Religion in American Government and Society: Key Events

Introduction

The United States has always been an unusual nation in the sense that it is relatively young and was not founded with any particular official religious tradition. This does not mean that religion has not had a significant impact upon the history of the United States, however. Nor does it mean that religious battles have always been a clear case of liberal versus conservative ideology, as has often been the case in the modern era. Religious causes have frequently aligned with progressive causes for social justice, particularly those related to civil rights and social improvement.

Pre-2000 Events: Religion Shaping American Society

Event 1: The Establishment Clause

The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, in addition to protecting freedom of speech, also protects freedom of religion. It specifically bars the government from establishing a state religion, favoring one religion over another, or favoring religion over secularism. As explained by Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute, the Establishment Clause has been the foundation for adjudicating the boundary between church and state throughout American history ("Establishment Clause," 2018).

Event 2: The Second Great Awakening (1790s–1830s)

At the beginning of the American Republic, the predominant religions in the United States were Anglicanism — the official religion of the British state, which later became the Episcopalian Church in America — Congregationalism (the religion of the former Puritans), and Quakerism (another British sect) ("Religious Transformation and the Second Great Awakening," 2018). The Second Great Awakening shifted emphasis away from established, hierarchical churches and transformed American religion into one dominated by evangelical sects such as Methodists and Baptists. Revivals took place in open camps rather than conventional churches, marking a significant departure from how religion had been practiced before the Revolution. This period also gave American religion a more distinctly Protestant character, given that Anglicanism had not been part of the original Protestant Reformation.

Event 3: Abolitionism

The abolitionist movement was a significant political force in American politics beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, and evangelical Protestants were among its strongest advocates. One of the greatest leaders of the movement was William Lloyd Garrison, who was noteworthy for his insistence that gradualism — the gradual liberation of African Americans from slavery — was morally abhorrent. Evangelical Christians stood at the forefront of the abolitionist movement long before many other Americans in the North were willing to confront the issue ("William Lloyd Garrison," 2002). In contrast to John Brown, Garrison was also an advocate of nonviolent resistance, rooted in his Christian ideals.

During the nineteenth century, evangelical Christians were also very prominent in the temperance movement, which grew out of the abolitionist tradition. Advocates of temperance feared the effects of alcohol on greater American society, particularly on vulnerable women and children, who had very little legal or economic protection from male drunkenness. Both movements reflected an ideal of a better, purer America founded upon compassion and the example of Jesus, rather than upon the exploitation of others.

The Civil Rights Movement and the Scopes Trial

Event 4: The American Civil Rights Movement

The American Civil Rights Movement was driven largely by the efforts of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which worked alongside student-led groups to spearhead nonviolent resistance to racial segregation. The movement was significant both in its ability to mobilize people and ideas in support of Black civil rights and in its capacity to provide emotional support for the immense difficulties its members faced — including imprisonment, death threats, and in some cases outright murder (Calhoun-Brown, 2000).

Event 5: The Scopes Trial (1925)

Later dramatized in the famous film Inherit the Wind, the Scopes Trial involved the prosecution of a high school teacher who violated Tennessee state law by teaching evolution in school. Although Scopes had technically violated the law, the case drew national attention because it vividly dramatized the conflict between religious and secular ideologies in America at the time. Former populist presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan led the prosecution against Scopes, while renowned criminal defense attorney Clarence Darrow argued on his behalf.

Conclusion

The history of religion in the United States is a complex one, requiring a continual balancing of the rights of religious individuals to exercise their beliefs and practice their faith while the state maintains a neutral stance. People of faith continue to play an active and vibrant role in American society. Overall, the U.S. Supreme Court in recent years has favored the right of people of faith to practice their religion to the fullest extent possible, so long as doing so does not violate the rights of others. This approach reflects an acknowledgment of the profound contribution religion has made to American society, even in the absence of an official state religion.

References

Calhoun-Brown, A. (2000). Upon this rock: The black church, nonviolence, and the Civil Rights Movement. PS: Political Science and Politics, 33(2), 169–174. doi:10.2307/420886

Establishment Clause. (2018). Cornell Law School. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/establishment_clause

Kasperkevic, J. (2015). Top US court rules in favor of Muslim woman denied Abercrombie job over hijab. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/law/2015/jun/01/supreme-court-rules-favor-muslim-woman-hijab-abercrombie-fitch

Landmark Supreme Court cases. (2018). Bill of Rights Institute. Retrieved from https://billofrightsinstitute.org/cases/

Religious transformation and the Second Great Awakening. (2018). US History. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/us/22c.asp

William Lloyd Garrison. (2002). Abolitionism in America. Retrieved from http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/abolitionism/abolitionists/Garrison.htm

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1971). Oyez. Retrieved from https://www.oyez.org/cases/1971/70-110