Early Christianity in America by Jessica Keim
Early Catholic Christianity in America: Catholic Influences on the Colonies and American Indians Catholic influence on early American Christianity is a subject that is fascinating. In 1855, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, an Irish Catholic and one-time clergy member, put together a series of his lectures on Catholicism in early America into a book form. His book is called The Catholic History of North America : Five Discourses :To Which are Added Two Discourses on the Relations of Ireland and America. The goal of his book is to demonstrate that Irish Catholicism paved the way for future development of the British Colonies to become the United States. McGee also writes that the Catholic Church was the best evangelism movement to the Native American Natives. Specifically, he mentions the case of Father Marquette and the Iroquois and the high conversion rates in the area which is now the state of Michigan (McGee 1855, 59). Next, McGee claims that since Christopher Columbus was a Catholic