ABSTRACT
The episcopacy of John Carroll coincided with a period in American history noted as a time of nation-building and nationalism. John Carroll returned to America in 1774. Carroll felt at home in America, and he wanted his Church to be so also, even though, at first glance, it might seem that much in America was new to Catholic life and culture. The spiritual allegiance that a Catholic owed to his Church was not in conflict with the political allegiance that he owed to the state. In the Northwest Territory lived numerous Indian tribes that opposed the United States. The government, at Carroll's suggestion, hoped to improve its relations with the Indians through the assistance of Catholic priests. Ever sensitive to American jealousy of all foreign jurisdiction, Carroll was determined that the Catholic Church in the United States would in no way give offense by showing any undue dependence on a foreign power, civil or ecclesiastical.
