Separation of church and state in the United States
Updated: 11/6/2025, 12:45:54 AM Wikipedia source
"Separation of church and state" is a metaphor paraphrased from Thomas Jefferson and used by others in discussions of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". The principle is paraphrased from Jefferson's "separation between Church & State". It has been used to express the understanding of the intent and function of this amendment, which allows freedom of religion. It is generally traced to a January 1, 1802, letter by Jefferson, addressed to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut, and published in a Massachusetts newspaper. Jefferson wrote:
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties. Jefferson reflects other thinkers, including Roger Williams, a Baptist Dissenter and founder of Providence, Rhode Island. He wrote:
When they [the Church] have opened a gap in the hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world, God hath ever broke down the wall itself, removed the Candlestick, etc., and made His Garden a wilderness as it is this day. And that therefore if He will ever please to restore His garden and paradise again, it must of necessity be walled in peculiarly unto Himself from the world, and all that be saved out of the world are to be transplanted out of the wilderness of the World. In keeping with the lack of an established state religion in the United States, unlike in many European nations at the time, Article Six of the United States Constitution specifies that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States", meaning that no official state religion will be established. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly cited Jefferson's metaphor of a wall of separation. In Reynolds v. United States (1879), the Court wrote that Jefferson's comments "may be accepted almost as an authoritative declaration of the scope and effect of the [First] Amendment." In Everson v. Board of Education (1947), Justice Hugo Black wrote: "In the words of Thomas Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect a wall of separation between church and state." In contrast to this emphasis on separation, the Supreme Court in Zorach v. Clauson (1952) upheld accommodationism, holding that the nation's "institutions presuppose a Supreme Being" and governmental recognition of God does not constitute the establishment of a state church the Constitution's authors intended to prohibit. The extent of separation between government and religion in the U.S. continues to be debated.
Tables
| Colony | Denomination | Disestablished* |
| Connecticut | Congregational | 1818A |
| Georgia | Church of England | 1789B |
| Maryland | Catholic | 1701 (replaced by Church of England)[citation needed] |
| Maryland | Church of England | 1776*[citation needed] |
| Massachusetts | Congregational | 1780 (state funding suspended in 1833)C |
| New Brunswick | Church of England | N/A*[citation needed] |
| New Hampshire | Congregational | 1790D |
| Newfoundland | Church of England | N/A*[citation needed] |
| North Carolina | Church of England | 1776E |
| Nova Scotia | Church of England | 1850[citation needed] |
| Prince Edward Island | Church of England | N/A*[citation needed] |
| South Carolina | Church of England | 1790[citation needed] |
| Canada West | Church of England | 1854[citation needed] |
| West Florida | Church of England | N/AF,G |
| East Florida | Church of England | N/AF,G |
| Virginia | Church of England | 1786H |
| West Indies | Church of England | 1868 (excl. Barbados)[citation needed] |
| Barbados | Church of England | 1969[citation needed] |
References
- Jefferson, Thomas. Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury Baptists: The Final Letter, as Sent. The Library of Congress Informhttps://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html
- Church State Councilhttp://www.churchstate.org/index.php?id=166
- Religion and Politics in the United Stateshttps://archive.org/details/religionpolitics00wald_041
- ABA Journal Sep 1962
- See Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 673 (1984)http://supreme.justia.com/us/465/668/case.html
- Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist, 413 U.S. 756, 760 (1973)http://supreme.justia.com/us/413/756/case.html
- Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306, 312 (U.S. 1952) ("The First Amendment, however, does not say that in every and all resp
- Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971) ("Our prior holdings do not call for total separation between church and state; t
- Kevin Phillips, The Cousins' Wars, 1999
- "Rhode Island Royal Charter, 1663"https://web.archive.org/web/20230424190609/https://docs.sos.ri.gov/documents/civicsandeducation/teacherresources/RI-Charter-annotated.pdf
- "Rights of the People: Individual freedom and the Bill of Rights"https://web.archive.org/web/20040603161945/http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/rightsof/roots.htm
- "Article VI of the North Carolina state constitution"https://web.archive.org/web/20090117062454/http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/NC/STGOVT/article_vi.htm
- "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic: Religion and the State Governments"https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel05.html
- "For Educators - Rhode Island - Nellie M. Gorbea"http://sos.ri.gov/divisions/Civics-And-Education/teacher-resources/rhode-island-charter
- "Remonstrance of the Inhabitants of the Town of Flushing to Governor Stuyvesant", Dec 27, 1657.http://www.nyym.org/flushing/remons.html
- "Drawing the Line Between Church and State", CBS News, Dec 23, 2007.https://www.cbsnews.com/news/drawing-the-line-between-church-and-state/
- American Treasures of the Library of Congresshttps://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm006.html
- "Mr. Cotton's Letter Lately Printed, Examined and Answered," The Complete Writings of Roger Williams, Volume 1, page 108
- Feldman, Noah (2005). Divided by God. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, p. 24.
