Which One of the following Statements Best Describes the Theocratic Legal System

The first two presidents of the United States were patrons of religion – George Washington was an episcopal sacristy and John Adams described himself as “an animal that goes to church.” Both offered strong rhetorical support to religion. In his September 1796 farewell address, Washington called religion as a source of morality “a necessary source of popular government,” while Adams asserted that statesmen “can plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone that can establish the principles upon which liberty can stand secure.” Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, the third and fourth presidents, are generally considered less hospitable to religion than their predecessors, but the evidence presented in this section shows that both offered strong symbolic support for religion during their tenure. In response to the widespread feeling that the United States needed a stronger federal government to survive, a convention met in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 and adopted the United States Constitution on September 17. Aside from Article VI, which stated that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification for federal officials,” the Constitution says little about religion. His reluctance troubled two groups of Americans—those who wanted the new instrument of government to give faith a greater role, and those who feared it would. The latter group, concerned that the Constitution did not prohibit the type of state-sponsored religion that flourished in some colonies, lobbied members of the First Federal Congress. In September 1789, Congress passed the First Amendment to the Constitution, which, when ratified by the required number of states in December 1791, prohibited Congress from enacting legislation that “respects a religious community.” John Adams continued the practice of issuing proclamations of fasting and thanksgiving, begun in 1775 and adopted by Washington under the new federal government. In the proclamation, issued at a time when the nation appeared to be on the brink of war with France, Adams urged citizens “to acknowledge before God the many sins and transgressions for which we, as individuals and as a nation, are justly responsible; At the same time, ask Him for His infinite grace, through the Redeemer of the world, to release all our transgressions and to bow down, through His Holy Spirit, to that sincere repentance and reform that gives us reason to hope for His priceless favor and heavenly blessing. The draft circular is in the hands of a secretary, although the signature comes from Washington. Some have called this concluding paragraph “the Washington prayer.” He asked God “to dispose of us all, to exercise justice, to love mercy and to humble us with that charity, humility and spirit of peace which were the characteristics of the divine author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of his example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation.” George Washington`s farewell address is one of the most important documents in American history.

The recommendations of the first president contained therein, particularly in the field of foreign policy, exerted a strong and lasting influence on American statesmen and politicians. The speech, in which Washington told the American people he would not seek a third term and offered advice on the country`s future policy, was published in David Claypoole`s American Daily Advertiser on September 19, 1796. It was immediately reprinted in newspapers and as a pamphlet across the United States. The speech was written by Alexander Hamilton in July 1796 and revised for publication by the president himself. Washington also had an earlier James Madison project. John Adams, an avowed “ecclesiastical animal,” grew up in the Congregational Church in Braintree, Massachusetts. At the time of writing this letter, his theological position can be described as Unitarian. In that letter, Adams told Jefferson, “Without religion, this world would not be appropriate to be mentioned in good company, I mean hell.” The “religion” part of the speech was also familiar to Americans for many years, as was Washington`s warning that the United States should avoid engaging in alliances with foreign nations. Washington`s observations of the relationship between religion and government were commonplace, and similar statements abound in documents from the founding period.

Washington`s prestige, however, gave his views special authority among his fellow citizens and led them to be repeated in political discourse until the nineteenth century. James Madison took the initiative to have such a bill passed by the first federal Congress, which met in the spring of 1789. The Virginia Convention of Ratification and Madison voters, among whom were a large number of Baptists who wanted to guarantee religious freedom, expected him to push for a bill of rights. On September 28, 1789, both houses of Congress voted to send twelve amendments to the states. In December 1791, those ratified by the required three-quarters of the states became the first ten constitutional amendments. Religion was addressed in the First Amendment with the following colloquial words: “Congress shall not enact any law respecting or prohibiting the free exercise of religion.” In the notes of his speech of June 8, 1789, in which he presented the Bill of Rights, Madison indicated his rejection of a “national” religion. Most Americans agreed that the federal government should not isolate a religion and give it exclusive financial and legal support. Many Americans were disappointed that the Constitution did not include a Bill of Rights that would explicitly enumerate the rights of American citizens and allow the courts and public opinion to protect those rights from an oppressive government. Proponents of a bill of rights authorized the passage of the Constitution on the understanding that the first Congress under the new administration would try to add a bill of rights. Address to the Constitutional Convention, June 28, 1787.

Benjamin Franklin, holographic manuscript. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (145). Madison used this sketch to guide him in his speech introducing the Bill of Rights to the First Congress on June 8, 1789. Madison proposed an amendment to allay fears among those who feared that religious freedom would be threatened by the unchanged Constitution. According to The Congressional Register, Madison filed a lawsuit on July 8. June that “the civil rights of no one may be restricted on the basis of religious belief or worship, nor a national religion may be established, and the full and equal rights of conscience may not be violated in any way or under any pretext.” .