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UNITED
STATES CONSTITUTION
The
United States Constitution was adopted by the Constitutional
Convention on September 17, 1787 and became effective
when ratified by the ninth state, New Hampshire, on
June 21, 1788. The
First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which
the First Congress approved on September 25, 1789, became
effective on December 15, 1791, when ratified by the
tenth state, Virginia.
Constitutional
concepts regarding religious liberty in America require
consideration not only of the First Amendment's Free Exercise
and Establishment Clauses, but also of the Declaration of
Independence and Preamble which acknowledge Divine Providence
and the Laws of Nature's God; the three Constitutional provisions
regarding solemn truth telling by either religious oaths
or secular affirmations as a constitutional accommodation
to Quakers, Mennonites, and Jews who had religious scruples
against swearing oaths; the Constitutional provision against
religious tests for public office; and the Fourteenth Amendment
which provided concepts by which the Cantwell and
Everson courts applied the First Amendment against
state and local governments. The relevant text for each
of these provisions are included on this website.
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