God & Country
Religious Views of the Founding Fathers, Presidents, and Vice Presidents
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Purpose of This Site
In discussions of the role of religion in the United States, in both government and law, questions often come up about the religious views of the founding fathers, presidents, and others. What did they think about about such things as the separation of church and state, public prayer, and the relation between religion and morality? These are not easy questions, since their views are often complex and nuanced, and sometimes changed over the course of very full lives. Partisans of various points of view on church-state issue have all too often quoted selectively and out of context. There are lists of the religious affiliations of these men, both in books and on the web. All the lists I have seen contain at least minor inaccuracies, and sometimes major ones, and even when technically correct, they can be misleading.
This site is intended to help address these important questions, correct inaccuracies, and provide a less misleading picture, by presenting the religious views of the founding fathers, presidents, and selected others, in their own words or the words of their contemporaries where possible, fairly and without bias. (For more detail about what information is and is not included, how I have dealt with controversies, and so on, see: About the Individual Entries.)
This site is not meant to describe the religious views of the general public, nor the ebb and flow of informed opinion on matters of religion. And, although it may help clarify such issues, it is not intended as a discussion of constitutional law or of issues of church and state (see below for a selection of books and sites that do deal with these more general topics: Religion in American Life & Government, Separation of Church & State, Advocacy & Litigation Organizations Concerned with Religion & Government).
Like everyone else, I have my own opinions and biases, but I have made every attempt to be fair and impartial in creating this site. This is a large topic, so if you feel I have left out any important figures, misquoted or misrepresented anyone's view, or if you can direct me to additional relevant information, please email me at peterroberts.geo@yahoo.com. Thank you. I hope you find this site both useful and interesting.
About the Individual Entries
Since the focus of this site is on the religious views of the various individuals discussed, I have included only minimal general biographical material. The page for each person lists name, dates of birth and death, role in US history, and, when I can find the data, some basic facts about educational background, occupation, and political affiliation. (Because virtually everyone listed here held political office, and so many held judgeships and military positions, I have as a rule not not included anything about these areas. Information about these topics, as well as more detailed biographical data, can be found in the references at the bottom of each individual's page.)
The bulk of each page is devoted to material related to religion and politics. I first list religious affiliation (formal membership or close, long-term association; caution must be applied here, since affiliation does not prove adherence -- George Washington offers a good example of this difficulty), then provide brief overviews of the subject's religious beliefs and opinions about the appropriate relationship between religion and government. This is followed by a selection of relevant quotations (where available) and, in a few cases, commonly misattributed quotes or inaccurate quotes, and finally a listing of references and links, both general and specifically relating to religion and politics.
While there is an abundance of information available for the more prominent people listed here, there is much less (and sometimes essentially nothing) on some of the more obscure ones. Furthermore, much of this information is uncertain or open to differing interpretations. Even such basic facts as religious affiliation are often subject to controversy. I have done my best, in the face of all this uncertainty, ambiguity, and lack of reliable information (or even any information at all, in some cases), to be as fair and thorough as possible. When the facts are clear, but there is, nonetheless, disagreement, I have tried to give the factually verifiable version. Where there is well-founded controversy or uncertainty, I have tried to present both sides. And where there is insufficiency or absence of information, I have left things blank. If you have, or know of a source for, any information which would clarify ambiguity or fill in lacunae, please email me at peterroberts.geo@yahoo.com.
Religion in American Life and Government
Sydney E. Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People, Yale Univ. Press, 1972
Catherine L. Albanese, America: Religions and Religion, Wadsworth, 1981
Patricia U. Bonomi, Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America, Oxford Univ. Press, 1986
Jon Butler, Awash in a Sea of Faith: Christianizing the American People, Harvard Univ. Press, 1990
Edwin S. Gaustad, Faith of out Fathers: Religion and the New Nation, Harper & Row, 1987
Robert T. Handy, A History of the Churches in the United States and Canada, Oxford Univ. Press, 1977
Donald G. Mathews, Religion in the Old South, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1977
Mark A. Noll, A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada, Eerdmans, 1992
Peter M. Rinaldo, Atheists, Agnostics, and Deists in America : A Brief History, DorPete Press, 2000
Separation of Church and State
Rob Boston, et al., Why the Religious Right Is Wrong: About Separation of Church & State, Prometheus Books, 1994
Edwin S. Gaustad, Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land: A History of Church & State in America, Oxford Univ. Press, 2003
Isaac Kramnick and R. Laurence Moore, The Godless Constitution: The Case Against Religious Correctness, W.W. Norton, 1997
Ed. by Merrill D. Peterson and Robert C. Vaughan, Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom: Its Evolution and Consequences in American History, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1988
Advocacy and Litigation Organizations Concerned with Religion & Government
General Information About the Founding Fathers
Joseph J. Ellis, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, Knopf, 2001
Dumas Malone, The Story of the Declaration of Independence, Oxford University Press, 1975
The Founding Fathers and Religion
Norman Cousins (Editor), The Republic of Reason: The Personal Philosophies of the Founding Fathers, Harper San Francisco, 1990
John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers, Baker Book House, 1995
Tim F. Lahaye, Faith of Our Founding Fathers, Master Books, 1996
Frank Lambert, The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America, Princeton University Press, 2003
Alf J. Mapp, The Faiths of Our Fathers: What America's Founders Really Believed, Rowman & Littlefield, 2003
General Information about the Presidents and Vice Presidents
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