What was the role of Catholicism in the French community?
On the frontier Catholicism was seen as a
civilizing and stablizing force. In many ways, the church
played a pivitol role in people's lives. Important life events,
such as birth, marriage, and death, had a corresponding church
ceremony. Priests were often seen as the upholders of morality
and lawful behavior. All of the villages along the upper
reaches of the Mississippi had a church by the mid 1700s. Built
as a place for people to gather, they were rugged structures
and the largest buildings outside the fort.
Image: Ceremonial artifacts from church in Cahokia,
photograph from Illinois State Historical Library
© Illinois State Museum
31-Dec-96