In early chapters, he discusses the church in North America's largest colony, Virginia, in the seventeenth century, and then throughout the volume he traces the evolution of trans-colonial and transatlantic Anglicanism in both its high church and evangelical aspects.

Starting from a discussion of the constitutional and theological basis of the establishment of the Church of England, Peter Doll relates how in response to the events of this period a colonial Anglican church establishment changed from a merely theoretical ideal to a cornerstone of post-Revolutionary colonial policy in British North America."--BOOK JACKET.

This study describes the diverse experiences and political opinions of the colonial Anglican clergy during the American Revolution. As an intercolonial study, it depicts regional variations, but also the full range of ministerial responses including loyalism, neutrality, and patriotism. Rhoden explores the extraordinary dilemmas which tested these members of the King's church, from the 1760s controversy over a proposed episcopate to the 1780s formation of the Episcopal Church, and thoroughly demonstrates the impact of the Revolution on their lives and their church.

An examination of how, during the period 1700-1850, Anglican Christian understanding of the British Empire powerfully shaped the identities both of the people living in British colonies in North America, Bengal, Australia, and New Zealand - including colonists, indigenous peoples, and Negro slaves - and of the English in Britain.