AP Advanced Placement U.S. History DBQ essay: "During the colonial period, religion provided the primary rationale for the authority of the king." Task: Assess the validity of this statement.

Divine Right was the concept of the unquestionable authority of monarch rule based upon the belief that their rule derived from "God's will" during the colonial period. New waves of eighteenth century immigrants brought their own religious fervor across the Atlantic and the nation's first major religious revival in the middle of the eighteenth century brought in new vigor into American religion. New groups of people migrated to the New World with ideas of a …

…to that of England which justified powers of the government with religious support and the supremacy of God as being a primary rationale of its authority. The King of England ruled by divine right, which forced people who were strong followers of their faith to submit to him. Thus, the king had secured his own position. Source: AMSCO United States History - Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination by John J. Newman, John M. Schmalbach.