 What was the government in the United States before the U.S. Constitution was written?
It was the Articles of Confederation, ratified by the States MARCH 1, 1781.
Signed by such statesmen as John Hancock and Samuel Adams, it was an
attempt to loosely knit the thirteen States together, leaving most of
the authority under State Constitutions.
The Articles of Confederation declared:
"Whereas the delegates of the United States of America in Congress
assembled did on the fifteenth day of November in the Year of Our Lord
1777, and in the second year of the independence of America agree on
certain Articles of Confederation and perpetual union between the
States...
The said states hereby severally enter into a firm
league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the
security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare,
binding themselves to assist each other, against all force...or attacks
made upon them...on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any
other pretense."
The Articles end with the line:
"It has p leased
the Great Governor of the World to incline the hearts of the
Legislatures we respectively represent in Congress, to approve of and
to authorize us to ratify the said Articles of Confederation."
The original State Constitutions acknowledged religion, as cited in the
book, The Original 13-A Documentary History of Religion in America's
First Thirteen States:
 1776,
CONSTITUTION OF VIRGINIA, BILL OF RIGHTS, SECTION 16: "That religion,
or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging
it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or
violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free
exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that
it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love,
and charity towards each other."
1776, CONSTITUTION OF DELAWARE, ARTICLE 22. Every person w ho
shall be chosen a member of either house...before taking his
seat...shall...make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit:
"I, A B. do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His
only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I
do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be
given by Divine inspiration." ARTICLE 29. There shall be no
establishment of any religious sect in this State in preference to
another... DECLARATION OF RIGHTS OF DELAWARE, ARTICLE 2. That all Men
have a natural and unalienable Right to worship Almighty God according
to the Dictates of their own Consciences... ARTICLE 3. That all Persons
professing the Christian Religion ought forever to enjoy equal Rights
and Privileges in this State.
1776, CONSTITUTION OF
PENNSYLVANIA: Whereas all government ought to...enable the individuals
who compose it to enjoy their natural rights,  and
the other blessings which the Author of Existence has bestowed upon
man... A DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS 2. That all men have a natural and
unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of
their own consciences...Nor can any man, who acknowledges the being of a
God, be justly deprived or abridged of any civil right... FRAME OF
GOVERNMENT, SECTION 10. And each member, before he takes his seat,
shall make and subscribe the following declaration, viz: I do believe
in one God, the Creator and Governor of the Universe, the Rewarder of
the good and the Punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine
Inspiration. And no further or other religious test shall ever
hereafter be required... SECTION 45. Laws for the encouragement of
virtue, and prevention of vice and immorality, shall be made and
constantly kept in force...And all religious societies or bodies of men
heretofore united or incorporated for the advancement of religion or
learning, or for other pious and charitable purposes, shall be
encouraged.
1776, CONSTITUTION OF NEW JERSEY, ARTICLE 18: That no person shall
ever...be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping Almighty
God in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience...
ARTICLE 19...No Protestant inhabitant of this Colony shall be denied the
enjoyment of any civil right...but that all persons, professing a
belief in the faith of any Protestant sect, who shall demean themselves
peaceably under the government, as hereby established, shall be capable
of being elected into any office of profit or trust, or being a member
of either branch of the Legislature, and shall fully and freely enjoy
every privilege and immunity, enjoyed by others their fellow subjects.
1776, CONNECTICUT CONSTITUTION (continuing its 1662 COLONIAL CHARTER)
PREAMBLE. The People of this State being by the Providence of
God...derived a free and excellent Constitution of Government...for the
preservation of their civil and religious rights and Liberties. And
forasmuch as the free Fruition of such Liberties and Privileges as
Humanity, Civility and Christianity call for...will be the Tranquillity
and Stability of Churches and Commonwealths; and the Denial thereof,
the Disturbance, if not the Ruin of both.
