"European Persecution. The Religious persecution that drove settlers from Europe to the British North American Colonies sprang from the conviction held by Protestants and Catholics alike, that uniformity of religion must exist in any given society. This conviction rested on the belief that there was one true religion and that it was the duty of the civil authorities to impose it forcibly, if necessary, in the interest of saving the souls of all citizens..."

The Founding Fathers, however, denounced the Roman Catholic Church and popery. This is amply borne out by the organizer of the American Revolution, Samuel Adams' August l, 1776, Independence Hall oration, now housed in the Rare Book Collection of the Library of Congress. In it, he states:

...Our Fore-fathers threw off the yoke of popery in religion, for you is reserved the honor of leveling the popery of politics. They opened the Bible to all, and maintained the capacity of every man to judge for himself in religion. Our glorious Reformers (Protestant)* when they broke through the fetters of superstition, effected more than could be expected from an age so darkened...

The Journals of Congress, meticulously kept by first Secretary of Congress, Charles Thomson, reiterate the Founding Fathers' abject denunciation of Roman Catholicism, while enumerating grievances against the ruling power. The 10th article reads:

10. The late Act of Parliament for establishing the Roman Catholic Religion and the French Laws in that extensive country now called Quebec, is dangerous in an extreme degree to the Protestant Religion and to the civil rights and liberties of all America, and therefore as men and Protestant Christians, we are indispensably obliged to take all proper measures for our security.

The 1620 Pilgrims

Governor William Bradford of the 1620 Pilgrims begins his history Of Plimoth Plantation devoting the first nine chapters to the history of the Christian church prior to their arrival at Cape Cod in November, 1620. As Bradford states, it was essential that he begin with the very root. And that he did. We see this in chapter one, as he discussed the opposition that took place following the Reformation and the downfall of popery:

"It is well knowne unto ye godly and judicious how since ye first breaking out of ye lighte of ye gospel in our Honourable Nation of England (which was ye first of nations whom ye Lord adorned here with, after the grosse darkness of popery which had covered and overspead ye Christian world) what wars and opposissions ever since Satan hath raised, maintained, and continued against the Saints, from time to time, in one sort or other. Sometimes by bloody death and cruel terments; other wiles imprisonments, banishments, and other hard usages; as being loath his kingdom should goe downe, and truth prevaile, and ye churches of God reverte to their anciente puritie and recover their primative order, libertie and bewtie..."

*Parentheses mine

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"Persecution of Catholics by Huguenots. In the areas of France they controlled, Huguenots at least matched the harshness of the persecutions of their Catholic opponents. Atrocities A, B and C, depictions that are possibly exaggerated for use as propaganda, are located by the author in St. Macaire, Gasconly. In scene A, a priest is disemboweled..."

The Third Exhibit promoted the Jesuit Roman Catholics. It read:

"Persecution of Jesuits in England. In the image on the left is Brian Cansfield (1580-1643), a Jesuit priest seized while in prayer by English Protestant authorities in Yorkshire. Cansfield was beaten and imprisoned under harsh conditions. He died on August 3, 1643, from the effects of his ordeal..."

The Window Exhibit between the Third and Fourth Exhibits described the Martyrdom of John Rogers, in these terms:

"Martyrdom of John Rogers. The execution in 1555 of John Rogers (1500-1555) is portrayed here in the 9th edition of the famous Protestant martyrology - John Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Rogers was a Catholic priest who converted to protestantism in the 1530's under the influence of Willliam Tyndale and assisted in the publication of Tyndale's English translations of the Bible. Burned alive at Smithfield on February 4, 1555, Rogers became the "first Protestant martyr" executed by England's Catholic Queen Mary. He was charged with heresy, including denial of the real presence of Christ in the sacrament of communion.*" (*The Catholic false doctrine of Transubstantiation.)

Above the plaque depicting John Rogers' execution, however, was the Chief of the Manuscript Division, James Hutson's critique of the famed New England Primer, "as doubtless helping to fuel anti-Catholic prejudice."

"John Rogers Portrayed in New England. Two centuries after John Rogers' execution, his ordeal, with depictions of his wife and ten children added to increase the pathos, became a staple of the New England Primer. The Primer supplemented the pictures of Rogers' immolations with a long, versified speech, said to be the dying martyr's advise to his children, which urged them to "keep always God before your eyes" and to "abhor the arrant whore of Rome, and all her blasphemies." This recommendation, read by generations of young new Englanders, doubtless helped to fuel the anti-Catholic prejudice that flourished in that region well into the 19th century."

Adjacent to Protestant martyr John Rogers' exhibits, was a portrait of Cotton Mather, described as "controversial" and "accused (unfairly) of instigating the Salem Witchcraft Trials." Underneath his description was a facsimile of one of Mather's draft sermons, in tiny calligraphy, framed, but illegible to the public. However, Cotton Mather is depicted under "Theology" in the Library of Congress', 40 Great American Heroes ceiling mosaic, (c.1897) as America's greatest Christian hero.

The 1607 Jamestown Settlers: Hutson's glossy handbook to Religion and the Founding of the American Republic gives the following description of Virginia. Under the heading, America as a Religious Refuge: The Seventeenth Century, we read" "...Even colonies like Virginia that were planned as commercial ventures were led by entrepreneurs who considered themselves 'militant Protestants' and who worked diligently to promote the prosperity of the church."

This is untrue of the 1607 Virginia settlers, however, as borne out by the 1612 and 1626 early Virginia history books in the Rare Book Collection of the Library of Congress; as well as the graphic account of their true identity related in Christ Church, Philadelphia's 1920 Handbook. The latter describes "The American Window," counterpart to "The First Prayer in Congress, 7 September 1774" or "Liberty" stained-glass window (the former not being on exhibit with its counterpart) as follows:

"The American Window depicts the two primary epochs in the history of the Church's influence on the Nation, namely, the first permanent settlement and the attainment of independence. High over all, between two consoles which form part of the renaissance decoration framing the two scenes, stands an angel with outstretched wings, holding a scroll with the words, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." The main subject is The Settlement of Jamestown, 1607.