One nation under law: America's early national struggles to separate church and state

Abstract

The U.S. Constitution prohibited the federal government from establishing a national religion, yet American colonies and early state governments operated state-supported religious institutions and continued to do so for a half-century a the creation of the United States. In One Nation under Law, Mark D. McGarvie draws on the experiences of three key states - New York South Carolina, and New Hampshire - to illustrate the efforts to disentangle church and state during the early national period.