1776, CONSTITUTION OF MARYLAND, ARTICLE 33: That, as it is the duty of
every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to
him; all persons, professing the Christian religion, are equally
entitled to protection in their religious liberty...yet the Legislature
may, in their discretion, lay a general and equal tax for the support
of the Christian religion; leaving to each individual the power of
appointing the payment...to the support of...his own denomination...
ARTICLE 35. That no other test or qualification ought to be required, on
admission to any office of trust or profit, than such oath of support
and fidelity to this State...and a declaration of a belief in the
Christian religion. ARTICLE 55. That every person, appointed to any
office...shall...take the following oath; to wit: "I, A. B., do swear,
that I do not hold myself bound in allegiance to the King of Great
Britain, and that I will be faithful, and bear true allegiance to the
State of Maryland;" and shall also subscribe a declaration of his belief
in the Christian religion.
1776, CONSTITUTION OF NORTH CAROLINA, DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, ARTICLE
19. That all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship
Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences. FORM
OF GOVERNMENT, ARTICLE 32. That no person, who shall deny the being of
God or the truth of the Protestant religion, or the Divine authority
either of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious
principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the State, shall
be capable of holding any office... ARTICLE 34. That there shall be no
establishment of any one religious Church or denomination in this
State, in preference to any other.
1777, CONSTITUTION OF VERMONT: Whereas, all government ought...to
enable the individuals...to enjoy their natural rights, and the other
blessings which the Author of Existence has bestowed upon man... CHAPTER
1, A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS: 3. That all men have a natural and
unalienable right to worship ALMIGHTY GOD, according to the dictates of
their own consciences and understanding, regulated by the word of
GOD...Nor can any man who professes the Protestant religion, be justly
deprived or abridged of any civil right...nevertheless, every sect or
denomination of people ought to observe the Sabbath, or the Lord's Day,
and keep up, and support, some sort of religious worship, which to them
shall seem most agreeable to the revealed Will of GOD... CHAPTER 2,
PLAN OR FRAME OF GOVERNMENT, SECTION 9: And each member, before he
takes his seat, shall make and subscribe the following declaration,
viz. "I ____ do believe in one God, the Creator and Governor of the
Universe, the Rewarder of the good and Punisher of the wicked. And I do
acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by
Divine inspiration, and own and profess the Protestant religion." And
no further or other religious test shall ever, hereafter, be required
of any civil officer or magistrate in this State.
1777, CONSTITUTION OF GEORGIA, ARTICLE 6: The representatives shall be  chosen
out of the residents in each county...and they shall be of the
Protestant religion... ARTICLE 14. Every person entitled to vote shall
take the following oath..."I, A B. do voluntarily and solemnly swear (or
affirm, as the case may be) that I do owe true allegiance to this
State, and will support the constitution thereof; So Help Me God."
1777, CONSTITUTION OF NEW YORK: Whereas the Delegates of the United
American States...solemnly publish and declare, in the words following;
viz: "...Laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them...We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that
among these are, life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness...appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the
rectitude of our intentions...with a firm reliance on the protection of
Divine Providence..." 7...Every person who now is a freeman...on or
before the fourteenth day of October, in the Year of Our Lord one
thousand seven hundred and seventy-five...shall be entitled to vote...
38. This convention doth further...declare, that the free exercise and
enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination
or preference, shall forever hereafter be allowed, within this State,
to all mankind: Provided, That the liberty of conscience, hereby
granted, shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness.
