Church and State in Colonial & Revolutionary Virginia, Rappahannock Institute for Lifelong Learning (RILL)

Established by law and supported by taxation, the Church of England was the official religion of colonial Virginia. Church life revolved around the parish, a geographical area that supported a minister and functioned as a unit of local government. Over the eighteenth century, Presbyterians, Baptists and other dissenters challenged the Church of England’s authority and traditional role in Virginia society.  In the Revolutionary period, Virginians brought forth religious liberty with landmark legislation that shaped the new nation in profound ways. This course examines how Virginia moved from a royal colony with few dissenters and a well-established Church of England to an independent commonwealth that declared religious freedom to be a natural right of mankind.  Offered in partnership with Rappahannock Community College’s Rappahannock Institute for Lifelong Learning program (RILL). Instructor: Robert Teagle, HCC&M Education Director & Curator. Registration here: https://www.rappahannock.edu/foundation/lifelong-learning/