"The Catholic Church during the Revolutionary Era"
The Catholic Church during the Revolutionary Era By P.R. Eaton The story of English Catholics in the new colonies established in North America was one of oppression save for the new colony established in Maryland. The original members of the English colonies established on the East coast of America were primarily Protestants of English and some European stock. Catholics, although numerous among the Irish minorities, were primarily associated with the French colony on Quebec. As such, the Catholics were “oppressed by laws copied from the appalling penal code of England.” [1] English Catholics, although oppressed across England, feared leaving and pursuing the unknown in the Americas would prohibit their growth and squander what riches they had accrued in their toils. But ambition and duty would compel a number of Catholics to enjoin the efforts underway in the New World. English Catholics would establish settlements in the colonies and several tried to set up encampments