The Expansion of Tolerance

Download or read book The Expansion of Tolerance written by Jonathan Irvine Israel and published by Amsterdam University Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 61 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of all the European powers, the Dutch were considered the most tolerant of minority religious practices in their colonies. In The Expansion of Tolerance, a pair of historians examines this unusual sensitivity in the case of the seventeenth-century Dutch colonies of Brazil. Jonathan Israel demonstrates that religious tolerance under Dutch rule in Brazil was unprecedented. Catholics and Jews coexisted peacefully with the Protestant majority and were allowed freedom of conscience and unfettered private worship. Stuart Schwartz then considers the Dutch example in light of the Portuguese colonies in Brazil, revealing that the Portuguese were surprisingly tolerant as well. This collaboration will be of interest to anyone studying colonial history or the history of religious tolerance.