Describe the social and religious undercurrent that led to the Enlightenment in America.

Then, react to the following statement: “The American Enlightenment . . . was, however, an uneven affair. In part, it involved the exporting of scientific, social, and political ideas from Britain, but also involved the exporting of radical and marginal ideas . . . In almost all cases, however, the American Enlightenment did not mean the abandonment of the radical Protestant ideas that originally inspired the settlement of America, but started a long process of secularizing these religious ideas. . .”