Toleranzpraktiken in der Frühen Neuzeit. Plädoyer für die Entzauberung eines Begriffs

Becker, Rainald (2022): Toleranzpraktiken in der Frühen Neuzeit. Plädoyer für die Entzauberung eines Begriffs. In: Historisches Jahrbuch, Bd. 142: S. 130-155

Abstract

Religious liberty represents a core element of the constitutional tradition in the U.S.A., which already played a constitutive role in the development of the English colonies. Both of these aspects encourage a closer examination of this model of tolerance in its empirical historical manifestation. Following introductory observations about the Bill of Rights and its origins in the colonial context, the article takes a closer look at one particular case, the 'Holy Experiment' of unlimited liberty for nearly all religious confessions that was implemented in colonial Pennsylvania. In particular, observations contained in the letters of German immigrants help bring into focus multilayered perspectives on the colonial period. These can differ based on the writer's religious affiliation - one man's freedom, it seems, was another man's unfreedom. To be sure, the limits of tolerance were more quickly experienced by Catholics than Pietist Lutherans who, for their part, were disappointed to come up against boundaries in matters of social reform, notably in regard to keeping slaves.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Geschichts- und Kunstwissenschaften > Historisches Seminar
• Themengebiete: 900 Geschichte und Geografie > 900 Geschichte
• ISSN: 0018-2621
• Sprache: Deutsch