Religious practice officially began in North America in 1620, when a group of Separatists landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Although Jamestown Virginia, founded ten years earlier, amounted to the first English site in North America, the Separatist settlement included the first religious element. Believing that the Anglican Church was corrupt beyond redemption, the separatists had isolated themselves and then fled to Holland to escape the persecution that followed. Unfortunately, the Separatists soon became dissatisfied with Holland's low moral standards. They longed for a completely new beginning and so they started over in a new world. For the Separatists, Christianity was an integral part of life. They created a Bible-based society with laws that strictly followed biblical principles. This religious fervor led them to stifle any sign of religious dissent. While this harsh view may shock modern Americans, it is a legitimate and understandable view if one recalls the previous experiences of the Separatists. The reason the Separatists left England was so they could create a perfectly unified church. This was why they could not admit dissenters. The separatists' strict policies created the need for dissenters to leave the Plymouth community and establish their own communities. They also required that people of other denominations establish their own communities. Some of these people were the Quakers and the Catholics. Quakers were a religious sect whose unpopular beliefs led to them being persecuted virtually everywhere they went. After settling in America, they realized the importance of religious freedom and tolerance. This made the leader of the Puritans, William Penn, ...... center of card ... realize that it was very emotional. In the New England area the revival was very solemn, somber and decorous. The Second Great Awakening was the defining moment in African American religious history as it converted over forty thousand African Americans. However, the Second Great Awakening also spawned some questionable denominations, some of which are recognized as sects today by evangelical Christians. These include the Mormons, or Church of Latter-day Saints. During this period churches also were organized into democratic societies with a common purse and distributed money to missionaries to promote the gospel. The churches still believed that godliness was necessary for good government and that good government was necessary for godliness. The most important fact not to be overlooked about this entire period is that all people had an intrinsically Christian worldview.