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Impact Of James Madison On Religion

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James Madison’s Impact on Religion in the United States
Among historic figures of The United States in the Nineteenth century, James Madison is well known. He is best known as the fourth president of The United States following Thomas Jefferson in 1808. Among his many accomplishments are the signing of The Declaration of Independence and the formulation of our United States Constitution. Most Americans do not realize that one of his greatest achievements was the separation clause in the amendments to The Constitution.
While many Americans know that this country was founded on religious freedom, they do not realize that there was a time when religious freedom was under attack. The Pilgrims, the Quakers, and many other Protestant groups …show more content…

Unfortunately, Patrick Henry, a prominent politician of his day, did not share his views. In contrast, Patrick Henry believed that people should be members of a certain church and had promoted a bill to codify this belief. Much like Thomas Jefferson, Madison opposed Patrick Henry’s compromise bill. Both Madison and Jefferson spoke out publicly and wrote letters promoting the separation of Church and State. In A Bill to the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Madison discussed several ideas on why religion should be left to the conscience of the individual and the immorality of directing one’s beliefs. These urgings against the states right to regulate matters of religion impacted many of the beliefs of others during his time.
James Madison’s Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments made a clear and strong testimony to the General Assembly of Virginia. He begins by declaring that controlling religion is contradicting religion itself. Madison writes, “Religion or the duty which we owe to our creator… must be left to the conviction and conscience of everyman” (A Bill to Establish Religious Freedom 152). It is restricting unalienable rights of men that no one other than our creator has granted us. Following, Madison reasons that using Legislative body to regulate religion is unjust and confines the people from certain freedoms. Our government was created with the idea of separation of power, that no branch would become

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