ACCIDENTAL PLURALISM: AMERICA AND THE RELIGIOUS POLITICS OF ENGLISH EXPANSION, 1597–1662. By EvanHaefeli. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2021. Pp. IV + 383. Cloth, $45.00.

It is a common thought that religious pluralism in the USA was intentionally emphasized by the settlers from the landing of the Mayflower in Plymouth Rock in 1607 to after the founding of the nation. Yet, even Haefeli argues “that religious freedom was not originally part of the plan for America. Instead, colonies were granted with the express purpose of extending the religious establishment of England oversees, not the least by converting the Indigenous peoples who came under their authority.” Through extensive research on the founding of multiple English colonies, Haefeli makes a convincing argument that religious pluralism was, in fact, accidental and the product of the utility of colonialism economics mixed with rising religious pluralism throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in England. Haefeli opens discussing the symmetry of colonization, empire building, and religious expansion, noting that the English colonies never sought to Christianize slaves or create religious pluralism. He posits that they sought to extend the British Empire, with the Church of England playing an important role through religious conformity. Noting often ignored contexts, such as Guiana, Bermuda, and Newfoundland, Haefli shows that uniformity was the intended goal, but due to the tumultuous landscape of religious conformity and movement toward pluralism in England, uniformity in the colonies did not materialize. Add the financial motivations of settling companies, such as the Virginia Company, who were willing to take marginalized religious groups to create a quorum for settlements, uniformity slowly transformed to plurality due to each specific colony adapting to the religious landscape of their context. Haefeli informs future scholarship on religious plurality in the USA, adding insight into the political landscape in England that informs further research on the religious landscape in England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This work is commended to scholars and historians of these intersecting aspects of English society and its empire building.

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