<P> The abolitionist movement was strengthened by the activities of free African - Americans, especially in the black church, who argued that the old Biblical justifications for slavery contradicted the New Testament . African - American activists and their writings were rarely heard outside the black community; however, they were tremendously influential to some sympathetic white people, most prominently the first white activist to reach prominence, William Lloyd Garrison, who was its most effective propagandist . Garrison's efforts to recruit eloquent spokesmen led to the discovery of ex-slave Frederick Douglass, who eventually became a prominent activist in his own right . </P> <P> The "secularization of society" is attributed to the time of the Enlightenment . In the United States, religious observance is much higher than in Europe, and the United States' culture leans conservative in comparison to other western nations, in part due to the Christian element . </P> <P> Liberal Christianity, exemplified by some theologians, sought to bring to churches new critical approaches to the Bible . Sometimes called liberal theology, liberal Christianity is an umbrella term covering movements and ideas within 19th - and 20th - century Christianity . New attitudes became evident, and the practice of questioning the nearly universally accepted Christian orthodoxy began to come to the forefront . </P> <P> In the post--World War I era, Liberalism was the faster - growing sector of the American church . Liberal wings of denominations were on the rise, and a considerable number of seminaries held and taught from a liberal perspective as well . In the post--World war II era, the trend began to swing back towards the conservative camp in America's seminaries and church structures . </P>

Who was most impacted by tax increases in massachusetts in 1786