Abstract
Abstract This chapter summarizes the four major views on religious freedom that dominated the eighteenth-century American founding era. We label these views Puritan, Evangelical, Enlightenment, and Civic Republican. Exponents of these four positions often found common cause and used common language, particularly during the constitutional convention and ratification debates from 1776 to 1791. Yet each group offered its own distinct teachings on religious freedom and had its own preferences for how to implement religious freedom in state and federal laws. Together, these groups held up the four corners of a wide canopy of opinions about religious freedom in eighteenth-century American. The founders’ original intent or understanding of religious freedom cannot be reduced to any one of these four views. It must be sought in the tensions among them and in the general principles of religious freedom that emerged from their interaction.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.