Table of Contents

Current Events

• So Help Me God: Did George Washington or Any Other President Say Those Words When Being Sworn in as President? a review of an article by Matthew Goldstein with link.
• Everson v. Board of Education of the Township of Ewing et al.
• Articles by Jacques Bailhé
  • The Wisdom of Perpetual Conflict
  • Evolution is Intelligent Design
  • The Pledge of Allegiance
• The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
• American Theocrats - Past and Present
• The Saga of Stevens Creek Elementary School
  • Stevens Creek Elementary vs the ADF.
  • Information and links regarding the suit of a teacher against his Cupertino, CA superiors for infringement of 1st Amendment rights which is backed by the Alliance Defense Fund.
    • Church-State Separation in the United States: Religion in Public Schools and the Legal/Off-Courtroom Strategies of the Christian Right
    • Far-Right Fundamentalists launch intimidation campaign against Stevens Creek Elementary School Principal in Cupertino, CA
    • Update on Stevens Creek
    • Alliance Defense Fund belatedly acknowledges that the claim that the "Declaration of Independence was banned..."
• Same Sex Marriage, Separation of Church And State
• Recently in the Courts (2000-Present)
• Threats to Religious Liberty!
• The Pledge of Allegiance: A Short History
• The Pledge
• Latest Developments in the Pledge Case (Posted March 29, 2004)
• One Nation, Under God--Indicative of a Larger Problem by Ethan Young
• Removed From The Legislative Province by Neal Blanchett, Esq. (Looks at the Pledge controversy from a legal point of view)
• Thoughts on Power, Ceremonial Deism &Amp: Public Religion From a Variety of Sources
• The Professor Marci A. Hamilton Series
• A Baptist minister and follow warrior with Jefferson, Madison and others in the struggle for religious freedom gave this advice about electing public officials: "...guard against those men who make a great noise about religion..."
• Faith-Based Charities unconstitutional, says the father of the Constitution and Bill of Rights
• Remembering on the The National Day of Prayer
• How Religion Is Being Portrayed in Regards to The Recent Attacks on America
• The Ten Commandments Issues
  • The Complete Ten Commandments, a Study Guide
  • Congress Shall Make No Law Respecting the Establishment of Reason. Neal Blanchett, Esq. comments on the Ten Commandments controversy.
  • The Seven Lost Commandments
  • Rev. John Leland on the Ten Commandments, Judge Moore and other related things
  • [Please note that the following links will take you off this web site. As of February 27, 2002, there are 24 articles on this web site which reference the Ten Commandments issues. To locate them and any future additions, please use our site search engine page at Search Page]
    • Legal Developments: Year 2002
    • Legal Developments: Year 2001
    • Legal Developments: 1999 & 2000
• Supreme Court hears Zelman v. Simmons-Harris
• Vouchers: Our Position
• Points of View: Religious Freedom in Today's Political Climate

Study Guides

• Study Guide for The Roots of American Democracy
• Study Guide: Separation of Church and State - Indepth
• Study Guide for Separation of Church and State
• Study Guide for "Original Intent"
• A Study Guide for the Words/Concept: "Separation of Church and State"
• Study Guide for Vouchers
• Study Guide: What is "Establishment?"
  • Establishment, Part I
  • Establishment, Part II
  • Establishment, Part III
  • Establishment, Part IV
  • Establishment, Part V
• A Study Guide to the History of United States Symbols and Mottos
• Study Guide to the Pledge of Allegiance
• The Complete Ten Commandments, a Study Guide
• Study Guide to Quotes:
  • Quotes in General
  • Problematical Separationist Quotes
  • Is it true that Madison said ". . . the purpose of separation of church and state . . ."
  • Problematical Religious Right Quotes And Arguments
    • Is it true that Madison said "Our future is staked on the 10 commandments?"
    • Is it true that Madison said "Religion is the foundation of government?"