- To Messrs. Nehemiah Dodge and Others, a Committee of the Danbury Baptist Association, in the State of Connecticut. Januahttp://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/jefferson_dba.html
- Danbury Baptist Association's letter to Thomas Jefferson, October 7, 1801. Full text available online.http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/dba_jefferson.html
- Official Letters of the Governors of the State of Virginia (Virginia State Library, 1928), Vol. II, pp. 64–66, November
- Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992) (Souter, J., concurring)("President Jefferson, for example, steadfastly refused to i
- James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents (Washington: Bureau of National Literatu
- James Madison's veto messages Archived February 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machinehttp://www.sunnetworks.net/~ggarman/madison.html
- Religion and the Founding of the American Republic; Library of Congress exhibit website. Retrieved 2007-02-07https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel06-2.html
- James Madison, Memorial, and Remonstrance against Religious Assessmentshttp://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_religions43.html
- The founding fathers and the place of religion in Americahttps://books.google.com/books?id=1qse4fZ6eQgC
- See Morison and Commager, vol I
- Jefferson's letter to Thomas Cooper, November 2, 1822http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-singleauthor?specfile=/web/data/jefferson/texts/jefall.o2w&act=text&offset=7021548&textreg=1&query=professorship+of+Divinity
- Dumas Malone, Jefferson and His Times, 6, 393
- Ashley M. Bell, "God Save This Honorable Court": How Current Establishment Clause Jurisprudence can be Reconciled with thttp://www.wcl.american.edu/journal/lawrev/50/bell.pdf?rd=1
- Hall, Mark David. "Jeffersonian Walls and Madisonian Lines: The Supreme Court's Use of History in Religion Clause Cases.
- Reynolds v. U.S., 98 U.S. 145 (1878)http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=98&invol=145
- Madison to Schaeffer, 1821https://books.google.com/books?id=I6tLmjLqRfAC&q=madison+luther+%22led+the+way%22&pg=PA242
- The Story of New Jersey; ed., William Starr Myers (1945) Vol. II, chapter 4
- Article XIX, italics added.
- The Constitution of the United States Defined and Carefully Annotatedhttps://archive.org/details/constitutionuni02statgoog
- Consciencehttps://www.proquest.com/docview/1039541028
- Church and State in the United States: The American Idea of Religious Liberty and its Practical Effects
- The Founders' Constitution Volume 5, Amendment I (Religion), Document 53. The University of Chicago Press. Retrieved 200http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_religions53.html
- The Review of Politicshttps://doi.org/10.1017%2Fs0034670500034446
- Kyle G. Volk, Moral Minorities and the Making of American Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2014)
- The Washington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/five-myths-about-church-and-state-in-america/2011/04/21/AF2SlBQE_story.html
- Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1 (1947).
- REYNOLDS v. U.S., 98 U.S. 145 (1878) 98 U.S. 145http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=98&invol=145
- Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962)http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=370&page=421#422
- EPPERSON v. ARKANSAS, 393 U.S. 97 (1968)http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=393&page=97
- "McCreary County vs. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky"https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1693.ZC.html
- Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 612–613, 91 S.Ct. 2105, 2111, 29 L.Ed.2d 745 (1971).
