"No person or persons whatsoever within this province... professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth be in any ways troubled, molested or discountenanced for or in respect of his or her religion, nor in the free exercise thereof... nor any way compelled to the belief or exercise of any other religion against his or her consent." — An Act Concerning Religion (the Maryland Toleration Act), 1649
Which group did the act most directly aim to protect?
- A
Quaker missionaries operating along the Chesapeake
- B
Sephardic Jews resettling from Dutch Brazil
- C
Anglicans facing persecution under Cromwell's Commonwealth
- Dcheck_circle
Roman Catholics, who were a religious minority within Maryland and within English colonies generally
Explanation
The Calverts, Maryland's proprietors, were Catholic but governed a Protestant-majority colony. The act protected the Catholic minority by guaranteeing toleration to all who professed belief in Jesus Christ.