The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: January 9, 2003
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 344
ISBN-13: 9780691088297
Subjects: American history: c 1500 to c 1800; Religion: general; United States - 18th Century; Religion; History; History - U.S; United States; History: American; USA; Religion, Politics & State; Sociology of Religion; American History; History / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800); Political Science and International Relations; Freedom of religion; United States - Revolutionary War; 18th century; Church and state; To 1800
First sentence: IN 1639, a group of New England Puritans drafted a constitution affirming their faith in God and their intention to organize a Christian Nation.
Description: "How 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? Frank Lambert explains why this happened, offering in the process a synthesis of American history from the first British arrivals through Thomas Jefferson's controversial presidency.".

"Lambert recognizes that two sets of spiritual fathers defined the place of religion in early America: what Lambert calls the Planting Fathers, who brought Old World ideas and dreams of building a "City upon a Hill," and the Founding Fathers, who determined the constitutional arrangement of religion in the new republic. While the former proselytized the "one true faith," the latter emphasized religious freedom over religious purity."--BOOK JACKET.