they had based their government on religious support rather than political. Colonial America began as an offspring of the English patriarchal government. The principles of Divine Right and the original beliefs of the colonists would have a strong influence on the formation of their new society.
Jonathan Mayhew preached the strict unity of God, the subordinate nature of Christ, and salvation by character. He bitterly opposed the Stamp Act, and urged the requirement of colonial union to secure colonial liberties.
United States
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United StatesHe supported the rule of the king and respected the government based on his religious perspective that it was in fact God's will. Jonathan Boucher also believed that the people had to provide their obedience to the king and his authority from Parliament, which the colonists did. Boucher preached of the obligated respect and honor which the colonists were to show to the government because the government served as an agent to God. The New England colonies have often been called "Bible Commonwealths" because colonies sought the word of the scriptures in regulating all aspects of the lives of their citizens. Boucher justified the powers of the government with the constant reiteration that it was the work of God, so religious and pious men could not disagree.
Examples of how religion served as a...