1778, CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA, PREAMBLE. We, the people of the
State of South Carolina...grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain
and establish this Constitution... ARTICLE 3...Senate and House of
Representatives... shall...choose...a governor and commander-in-chief, a
lieutenant-governor...and a privy council, all of the Protestant
religion... ARTICLE 12. No person shall be eligible to a seat in the
said Senate unless he be of the Protestant religion... 13...No person
shall be eligible to sit in the House of Representatives unless he be of
the Protestant religion... 38. That all persons and religious
societies who acknowledge that there is one God, and a future state of
rewards and punishments, and that God is publicly to be worshipped,
shall be freely tolerated. The Christian Protestant religion shall be
deemed, and is hereby constituted and declared to be, the established
religion of this State. That all denominations of Christian Protestants
in this State, demeaning themselves peaceably and faithfully, shall
enjoy equal religious and civil privileges... And that whenever fifteen
or more male persons, not under twenty-one years of age, professing
the Christian Protestant religion, and agreeing to unite themselves in a
society for the purposes of religious worship, they shall...be
constituted a Church...That every society of Christians...so
petitioning shall have agreed to and subscribed in a book the following
five articles...(See Locke's Constitution, Article 97-100): 1. That
there is one eternal God, and a future state of rewards and
punishments. 2. That God is publicly to be worshipped. 3. That the
Christian religion is the true religion 4. That the Holy Scriptures of
the Old and New Testaments are of Divine inspiration, and are the rule
of faith and practice. 5. That it is lawful and the duty of every man
being thereunto called by those that govern, to bear witness to the
truth...No person shall officiate as minister of any established
Church...until the minister...shall have made and subscribed to the
following declaration, over and above the aforesaid five articles, viz:
That he is determined by God's grace out of the Holy Scriptures, to
instruct the people committed to his charge, and to teach nothing as
required of necessity to eternal salvation but that which he shall be
persuaded may be concluded and proved from the Scripture; That he will
use both public and private admonitions, as well to the sick as to the
whole within his cure, as need shall require and occasion shall be
given, and that he will be diligent in prayers, and in reading of the
same; That he will be diligent to frame and fashion his own self and
his family according to the doctrine of Christ, and to make both
himself and them, as much as in him lieth, wholesome examples and
patterns to the flock of Christ.
1780, CONSTITUTION OF MASSACHUSETTS: "We, therefore, the people of
Massachusetts, acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the
Great Legislator of the Universe, in affording us, in the course of His
Providence, an opportunity, deliberately and peaceably...of forming a
new constitution of civil government... PART THE FIRST-A DECLARATION OF
RIGHTS, ARTICLE 2. "It is the right as well as the duty of all men in
society, publicly, and at stated seasons to worship the Supreme Being,
the great Creator and Preserver of the Universe... ARTICLE 3...Civil
government, essentially depend upon piety, religion and morality; and as
these cannot be generally diffused through a community, but by the
institution of the Public worship of God... Therefore..the people of
this commonwealth... authorize...the public worship of God, and for the
support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety,
religion and morality...And every denomination of Christians, demeaning
themselves peaceably, and as good subjects of the commonwealth, shall
be equally under the protection of the law... PART THE SECOND-THE FRAME
OF GOVERNMENT, CHAPTER 2, EXECUTIVE POWER, SECTION 1, THE GOVERNOR,
ARTICLE 2: The governor shall be chosen annually; and no person shall be
eligible to this office, unless...he shall declare himself to be of
the Christian religion... CHAPTER 6, OATHS...ARTICLE 1. "Any person
chosen governor, lieutenant governor, counselor, senator or
representative, and accepting the trust, shall...make...the following
declaration, viz.- "I, A. B., do declare, that I believe the Christian
religion, and have a firm persuasion of its truth."
1784, NEW HAMPSHIRE CONSTITUTION, PART 1, ARTICLE 6: "As morality and
piety, rightly grounded on evangelical principles will give the best and
greatest security to government...the people of this state...empower
the legislature to...make adequate provision...for the support and
maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion and
morality...And every denomination of Christians demeaning themselves
quietly, and as good subjects of the state, shall be equally under the
protection of the law... PART 2-THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT, SENATE: That no
person shall be capable of being elected a senator who is not of the
Protestant religion... HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES...Every member of the
house of representatives...shall be of the Protestant religion...
EXECUTIVE POWER-PRESIDENT. The President shall be chosen annually; and
no person shall be eligible to this office, unless...he shall be of the
Protestant religion. |
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