reinstated under colonial rule. In fact, the colony established the Church of England as its official church in 1702 and explicitly barred Catholics from voting in 1718. The Calvert family regained control over the colony in 1715, but only after Benedict Calvert converted to Protestantism. His political control remained tense enough that he did not risk an attempt to reinstate protections for Catholics. It took until the era of the American Revolution for religious tolerance or freedom to again become the practice in Maryland. While the law did not secure religious freedom, and while it included severe limitations, it was nonetheless a significant milestone. It predates the Enlightenment, which is generally considered to be when the idea of religious freedom took root, and stands as the first legal guarantee of religious tolerance in American and British history. Later laws ensuring religious tolerance and freedom, including the British Act of Toleration of 1689, the Holy Experiment in Pennsylvania, and laws concerning religion in other colonies such as South Carolina, may have been influenced by its example. According to historian Robert Brugger, "...the measure marked a notable departure from Old World oppression." It was not until the passage of the signed First Amendment to the Constitution over a century later that religious freedom was enshrined as a fundamental guarantee, but even that document echoes the Toleration Act in its use of the phrase, "free exercise thereof". Thus, despite its lack of a full guarantee of religious freedom or broad-based tolerance, the law is "a significant step forward in the struggle for religious liberty." See also History of religion in the United States Footnotes References Brugger, Robert J. (1988). Maryland: A Middle Temperament. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. . Finkelman, Paul (2006). "Maryland Toleration Act". The Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties. New York: CRC Press. . Hanley, Thomas O'Brien (1957). "Church and State in the Maryland Ordinance of 1639". Church History (New York: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Society of Church History) 26 (4): 325–341. Retrieved November 14, 2009. Hoffman, Ronald (2000). Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland: A Carroll Saga, 1500–1782. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. . Holmes, David Lynn (2006). The Faiths of the Founding Fathers. New York: Oxford University Press US. . Maclear, J.F. (1995). Church and State in the Modern Age: A Documentary History. New York: Oxford University Press US. . McConnell, Michael