The Historical Evidence

• Roots of American Law

The Founding Period: 1774-1791

Chaplains

An Overview from 1774 to early 1800's

• Chaplains and Congress
• The Political Move That Backfired
• Duche's Letter To Washington

The Declaration of Independence (1776)

• Introduction
• Declaration of Independence: Its Purpose
• Jefferson's Declaration of Independence did not use the word "Creator"
• Lincoln's reinventing of the Declaration of Independence
• The United States Supreme Court and the Declaration of Independence
• An analysis of the Declaration of Independence
  • Declaration of Independence: Preamble
  • Declaration of Independence Is Not Law
  • The Declaration of Independence Didn't Create Independence, Didn't "Found" Anything, Didn't Separate Anything: It Was an Explanation

"Founding" Documents and Religion (1776-1791)

• Founding Documents and Religion, Declaration of Independence, AOC, Constitution, Bill of Rights
  • A Big Fuss Over Nothing: An analysis of real and imagined references to God, Christianity and Religion and lack thereof in obvious places in five documents from the founding period of our history: the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Northwest Ordinance, Federalist Papers, Constitution of the United States

State Constitutions

The sections of the state constitutions dealing with religion have been excerpted on the following pages:

The Original Thirteen States:

• Introduction
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Georgia
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Carolina
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Virginia

The Additional States

• Vermont
• Kentucky
• Tennessee

Warnings and other comments by a variety of men of the founding period and after(1780 -1833, 1992, 1999)

• Dangers and Comments on "We the People;" Factions, Including Religious Sects, & Denominations; Local & State Governments; Majority v. Minority; Common Law and Other Things of Importance
• Rebuttal to Jefferson's Bill for Religious Freedom

The Northwest Ordinance

• The Northwest Ordinance
  • The History of First Sentence of Article III of the Northwest Ordinance
  • The Northwest Ordinance does not violate the First Amendment
    • Northwest Ordinance did not require schools to teach religion
      • R. Freeman Butts on Minor v. Ohio
    • The Northwest Ordinance did not provide non-preferential aid to the public school
    • The first sentence of Article III of the Northwest Ordinance was a preamble with few enforceable legal consequences
      • A note on "civilizing" the "American Indian"
  • The Northwest Ordinance cannot be read as a commentary on the First Amendment
  • The Northwest Ordinance had no constitutional authority
  • The framers of the Northwest Ordinance had no desire to aid religion
• The Northwest Ordinance: Course of Debate

Constitutional Convention and Ratification Period (1787-1788)

• Jonathan Dayton and the Ben Franklin Prayer/Chaplain myth
• Constitutional Convention and the topic of Religion
• Article VI, Section III: The No Religious Test Ban Clause (Separation clause)
  • Part I: Introduction
  • Part II: The Constitutional Convention
  • Part III: The Pennsylvania State Ratifying Convention
  • Part IV: The Connecticut State Ratifying Convention and The Massachusetts State Ratifying Convention
  • Part V: The Virginia State Ratifying Convention
  • Part VI: The North Carolina State Ratifying Convention

The First Federal Congress

• Chief Justice Burger, I Would Like You To Meet Mr. Madison
• Discrepancies
• Original Intent:
  • Introduction: What intent, whose intent?
  • Original Intent? Part II Excerpts from correspondence of members of the First Federal Congress -- January 2, 1789 to June 30, 1789
  • Original Intent? Part III Excerpts from correspondence of members of the First Federal Congress -- July 5, 1789 to August 18, 1789
  • Original Intent? Part IV Excerpts from correspondence of members of the First Federal Congress -- August 19, 1789 to October 2, 1789
• Congressional Debates: Religious Amendments, 1789
• James Madison And National Religion

• Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses only Reinforced Separation of Church and State.
  • No Power to Congress Over Religion. The Separation Clause, Article IV Paragraph III
  • No Power to Congress over Religion: The "Elastic Clause" and the 1st Amendment
• Representative Thomas Tucker on Church and State

Founders

• Christian Orthodoxy And The Founders
• A Critical Response to Bernard Katz On Our Founding Fathers by Robert Nordlander
• Who were the most important Founders?

