Declaration of Independence
-The Declaration was ratified July 4, 1776 -Jefferson, along with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams was one of the primary authors of the Declaration of Independence -The Declaration is one of the most important and influential documents in the history of the United States -In the Declaration, Jefferson mentions God in the Introduction -The first major public document where Jefferson uses personal expression |
A painting of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson writing, editing, and revising the Declaration of Independence
|
Notes on the State of Virginia
-A book written by Jefferson where he broadcasted his Deist views -Deism followed the belief that God was the Creator of the entire world and of human kind. Deists understood religious freedoms as the right to believe and practice or not to believe and not to practice -Jefferson thought that coercive laws on religion produced fools and hypocrites |
A picture of "Notes on the State of Virginia"
|
The Bill of Rights
-With great influence from Thomas Jefferson, urging him to include the protection of religious liberty in the First Amendment of the Constitution, James Madison wrote the Bill of Rights -The religion part of the first amendment is made up of two clauses: the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause -The Establishment Clause: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..." -The Free Exercise Clause: Congress shall make no law "...prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." |
An image of the Bill of Rights of the United States of America
|
Letter to the Danbury Baptists & Separation of Church and State
-Thomas Jefferson sent a strongly-worded letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut in 1801 -Jefferson wrote "...that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State." -The term "Separation of Church and State" derives from Jefferson's usage of the term "separation between church and State" in this letter |
"The Wall of Separation," also known as the "Separation Between Church and State"
|