separation of church and state

In the US Constitution, principle of religious freedom established under the First Amendment, enshrined in the Bill of Rights (1791). It was first proposed by Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island colony in 1636, who argued for a ‘wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world’. The First Amendment established such separation by guaranteeing that, ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof’.

The Bill of Rights originally only applied to central government, and the states were free to support an established religion or require a religious test as a prerequisite for holding state office. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, enacted in 1786, to ensure that Virginia would recognize the separation of church and state. Jefferson considered this one of his greatest accomplishments and wished to be remembered for his efforts. When Massachusetts adopted a new constitution in 1833, it provided for the separation of church and state. By that time, all states had incorporated the principle in their state constitutions. However, it was not until the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment (1868), which defined citizenship (see Amendment, Fourteenth), that the judiciary began to apply the Bill of Rights to the states.