The Maryland Toleration Act reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Maryland Toleration Act

The Maryland Toleration Act was a law passed in 1649 by the colonial assembly of the Province of Maryland mandating religious toleration of all Christian denominations. As the first such law, it is often seen as a precursor to the First Amendment.

In 1649, Maryland was the most religiously diverse of the English colonies, having been founded as a Catholic haven, and then populated by a large number of Protestants. While the Act did prevent outright persecution for a long time, it failed to prevent a political struggle over the control of the colonial assembly.

Related topics

• History of the United States
• Tolerance

External link

Partial image of a broadside regarding the Maryland Toleration Act

This is the "Maryland Toleration Act" reference article from the English Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.