fundamentalism began as a movement in the u.s., starting among conservative presbyterian academics and theologians at princeton theological seminary in the first decade of the twentieth century. it soon spread to conservatives among the baptists and other denominations during and immediately following the first world war. the movement's purpose was to "reaffirm" orthodox protestant christianity and zealously defend it against the challenges of liberal theology, german higher criticism, darwinism, and other movements which it regarded as harmful to christianity.