About this Event
City on a Hill: The American Revolution, the Constitution, and the Anglican Tradition:
This summer we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. One major point of contention at many periods of our history and especially today, is what was the role religion in general and the Anglican tradition in particular play in the American Revolution and the formation of our constitutional system?
The answer is tricky: it mattered a great deal, but not necessarily in the way people understand it now.
Religion in general, and the Anglican tradition in particular, were deeply ingrained in the instigation of the American Revolution and in the creation of the U.S. Constitution. The lives of faith, and experience with the Book of Common Prayer, were deeply influential especially to James Madison, John Marshall, and George Washington. This connection is not however a triumphalist narrative: the roots are deep, but are not at all what those who assert themselves today as “Christian Nationalists” think they are.
We will examine these connections between religion and the American Revolution, discussing the role of religion in the founding of our country, and in the Revolution and the formation of the Constitution. We will conclude in the present, looking at the tensions, tragedies, and hopes embedded in a vision of America as a “City on a Hill.”
Biography: The Rev. Dr. Steve Bragaw is an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Virginia, and the Rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in New Kent VA, a 348 year old parish that hosted the wedding of George and Martha Washington. A 2023 graduate of the Virginia Theological Seminary, he was awarded the Episcopal Preaching Foundation Award for Excellence in Preaching. Before answering the call to the priesthood, Steve was a Professor in the Department of Politics at Washington and Lee University in Lexington Virginia, where he taught American politics and constitutional law. A native of Connecticut and a graduate of Wesleyan University, Steve earned his doctorate in political science from the University of Virginia.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Church of the Good Shepherd, 214 Main Street, Nashua, United States
USD 49.87
