Law and Religion in U.S. History

This course focuses on the relationship between religion and law in a country without an established church. Despite this constitutional separation between church and state, many American believed that faith in God in some form was necessary to the success of the Republic. Historians of religion write that the United States had established Protestantism, in effect, voluntarily and informally during the 19th century. We will be looking at the attempts of various Americans to determine what the proper relationship between religion and law should be.

 

This syllabus was created for the Young Scholars in American Religion program.

Link to Resource