TOLERATION ACT

(May 24, 1689), act of Parliament granting freedom of worship to Nonconformists (i.e., dissenting Protestants such as Baptists, Congregationalists, and Methodists). It was one of a series of measures that firmly established the Revolution of 1688 in England. It allowed Nonconformists their own places of worship and their own teachers and preachers, subject to acceptance of certain oaths of allegiance. It did not apply to Catholics and Unitarians and maintained the existing social and political disabilities (including exclusion from political office) for dissenters.