The Post-Founding Period: 1790-1800

• Madison's Arguments Against Special Religious Sanction of American Government
• Treaty of Tripoli, 1796: Little-Known U.S. Document Signed by President Adams Proclaims America's Government Is Secular
• Joel Barlow And The Treaty With Tripoli

The Post-Founding Period: 1800 -1840

• The Dangers of Combining Politics And Religion
• Sunday (Sabbath) arguments and Clashes (1810-1835)
  • Genealogy of Sunday Laws
  • The Sunday Mail argument (1810-1830)
  • Sundays Excepted
  • "Sunday Excepted" & "Year of Our lord" (1830-1833)
  • Blue Laws
• Madison's vetoes: Some of The First Official Meanings Assigned to The Establishment Clause (1811)
• Joseph Story: A look at the writings of the man whom some have styled the "father of religious accommodationism."
  • Introduction
  • Is Christianity part of English Common Law
  • Is this a Christian nation?
  • Joseph Story's ongoing war with Thomas Jefferson
  • Joseph Story's Commentaries of the Constitution
  • Two Views: James Madison's and Joseph Story's
  • Joseph Story's influence
  • Joseph Story's writings on religion
  • Joseph Story's Supreme Court dicta/opinions on religion
• Excerpts from James Madison's Autobiography
• The Jasper Adams Saga
  • Jasper Adams Sermon: Relation of Christianity to Civil Government, First Edition
  • Rebuttal to Jasper Adams Sermon
  • Jasper Adams Sermon: Second Edition
  • Letters to the Reverend Jasper Adams

The Post-Founding Period: 1840 -1860

• Bible Riots: When Christians Killed Each Other Over Religion in Public Schools by Rob Boston

Post Civil War Period: 1863-1880

• Fourteenth Amendment

Post-Civil War attempts to incorporate religious language into the Constitution

• First major attempts to amend the Constitution 1863 - 1880
• The NRA (National Reform Association) and the Christian Amendment
  • The Proposed Christian Amendment
• In God We Trust
  • In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash by Ralph C. Reynolds
  • The Nine Demands of Liberalism
  • Religious Freedom Amendment
  • President U. S. Grant's Speech
  • President Grant calls for a constitutional amendment
  • The Blaine School Amendment
  • Benjamin F. Underwood: The Practical Separation of Church and State (1876)
  • Letter from the National Liberal League

The Second Wave Attempts to Amend the Constitution -- 1880 - 1910

Sixty-four religious measures introduced in Congress -- 1888 - 1910

• Chronology of Religious Measures Introduced in Congress between 1888 - 1910
• Religious Measures in Congress 1888 - 1949

The Post Founding Period - Tracing the Rise of Theocracy

• The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
• American Theocrats - Past and Present

Historical Documents

• Thomas Jefferson's General Plan for Education
  • 79. A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge (1778)
  • 80. A Bill for Amending the Constitution of the College of William and Mary, and Substituting More Certain Revenues for Its Support (1779)
  • 81. A Bill for Establishing a Public Library (1779)
• A Bill Establishing a Provision for Teachers of the Christian Religion (1784)
• James Madison's Memorial and Remonstrance (June,1785)
• Jefferson's Bill for Religious Freedom (Passed December, 1785)
• Excerpts from James Madison's Detached Memoranda (written after 1817)

Issue Related Historical Data

• Short General History of The Federal Government and Education
• Historical Data Against "Vouchers"

The Legal Heritage

The Declaration of Independence

• Jefferson's Declaration of Independence did not use the word "Creator"
• The United States Supreme Court and the Declaration of Independence

Annotations of First Amendment Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States

Case Excerpts from The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation: Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States as prepared by the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress

• Table of Contents
• First Amendment -- Religion
• First Amendment -- Establishment of Religion
• First Amendment -- Establishment of Religion (Continued)
• First Amendment -- Free Exercise of Religion
• First Amendment -- Religion and Expression -- Freedom of Expression -- Speech and Press

Important Establishment Clause Cases decided by the U. S. Supreme Court

• Introduction
• Cases from 1899 to 1970
• Cases from 1971 to 1977
• Cases from 1978 to present
• Recently in the Courts (2000-Present)

Government Sponsored Prayer

• School Prayer Decisions
• A Moment of Silence: The Trojan Horse of Our Age
• Prayer in Public Schools
• Teachers and School Prayer
• Religion in the Public Schools: A Joint Statement of Current Law
• Alabama School Prayer -- 1999 by civil rights/constitutional lawyer Pamela L. Sumners
• Public School Prayer, Appellate Case Summary. ©Americans United for Separation of Church and State Prepared by Ayesha N. Khan, Esq., Litigation Counsel.
  This site includes many of the same cases that are listed on our "Important Establishment Clause cases" charts, but also adds additional lower court cases as well as the Supreme Court cases.

