History of Christianity in the United States History of Christianity in the United States Christianity was introduced to North America as it was colonized by Europeans beginning in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Spanish, French, and British brought Roman Catholicism to the colonies of New Spain, New France and Maryland respectively, while Northern European peoples introduced Protestantism to Massachusetts Bay Colony, New Netherland, Virginia colony, Carolina Colony, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Lower Canada. Among Protestants, adherents to Anglicanism, Methodism, the Baptist Church, Congregationalism, Presbyterianism, Lutheranism, Quakerism, Mennonite and Moravian Church were the first to settle in the US, spreading their faith in the new country. Today
Slavery in Canada (New France) Slavery in Canada (New France) Slavery in Canada was practiced by many of the indigenous populations and predates the arrival of Europeans to the continent, however it was not until the colonization and commencement of trade with England's southern colonies that commercial chattel slavery became common place in New France. This institution, which endured for almost two centuries, affected thousands of men, women, and children descended from Indigenous and African peoples. The existence of slavery in this region predates arrival of Europeans and had major impacts on the way the system of slavery progressed during French colonization. Entrenched in a