Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State

by Daniel Dreisbach

Overview

The origins, controversies, and competing interpretations of the famous phrase: “A welcome and much-needed addition to [First Amendment] scholarship.” —Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

No phrase in American letters has had a more profound influence on church-state law, policy, and discourse than Thomas Jefferson’s “wall of separation between church and state,” and few metaphors have provoked more passionate debate. Introduced in an 1802 letter to the Danbury, Connecticut Baptist Association, Jefferson’s “wall” is accepted by many Americans as a concise description of the U.S. Constitution’s church-state arrangement and conceived as a virtual rule of constitutional law.

Despite the enormous influence of the “wall” metaphor, almost no scholarship has investigated the text of the Danbury letter, the context in which it was written, or Jefferson’s understanding of his famous phrase. This book offers an in-depth examination of the origins, controversial uses, and competing interpretations of this powerful metaphor in law and public policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814720844
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	11/21/2023
Series:	Critical America
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	298
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Daniel L. Dreisbach is an Associate Professor in the Department of Justice, Law, and Society at American University. He is the editor of Religion and Political Culture in Jefferson’s Virginia and Religion and Politics in the Early Republic.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction2 The President, a Mammoth Cheese, and the “Wall of Separation”: Jeffersonian Politics and the New England Baptists 3 “Sowing Useful Truths and Principles”4 “What the Wall Separates” 5 Early References to a “Wall of Separation”6 Creating “Effectual Barriers”7 “Useful Truths and Principles . . . Germinate and Become Rooted” in the American Mind: Jefferson’s Metaphor Enters Political and Juridical Discourse 8 ConclusionAppendices1 Proclamation Appointing a Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer, May 17742 Address to the Inhabitants of the Parish of St. Anne, 1774 3 Bills Reported by the Committee of Revisors Appointed by the General Assembly of Virginia in 1776, 18 June 1779 4 Proclamation Appointing a Day of Publick and Solemn Thanksgiving and Prayer, November 1779 1375 Draft of “The Kentucky Resolutions of 1798,” November 1798 (excerpt) 6 Correspondence with the Danbury Baptist Association, 1801–1802 1427 Correspondence with the Citizens of Chesire, Massachusetts, January 1802 1498 Second Inaugural Address, 4 March 1805 (excerpts) 9 Letter from Jefferson to the Reverend Samuel Miller, 23 January 1808 Notes Selected BibliographyAcknowledgmentsIndexAbout the Author 

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This book is vintage Dreisbach. . . . Anyone studying Jefferson's views of separation would be wise to use Dreisbach’s primary texts and to ponder his sage interpretation of them. This is a book that can be read in an evening, but pondered for a career.”
-John Witte Jr.,Michigan Law Review

“Excellent introduction to the thorny interpretive issues that continue to grow around Jefferson's wall.”
-The Journal of Southern History

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“On an evaluative note, the book is helpful for gaining an understanding of the historical context of Jefferson’s metaphor.”
-Journal of Church and State

,

“In the opinion of this reviewer, Dreisbach is undeniably correct. His research is thorough, and his analysis comports with the history of the period. Dreisbach’s study of Jefferson's likely meaning when he utilized the phrase “wall of separation” makes a valuable contribution to an important area of the constitutional law, an area of great consequence to Christians. The fact that it is written by a law professor at a "top twenty" law school increases its significance and credibility in the scholar world. The book has a minimum of legal jargon and can easily be understood. Daniel Dreisbach’s book is highly recommended.”
-Faith and Mission

,

“Daniel Dreisbach’s book is a welcome and much needed addition to the scholarship on the First Amendment. Dreisbach analysis of Jefferson's metaphor, its political context, and consequences for church-state jurisprudence, provide an intellectual perspective as the Court and nation reconsider issues of accomodations of religion in the public square.”
-Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

Editorial Reviews

President Jefferson's "wall of separation" metaphor is central to U.S. Supreme Court analysis of First Amendment religious practices and relations between religious institutions and governmental activities. Dreisbach (justice, law, and society, American Univ.) demonstrates the underpinnings and both 19th- and 20th-century interpretations of this pervasive metaphor, which began as a phrase in a letter Jefferson wrote to the Danbury, CT, Baptist Association in 1802. He shows how the "wall" metaphor represents a struggle for religious liberty and in a similar fashion has been used as a component of a strict separation policy between church and state. This historical analysis offers new insight into the foundations of church-state discourse in the United States while also providing documentary underpinnings to Phillip Hamburger's analysis of 17th- to 19th-century religious writings in Separation of Church and State. Almost half of Dreisbach's volume contains extensive appendixes, notes, and a bibliography. This well-constructed book will be useful for academic libraries as an addition to their history and law collections. Steven Puro, St. Louis Univ. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

"On an evaluative note, the book is helpful for gaining an understanding of the historical context of Jeffersons metaphor."

Journal of Church and State

"This book is vintage Dreisbach. . . . Anyone studying Jefferson's views of separation would be wise to use Dreisbachs primary texts and to ponder his sage interpretation of them. This is a book that can be read in an evening, but pondered for a career."

John Witte Jr.

"Excellent introduction to the thorny interpretive issues that continue to grow around Jefferson's wall."

The Journal of Southern History

"In the opinion of this reviewer, Dreisbach is undeniably correct. His research is thorough, and his analysis comports with the history of the period. Dreisbachs study of Jefferson's likely meaning when he utilized the phrase wall of separation makes a valuable contribution to an important area of the constitutional law, an area of great consequence to Christians. The fact that it is written by a law professor at a "top twenty" law school increases its significance and credibility in the scholar world. The book has a minimum of legal jargon and can easily be understood. Daniel Dreisbachs book is highly recommended."

Faith and Mission

"Daniel Dreisbachs book is a welcome and much needed addition to the scholarship on the First Amendment. Dreisbach analysis of Jefferson's metaphor, its political context, and consequences for church-state jurisprudence, provide an intellectual perspective as the Court and nation reconsider issues of accomodations of religion in the public square."

Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

On an evaluative note, the book is helpful for gaining an understanding of the historical context of Jefferson’s metaphor.”
-Journal of Church and State

“Excellent introduction to the thorny interpretive issues that continue to grow around Jefferson's wall.”
-The Journal of Southern History

“Daniel Dreisbach’s book is a welcome and much needed addition to the scholarship on the First Amendment. Dreisbach analysis of Jefferson's metaphor, its political context, and consequences for church-state jurisprudence, provide an intellectual perspective as the Court and nation reconsider issues of accomodations of religion in the public square.”
-Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

From the Publisher