Church and State in America
The First Two Centuries

Hutson examines ideas and public policies relating to the relationship between government and religion from 1607 to 1837.

James H. Hutson (Author)

9780521864930, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 November 2007

220 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.2 cm, 0.422 kg

"Hutson's prose, research, and analysis are solid throughout, but his succinct treatment of all seventeenth-century English colonies is especially noteworthy...his nuanced description of both Great Awakenings' impact on church-state relations is unique and helpful. Most of all Hutson's work in praiseworthy because it sheds light convincingly on a contemporary topic without being overtly present minded." --Canadian Journal of History

This is an account of the ideas about and public policies relating to the relationship between government and religion from the settlement of Virginia in 1607 to the presidency of Andrew Jackson, 1829–37. This book describes the impact and the relationship of various events, legislative, and judicial actions, including the English Toleration Act of 1689, the First and Second Great Awakenings, the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights, and Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury Baptists. Four principles were paramount in the American approach to government's relation to religion: the importance of religion to public welfare; the resulting desirability of government support of religion (within the limitations of political culture); liberty of conscience and voluntaryism; the requirement that religion be supported by free will offerings, not taxation. Hutson analyzes and describes the development and interplay of these principles, and considers the relevance of the concept of the separation of church and state during this period.

1. The seventeenth century
2. To the American Revolution
3. The Confederation period
4. The Constitution and beyond.

Subject Areas: Colonialism & imperialism [HBTQ], History of the Americas [HBJK]