Law Commons^™

Religious Freedom In Philadelphia, Philip A. Hamburger

Faculty Scholarship

Some controversies seem particularly significant for the development of constitutional rights. For the freedom from an establishment of religion, the most famous early debate occurred in Virginia in the mid-1780s. For the more immediate freedom of religion, however – the freedom from penalty or constraint on religion – the central historical debate is less familiar. It was in some respects merely a local quarrel, which embroiled Quakers and Revolutionaries in Philadelphia during a few tense weeks in 1775. Nonetheless, it was a revealing moment in the development of American religious liberty. At a time when Americans were struggling for equality …