Law and Religion in US History

Americans have long supported religious liberty under law, yet many also believed that only a religious people could guarantee the success of the Republic. Americans argued over how to define religious liberty, and over which particular religion best suited a republican government. Some said God had made certain people too inferior for citizenship, while others shot back that He had made all people equally capable. One man's piety was another man's oppression, one woman's equality another woman's blasphemy. We begin with the colonial era the concerns of the Revolutionary generation, look at the 19th Century's reform movements and new state institutions, then consider the Civil Rights movement of the 20th Century, and the place of religion in public schools. This discussion class will examine legal documents, like judges' rulings, and popular beliefs in political speeches and best-selling novels.