Check out my recent article in the Journal of the American Revolution, entitled "America's Revolution Against Toleration: The Rise of True Religious Liberty."
Welsh economist and Nonconformist clergyman Richard Price explained, "Toleration can take place only where ... a predominant sect enjoys exclusive advantages ... but at the same time thinks fit to suffer the exercise of other modes of faith and worship."
Price delivered sermons in London defending the American Revolution. Americans loved Richard Price. When Price said he disapproved of religious qualifications for public office, Americans opposed religious tests for office.
I believe Richard Price directly influenced a landmark feature of the Constitution.
As I mentioned in the article, "Even before the Bill of Rights, Article 6 of the Constitution opened federal office to people of any religious persuasion. Article 6 eliminated the insult of exclusion that was often a hallmark of toleration."
Despite Price's popularity at the time of the Revolution (1775-1783) and the Constitutional Convention (1787), we modern Americans rarely hear of this philosopher and friend of liberty.
See also
"The Debate Over Religious Tests," Center for the Study of the American Constitution, University of Wisconson-Madison.
The Founders Constitution, Volume 4, Article 6, Clause 3, The University of Chicago Press.
Welsh economist and Nonconformist clergyman Richard Price explained, "Toleration can take place only where ... a predominant sect enjoys exclusive advantages ... but at the same time thinks fit to suffer the exercise of other modes of faith and worship."
Price delivered sermons in London defending the American Revolution. Americans loved Richard Price. When Price said he disapproved of religious qualifications for public office, Americans opposed religious tests for office.
I believe Richard Price directly influenced a landmark feature of the Constitution.
As I mentioned in the article, "Even before the Bill of Rights, Article 6 of the Constitution opened federal office to people of any religious persuasion. Article 6 eliminated the insult of exclusion that was often a hallmark of toleration."
Despite Price's popularity at the time of the Revolution (1775-1783) and the Constitutional Convention (1787), we modern Americans rarely hear of this philosopher and friend of liberty.
See also
"The Debate Over Religious Tests," Center for the Study of the American Constitution, University of Wisconson-Madison.
The Founders Constitution, Volume 4, Article 6, Clause 3, The University of Chicago Press.
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