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42 

FULTON v. PHILADELPHIA 

ALITO, J., concurring in judgment
ALITO, J., concurring in judgment 

often  seemed  in  danger,57  and  the  Members  of  Congress
faced  bleak  personal  prospects  if  the  war  was  lost.58    Yet  
despite these stakes, exemptions were granted. 

Colonies  with  established  churches  also  permitted  non-
members  to  decline  to  pay  special  taxes  dedicated  to  the 
support of ministers of the established church.  McConnell, 
Origins  1469.  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  exempted 
Baptists and Quakers in 1727.  Ibid.  Virginia provided ex-
emptions  to  Huguenots  in  1700,  German  Lutherans  in 
1730, and dissenters from the Church of England in 1776. 
Ibid.;  see  also  S.  Cobb,  The  Rise  of  Religious  Liberty  in
America  98,  492  (1902).    Beginning  in  1692,  New  Hamp-
shire exempted those who could prove they were “ ‘conscien-
tiously’ ”  of  a  “ ‘different  persuasion,’ ”  regularly  attended
their own religious services, and contributed financially to
their faith.  McConnell, Origins 1469. 

Various  other  religious  exemptions  were  also  provided. 
North Carolina and Maryland granted exemptions from the 
requirement that individuals remove their hats in court, a
gesture that Quakers viewed as an impermissible showing 
of respect to a secular authority.  Id., at 1471–1472.  And 
Rhode Island exempted Jews from some marriage laws.  Id., 
at 1471. 

In an effort to dismiss the significance of these legislative 

—————— 

57 See The Oxford Companion to American Military History 606–608, 

611 (J. Chambers ed. 1999). 

58 See Declaration of Independence ¶ 31 (“[W]e mutually pledge to each
other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor”); see also P. Maier, 
American Scripture 152–153 (1997); Boyd, The Declaration of Independ-
ence: The Mystery of the Lost Original, 100 Pa. Mag. Hist. & Bio. 438, 
445  (1976);  L.  Montross,  The  Reluctant  Rebels  165  (1970);  E.  Burnett, 
The Continental Congress 196–197 (1941).  Of the 56 signers of the Dec-
laration of Independence, 9 were taken as prisoners of war; 2 had sons 
who  died;  3  had  sons  who  were  taken  captive;  9  had  their  homes  de-
stroyed; and 13 saw their homes occupied, confiscated, or damaged.  M. 
Novak, On Two Wings: Humble Faith and Common Sense at the Ameri-
can Founding 157–158 (2002).