The North American Innovations

This chapter shows how the political crisis of the 1780s forced American Episcopalians in different directions, leading to a distinctive brand of Anglicanism. Anglicanism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, especially through the work of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, saw itself as a unique creature in the social order coming from God and closely tied to its fealty to the crown. As tensions increased, northern and southern Anglicans chose diverging views, which were further flamed by the Revolution. As the war ended, many, led by William White, believed that national church organization must precede any request for bishops. In contrast, northern Episcopalians, particularly in Connecticut under Seabury, called for an early episcopacy and the organization of the church in a much more ecclesial order drawing on the model of the Episcopal Church in Scotland. The solving of this crisis by 1789 was a significant contribution to Anglicanism.