The Myth of American Religious Freedom, Updated Edition

In the battles over religion and politics in America, both liberals and conservatives often appeal to history. But in The Myth of American Religious Freedom, historian David Sehat provides an eye-opening history of religion in public life that overturns our most cherished myths. Originally, he shows, the First Amendment applied only to the federal government, which had limited authority. On the state level, a Protestant moral establishment ruled over Catholics, Jews, Mormons, agnostics, and others. Not until 1940 did the Supreme Court extend the First Amendment to the states. As the Court began to dismantle the connections between religion and government, religious conservatives mobilized to maintain their power and began the culture wars of the last fifty years. To trace the rise and fall of this Protestant establishment, Sehat focuses on a series of dissenters-abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, progressive pundit Walter Lippmann, and many others. Shattering myths held by both the left and the right, this book forces us to rethink some of our most deeply held political beliefs.

David Sehat is Associate Professor of History at Georgia State University. He is also the author of The Jefferson Rule: Why We Think the Founding Fathers Have All the Answers.

Preface to the Paperback Edition
Introduction: The Myth of American Religious Freedom

Part I Moral Law
1 Contested Liberties
2 A Godless Government?
3 The Moral Establishment

Part II Challengers
4 The Moral Purpose of Slavery and Abolition
5 Moral Reproduction and the Family

Part III Retrenchment
6 Morals, Citizenship, and Segregation
7 Women's Rights, Woman's Individuality, and the Bible
8 Religion, Morals, and Law

Part IV Fragmentation
9 A Conflict of Authorities
10 Liberal and Conservative Moral Visions
11 The Liberal Moment
12 A Moral Majority?

Conclusion: Moral Maximalism and Religious Control
Postscript to the Paperback Edition

Acknowledgments
Notes
Index