In this book, Leigh Schmidt teams up with Edwin Gaustad to produce a fully revised, updated, and expanded version of a modern classic. First published in 1966, The religious history of America made the religious dimensions of our common history readily accessible. This edition expands its scope, increasing the emphasis on pluralism, religious practices, and spiritual seeking, as well as the direct connection of religion to social and political struggle. The authors have replaced the five distinct ages of Gaustad's previous editions with a more explicit emphasis on specific historical markers, carrying the multifaceted story of religion in the United States into the twenty-first century. This edition is extensively illustrated and has a new emphasis on African-American and Native American religious life and Eastern religions.

I. Religion in the colonial era. Beginnings -- English exploration and Anglican establishment -- Puritan New England -- Middle-colony diversity -- From Maryland Catholics to Georgia evangelicals -- II. Religious ferment from the Revolution to the Civil War. Liberty and Enlightenment -- Freedom and revival -- Redeeming the West -- A house of faith divided -- III. Modern prospects from cityscapes to Bible battles. Immigration and diversity -- Cities and social gospels -- The church and the world -- Growth and schism -- Faith and reason -- IV. Religious transformation from World War II to the new millennium. War, peace, and religious renewal -- The courts, the schools, the streets -- Justice, liberation, union -- Politics and pluralism.