Direct Aid: Vouchers

• School Vouchers
• Discussions of Voucher Issues
  • Addressing Common Misconceptions in Certain Voucher Discussions I
  • Addressing Common Misconceptions in Certain Voucher Discussions II
• Vouchers
• "Private School Vouchers: Bad for America" by Nancy Kanode
• "Federal and State Student Financial Aid"
• "Some Tax Exempt Information from the IRS"
• "*Their* Money: Thoughts on Vouchers" by Wayne Aiken
• Voucher Case Summary. ©Americans United for Separation of Church and State Prepared by Ayesha N. Khan, Esq., Litigation Counsel.
  This site includes many of the same cases that are listed on our "Important Establishment Clause cases" charts, but also adds additional lower court cases as well as the Supreme Court cases.

Creationism v. Evolution

• The New Face of Creationism: The Establishment Clause and the Latest Efforts to Suppress Evolution in Public Schools, by Deborah A. Reule, Vanderbilt Law Review,.Volume 54 - Number 6 - November 2001, p 2555. 54 V and. L. Rev. 2157-2618 (2001)
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Evolution of the Principle

General Discussions

• The Christian Bible and the Foundations of the U. S.
• The Establishment Clause
• Some Thoughts on Religion and Law
• A Simple Test
• Religious Freedom vs Religion
• All Those Christian Presidents
• A Discussion of Freedom of Religion And Freedom From Religion

Politics of History

• What about quotations that seem to oppose separation?
• The Constitution and Separation of Church and State Part I
• The Constitution and Separation of Church and State Part II
• The Constitution and Separation of Church and State Part III
• The Constitution and Separation of Church and State Part IV
• The Constitution and Separation of Church and State Part V
• The Constitution and Separation of Church and State Part VI
• The Constitution and Separation of Church and State Part VII
• The Constitution and Separation of Church and State Part VIII
• The Constitution and Separation of Church and State Part IX
• The Constitution and Separation of Church and State Part X
• The American Idea of Religious Freedom
   

Politics of the Media

• Sects, Lies and Videotape: David Barton's Distorted History by Rob Boston
• Consumer Alert!: Wallbuilders' Shoddy Workmanship by Rob Boston
• The Barton Chronicles
• An Index to Factual Information About David Barton And His Books
• Critique of David Barton's "America's Godly Heritage" reprint of a publication by the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs
• Misquoting by the Religious Right
• Is it true that Madison said "Our future is staked on the 10 commandments?"
• Is it true that Madison said "Religion is the foundation of government?"
• Did the Supreme Court of New York, in an 1811 decision, ever say that the First Amendment was "never meant to withdraw religion...from all consideration and notice of the law?"
• Did John Quincy Adams ever say that the American Revolution "connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity?"
• Barton Is at it Again
• Responding to the Right: The basic arguments
  • Thomas Jefferson actually said that the wall of separation between church and state was "one directional."
  • The Northwest Ordinance proves that the First Amendment did not separate church and state
  • Thomas Jefferson supported Bible reading in school; this is proven by his service as the first president of the Washington D. C. public schools, which used the Bible and Watt's Hymns as textbooks for reading.
  • Another Jefferson Quote Debunked
  • Jefferson, Religion, and the Public Schools
  • The Supreme Court has Declared that the United States is a Christian nation
  • How often did the founders quote the Bible?
  • Jefferson's Danbury letter was written merely to assure Connecticut Baptists that the Constitution did not permit the establishment of a national denomination.
  • Jefferson's Danbury letter was written to address the Danbury Baptists' fears that the First Amendment might be misinterpreted.
  • Jefferson's letter to Benjamin Rush shows that Jefferson was a non-preferentialist.
  • Did Montesquieu base his theory of separation of powers on the Bible?
• Some Thoughts on Religion and Law
• Why the Religious Right is Wrong
• Separation No Myth an article by Dr. Jim Spivey

