Church And State In American History: Key Documents, Decisions, And Commentary From The Past Three Centuries

by Wilson,John F.

• ISBN13: 9780813365589
• ISBN10: 0813365589
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2003-02-07
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Is America "one nation under God"? We encounter controversies every day that concern prayer in schools and stadiums, school vouchers, religious symbols in public spaces, and tax support for faith-based social initiatives as well as arguments among advocates ofpro-choiceandpro-lifepositions. These and other issues are at the center of an ongoing search for a means to delineate the interactions among religious and political authorities-- initially in the United States but increasingly in the rest of the world as well. This updated volume presents chronologically-organized chapters that include selections from documents like colonial charters, opinions of the Supreme Court and salient legislation, along with contemporary commentary, and incisive interpretations of the issues by modern scholars. Figures as divergent as John Winthrop, John F. Kennedy, and Sandra Day O'Connor speak from these pages as directly as Paul Blanshard, Leon Higginbotham, John Courtney Murray, and Robert Bellah. Church and State in American History addresses the difficult relationships among the political and religious structures of our society and the emergence of an American solution to the church-state problem.

Author Biography

John F. Wilson is Collord Professor of Religion at Princeton University and for some years directed the Project on Church and State at Princeton. Donald L. Drakeman is the CEO of an international biotechnology company and a lecturer in the department of politics at Princeton University.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(12)
The Language of Colonial Establishments (--1700)	13	(24)
Ethnic Diversity and Evangelical Differentiation (1700--1760)	37	(16)
The Struggle for Independence and the Terms of Settlement (1760--1820)	53	(30)
The Threat of an Anglican Establishment	55	(8)
The Founding Fathers on the Issue of Establishment	63	(20)
The Era of Republican Protestantism (1820--1860)	83	(38)
The Recognition of American Pluralism (1860--1920)	121	(44)
The Public Schools as Divisive	122	(9)
``Americanism,'' Protestant and Catholic	131	(16)
American Governments and Religious Institutions	147	(9)
Some Limitations on Religious Freedom	156	(9)
Mainstream Pluralism (1920--1960)	165	(54)
Church and State in Religious Perspectives	166	(17)
Church and State as a Political Issue	183	(8)
Church and State as a Juridical Problem	191	(28)
Dimensions of Inclusive Pluralism (1960--)	219	(194)
Religion and Public Education	220	(47)
Religion and Politics	267	(14)
Religion and Governmental Activity	281	(20)
Church and State: Institutional Issues	301	(44)
Aid to Religious Schools	345	(39)
The Scope of Religious Liberty	384	(18)
God and Country: Cultural Issues	402	(11)
Chronology	413	(4)
Suggestions for Further Reading	417	(6)
Index	423