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Two early developments in Protestantism were the challenge to the original reformers (Lutheran and Reformed) from the Anabaptists, and the spread of Protestantism from the European continent to England.

The Church of England and the Anabaptists continued to form sub-groups. Many came to the North American continent, sometimes because of persecution. In North America, the groups split even further.

Protestant churches spread quickly in Europe, England, and America. When these regions became international powers, Protestant missionaries began to spread Protestant Christianity around the globe.

Protestants played a role in most of the major colonial and imperial expansions of Europe and North America. They are implicated in positive and negative aspects of these conquests.

There are several important contemporary trends in Protestant denominations: most are experiencing numerical decline in Europe and North America, and growing in the global south; sects that split from each other in the 19th century are working together and sometimes reuniting; and the greatest growth globally is among Pentecostal and charismatic churches.