There was a lot of millennial talk. It was very common. Clergymen were deeply involved in the American Revolution. I thought our founding fathers were deists. But most people were devout Protestant believers.
Deism is confined to the elite.
Wood Well, that's a really tough question, and interesting. First of all, they did not fear the people, at the outset. Only later do they come to appreciate how dangerous democracy can be. And consequently, they gave a great deal of authority to the lower house in their state constitutions of 1776. They studied a classical education.