Description
Book SynopsisHow did the United States, founded as colonies with explicitly religious aspirations, come to be the first modern state whose commitment to the separation of church and state was reflected in its constitution? This title explains why this happened, offering in the process a synthesis of American history.
Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2003 "A responsible, clearly written analysis of the currently disputed mindset of the Founding Fathers regarding the role of religion in American society. Numerous quotations from the personal and professional writings of the Founding Fathers themselves bring a refreshing vitality to Lambert's work while simultaneously dispelling the absolutized assumptions of contemporary conservatives and liberals alike."--Religion and Liberty "Lambert has made a major contribution to US religious, constitutional, and political history with this superb book."--Choice "Lambert's book epitomizes the virtues of narrative history, not least in the clear and straightforward prose style that propels the narrative from Jamestown through the elections of 1800... [Lambert] is especially skillful at simultaneously sketching a large portrait of historical change over time and filling in that picture with evocative vignettes and first-person accounts."--Andrew R. Murphy, Christian Century This is an excellent book that captures the progression from religious conformity to religious freedom in early America... [It] provides a fine, scholarly overview of the emergency of religious freedom in the fledgling nation."--Derek H. Davis, Journal of Religion
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xi INTRODUCTION 1 PART ONE: Religious Regulation CHAPTER 1 English Heritage 21 The Crown and the Church 23 The Age of Faith 31 The Act of Uniformity, Religious Liberty, and Dissent 39 CHAPTER 2 Transplanting the Church of England in the Chesapeake 46 "Nursing Fathers" of the Church 48 A Gentleman's Religion 58 Religious Outsider 67 CHAPTER 3 Puritan Fathers and the "Christian Common-wealth" 73 "the religious design of [the Puritan] Fathers" 76 "Shields unto the Churches of New-England" 82 "a well-bounded Toleration" 89 CHAPTER 4 A "Holy Experiment" in Religious Pluralism 100 The "Holy Experiment" 102 "a great mixt multitude" 109 Religion, Politics, and the Failure of the "Holy Experiment" 114 PART TWO: Religious Competition CHAPTER 5 "Trafficking for the Lord" and the Expansion of Religious Choice 127 Regulated Parishes 129 "a Sett of Rambling Fellows" 136 "as tho 'they had their Religion to chuse" 145 CHAPTER 6 Deists Enter the Religious Marketplace 159 The New Learning 162 Science and Religion 167 Founder and "True" Religion 173 CHAPTER 7 Whigs and Dissenters Fight Religious Regulation 180 Whig and Dissenting Traditions 182 Warning against "Spiritual Directors" 187 Dissent against the Standing Order 194 PART THREE: Religious Freedom CHAPTER 8 The American Revolution of Religion 207 Religion and Independence 210 Opposing Massachusetts's "oppressive establishment of religion" 219 Triumph of Religious Freedom in Virginia 225 CHAPTER 9 Constitutional Recognition of a Free Religious Market 236 Religious Factions and the Threat to Union 241 The "Godless Constitution" 246 Ratification Contingent upon Religious Freedom 253 CHAPTER 10 Religion and Politics in the Presidential Campaign of 1800 265 "...govern ...in the name of the Lo: Jesus Christ" 268 "JEFFERSON--AND NO GOD" 276 "one God, three Gods, no God, or twenty Gods" 280 Epilogue 288 Notes 297 Index 323