- Senate Pledges Allegiance Under God. Fox News, Thursday, June 27, 2002http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,56322,00.html
- 482 U.S. 578 (Text of opinion in Edwards v. Aguillard from Findlaw.com)https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/482/578/
- See also: Creation and evolution in public education
- Catholic World Newshttp://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=41403
- Onell R. Soto, City has 90 days to remove Mt. Soledad cross, The San Diego Union-Tribune, May 4, 2006, p. A1.http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060504-9999-1n4soledad.html
- June, Daniel, "Supreme Court to Hear Case About Public Prayers"http://www.jdjournal.com/2013/05/20/supreme-court-to-hear-case-about-public-prayers/
- The Washington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/supreme-court-approves-sectarian-prayer-at-public-meetings/2014/05/05/62c494da-d487-11e3-8f7d-7786660fff7c_story.html
- NBC Newshttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-oks-use-public-money-religious-education-rcna21627
- Religion and the State in American Law
- Church and State in the United Stateshttps://archive.org/details/churchstateinuni0000stok
- Religion and American Law: An Encyclopedia
- Ed Whelan, This Week in Liberal Judicial Activism—Week of February 5, National Review Online. February 5, 2007,http://bench.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Y2Y4ZmY0MzI1ZjRjNDg4NTQ0ZDc0NGE1MjdmYWRhMDA=
- First Freedom: The Baptist Perspective on Religious Libertyhttps://books.google.com/books?id=U4esKOiTWGQC
- "Religious discrimination in state constitutions"https://archive.today/20121221001238/http://www.religioustolerance.org/texas.htm
- American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and The Rev. Matthew Peterson v. Capitol Square Review & Advisory Boardhttp://openjurist.org/243/f3d/289/american-civil-liberties-union-of-ohio-and-the-reverend-matthew-peterson-v-capitol-square-review-and
- LOCKE V. DAVEY 540 U.S. 712 (2004)
- Book Review: Separation of Church and Statehttp://www.christianethicstoday.com/Issue/043/Separation%20of%20Church%20and%20State%20Philip%20Hamburger%20Reviewed%20By%20J.%20Brent%20Walker_043_14_.htm
- Frank Lambert, The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America.
- Steven Waldman The Framers and the Faithful: How modern evangelicals are ignoring their own history. Washington Monthly,http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0604.waldman.html
- The Washington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/judge-atheist-group-takes-separation-of-church-and-state-too-far-on-ground-zero-cross/2013/04/07/9551c8be-9fb3-11e2-9c03-6952ff305f35_story.html
- Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Scienceshttps://web.archive.org/web/20050306124338/http://www.robertbellah.com/articles_5.htm
- "Mich. Rep defends vote against 'In God We Trust'". Lansing State Journal. November 3, 2011. p. 1. Archived from the ori
- Politicohttps://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/09/21/most-republicans-support-declaring-the-united-states-a-christian-nation-00057736
- The Nationhttps://www.thenation.com/article/politics/republicans-christian-nation/
- The Salt Lake Tribunehttps://www.sltrib.com/religion/2022/09/23/78-republican-evangelicals-want/
- Wall Street Journalhttps://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-LB-47999
- Los Angeles Timeshttps://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-supreme-court-prayer-thomas-20140505-story.html
- "Does the Establishment Clause Apply to the States?"https://archive.nytimes.com/takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/07/does-the-establishment-clause-apply-to-the-states/
- "Clarence Thomas"https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/clarence-thomas/
- HuffPosthttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/north-carolina-religion-bill_n_3003401
- NBC Newshttp://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/next-stage-culture-war-official-state-religions-flna1C9201993
- "Poll: Huge Number of Americans Want Christianity as State Religion"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/christianity-state-religion_n_3022255
- The Denver Posthttps://www.denverpost.com/2022/06/27/lauren-boebert-church-state-colorado/
- Politifacthttps://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/jun/30/lauren-boebert/lauren-boebert-wrong-founding-fathers-intent-exper/
- Axioshttps://www.axios.com/2022/06/29/lauren-boebert-church-state-christianity
- The Washington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/28/lauren-boebert-church-state-colorado/
- LegiScanhttps://legiscan.com/LA/text/HB71/id/2978627
- American Civil Liberties Unionhttps://www.aclu.org/press-releases/clergy-public-school-parents-sue-to-block-louisiana-law-requiring-public-schools-to-display-the-ten-commandments#:~:text=The%20complaint%20further%20alleges%20that,afoul%20of%20the%20First%20Amendment's
- www.laaclu.orghttps://www.laaclu.org/en/press-releases/civil-liberties-groups-will-file-lawsuit-against-louisiana-law-requiring-public
- "Civil Action No. 3:24-cv-517-JWD-SDJ"https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/06/3-24-cv-517-Roake-v.-Brumley.pdf