The first essay prompt is this "We have spent a good deal of time considering the question of whether America was founded as a Christian nation or not. One way to approach the issue might be to look at non-Christian groups like Jews. A small Jewish community was present in colonial America and it grew noticeably in the nineteenth century with new immigrants from Europe. What were some of the challenges and issues facing Jews in this largely Protestant early republic? How did they respond? " <br /><br />The second prompt is The religious freedoms of the early republic was accompanied by social and economic changes that put women and their lives in a new light. Some of the new religious impulses caused people to question the traditional models of women's role in society and gave women new opportunities to participate in the religious and social life of the nation. Others sought to confine women to a narrower sphere. Discuss at least two changes in early national religion regarding women. How were they justified? What did they aspire to? <br /><br />The first words of the second essay are "In colonial America, women had few religious rights prior to the mid eighteenth century. "    