Politics of Law and the Courts-Past and Present

• What is the Politics of Law?
• Religion and the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1999
• State and U.S. Supreme Court Cases - 1799-1947
  • Runkel v Winemiller, 4 Harris & McHenry 276 (Sup Ct. Md 1799)
  • John M'Creery's Lessee v Allender, 4 H & Mett. 259 (1799)-Supreme Court Maryland
  • The People v. Ruggles
  • Terrett v Taylor
  • The Commonwealth v Sharpless
  • The Commonwealth v Wolf
  • Updegraph v Commonwealth
  • Commonwealth v Abner Kneeland
  • Vidal v Girard's Executors
  • City of Charleston v Benjamin
  • Church of the Holy Trinity v U.S
    • Church of the Holy Trinity v U.S. Legal research, analysis and writing by Susan Batte, Esq.
    • The "Christian Nation" Decision and Rebuttal. Researched by Jim Allison
    • The Supreme Court has Declared that the United States is a Christian Nation. Research and writing by Susan Batte
    • Holy Trinity and the Christian Nation Dicta. Research and writing by Susan Batte
    • Getting to Know Supreme Court Justice David J. Brewer. Researched by Susan Batte and James Allison. Written by James Allison
  • Additional 19th Century Cases: A look at additional 19th century cases that add insight and balance to the material above including Bloom v Cornelius (Ohio Supreme Court, 1853); Board of Education of the City of Cincinnati, plaintiff in error, v Minor (Ohio Supreme Court, 1872)
    • The word Religion does not mean Christian
    • Was school prayer widespread before 1962?
  • Two Additional 20th Century Cases: A look at two additional 20th century cases that are misrepresented in some of Barton's publications: Reed v. Van Hoven 237 F Supp. 48 (W. D. Mich, 1965) and DeSprain v DeKalb County Community School District 255 F Supp. 655 (N. D. Ill. 1966)
  • Revisiting Marsh v. Chambers
• The Jaffree Cases
  • Jaffree v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County
  • Jaffree v Wallace, 705 F.2d 1526 (1983)
  • Rehnquist, Wallace v. Jaffree: a Rebuttal
    Rehnquist's fallacious ideas of history are rebutted with historical references and material provided.
• Intent, by Stephen McLeod
• The word Religion does not mean Christian
• Against Displaying Ten Commandments in Government Center by Jim Senyszyn
• The Ten Commandments and the U. S. Constitution by Fred Fariss
• Alabama School Prayer -- 1999 by civil rights/constitutional lawyer Pamela L. Sumners
• Secular Humanism and the Courts
  • A discussion of "Secular humanism"
  • What the United States Supreme Court has really said about "Secular Humanism"
  • References to Secular Humanism in Federal Circuit Court Cases
• Transcript of "Live Online" chat session with Joan Biskupic regarding US Supreme Court and religious freedom issues.
• "How the Supreme Court Decides Which Cases It Will Hear," an article by Joan Biskupic published September 6, 1999. Learn how the Supreme Court determines which of the 1750 appeals received over the summer recess will actually be heard.
  Sorry but this article is not currently available at the former address.

Coming Soon

• Joseph Story: a look at writings of the man whom some have styled the "father of religious accommodationism"
  • Is this a Christian nation?
  • Joseph Story's influence
  • Joseph Story's writings on religion
  • Joseph Story's Supreme Court opinions on religion

Links

• Re-publication of Tom Peters' Separation of Church & State Homepage
• Audio Links Section: Links allowing you to listen to a speech by Pamela Sumners, Civil-Rights Lawyer, and links to oral arguments before the Supreme Court in selected Establishment/Free Exercise Clause cases
• Links to other web sites of interest

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