Letters & Documents

Charter of Connecticut, 1662

May 23, 2017 Religious Freedom Archive Comments 0 Comment

Connecticut 1662 CHARLES the Second, by the Grace of GOD, KING of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting. Whereas by the several Navigations, Discoveries, and Successful Plantations of divers of Our loving Subjects of this Our Realm of England, several lands, Islands, Places, Colonies, and Plantations have been obtained and settled in that Part of the Continent of America called New-England, and thereby the Trade and…

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Charter of Carolina, 1665

May 22, 2017 Religious Freedom Archive Comments 0 Comment

Carolina June 30, 1665 CHARLES the Second, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. WHEREAS, by our Letters Patents, bearing date the twenty-fourth day of March, in the fifteenth year of our reign, We were graciously pleased to grant unto our right trusty and right well-beloved Cousin and Counsellor Edward Earl of Clarendon, our High Chancellor of England: our right trusty and entirely beloved Cousin and Counsellor George Duke of…

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The Articles of Association, Continental Congress, October 20, 1774

May 22, 2017 Religious Freedom Archive Comments 0 Comment

The Continental Congress October 20, 1774 In this declaration resolved to boycott British tea and launch several other acts of protest. Unlike the later Declaration of Independence, these articles (In the preamble) specifically cite the Quebec Act, which many patriots criticized for allowing religious freedom for Catholics In Quebec. They feared the Catholics would lead a charge against the Protestant colonies: “thus, by the influence of civil principles and ancient prejudices, to dispose the inhabitants to act with hostility against…

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Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, Declaration of Rights

May 22, 2017 Religious Freedom Archive Comments 0 Comment

January 1, 1776 This Pennsylvania Constitution grants broad religious freedoms to any citizen “who acknowledges the being of a God.” It also provides that conscientious objectors need not serve in the militia, a provision included to accommodate Quakers, who were highly influential in Pennsylvania. Article II. That all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences and understanding: And that no man ought or of right can be compelled…

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Message from the Continental Congress to the People of Great Britain, October 21, 1774

May 22, 2017 Religious Freedom Archive Comments 0 Comment

Congress October 21, 1774 Congress virulently attacked Great Britain’s Quebec Act, which gave religious freedom to Catholics In Canada. The Continental Congress expressed “astonishment, that a British Parliament should ever consent to establish in that country a religion that has deluged your island in blood, and dispersed bigotry, persecution, murder and rebellion through every part of the world.” Congress soon thereafter realized that Insulting the Canadian Catholics might not be the best way to win their favor or that of…

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Federal Veto of State Laws on Religion, House Debate, August 17, 1789

May 22, 2017 Religious Freedom Archive Comments 0 Comment

Congress August 17, 1789 Few people remember that James Madison wanted to give Congress the ability to veto state laws that harmed religious freedom. What follows is the brief debate on this topic. Incredibly, this amendment passed the House but died later in the Senate. The committee then proceeded to the fifth proposition: Article I, Section 10 between the first and second paragraph, insert ‘No state shall infringe the equal rights of conscience, nor the freedom of speech or of…

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Drafts of the First Amendment in Congress, 1789

May 22, 2017 Religious Freedom Archive Comments 0 Comment

The First Amendment didn’t go from James Madison’s pen straight to the National Archives. It was the product of legislative wrangling in the House and Senate of the first Congress. Here, without annotation, are the different drafts the lawmakers considered. On June 8, 1789, James Madison proposed a religious freedom amendment to the Constitution: “That in article 1st, section 9, between clauses 3 and 4, be inserted these clauses, to wit: The civil rights of none shall be abridged on…

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Debate on the First Amendment, House of Representatives, August 15, 1789

May 22, 2017 Religious Freedom Archive Comments 0 Comment

Congress August 15, 1789 The most complete record of Congressional debate on the first amendment was in the House of Representatives. In it, you can see James Madison attempting to cobble together a winning majority by assuaging concerns of certain Congressman who feared that this amendment would limit the ability of the states to regulate or support religion. Madison assured them the states would still be free to treat religion as they liked. Aug. 15 The House again went into…

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Diary Entry of Christopher Columbus, 1492

May 22, 2017 Religious Freedom Archive Comments 0 Comment

Christopher Columbus 1492 In the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ Whereas, Most Christian, High, Excellent, and Powerful Princes, King and Queen of Spain and of the Islands of the Sea, our Sovereigns, this present year 1492, after your Highnesses had terminated the war with the Moors reigning in Europe, the same having been brought to an end in the great city of Granada, where on the second day of January, this present year, I saw the royal banners of…

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Silence Dogood, No. 9 (Benjamin Franklin) July 23, 1722

May 22, 2017 Religious Freedom Archive Comments 0 Comment

Benjamin Franklin July 23, 1722 Franklin was just 16 when he wrote this attack on religious hypocrites, using his alias “Silence Dogood.” He later recalled that as word spread that Silence was actually Benjamin, “my indiscreet Disputations about Religion begun to make me pointed at with Horror by good People, as an Infidel or Atheist.” Corruptio optimi est pessima. To the Author of the New-England Courant. Sir, It has been for some Time a Question with me, Whether a Commonwealth…

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