Connecticut's Transition from Theocracy to State Constitution: Jefferson's Influence on Religious Liberty

Salon.com highlights a historical event in America 200 years ago that mirrors today's political landscape, showcasing the defeat of a right-wing theocracy. This narrative, echoing the clash of partisan identities, offers inspiration and guidance in our current tumultuous times. The story revolves around the state of Connecticut and Jefferson's stance, serving as a beacon amidst darkness for all.

Ebook Description:

Back in the early 1800s in New England, particularly in Connecticut, the Federalist party held strong beliefs. They feared that granting more people the right to vote would diminish their power. They viewed immigrants with disdain and proudly claimed to embody "all the faith." The party's clergy even preached that voting for them was a religious duty. They warned that their opponents posed a threat to religion and traditional marriage. Spreading outlandish conspiracy theories, they predicted chaos and immorality if their rivals took control, positioning themselves as the champions of law and order. These attitudes and tactics may sound familiar today, but the party in question was not the present-day Republicans, but the Federalists of the early 1800s.

On January 1, 1802, Thomas Jefferson penned a historic letter to the Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut. This marked the occasion when he introduced the term "separation between church and state," highlighting the importance of keeping religion and government distinct. Jefferson's correspondence with the Connecticut Baptists remains a pivotal moment in history, emphasizing the need to prevent the establishment of a theocracy during that time.

Jefferson was replying to an deal with from the Danbury Baptist Affiliation during which the Baptists, after congratulating him on his election to the presidency, informed him of the oppression they confronted as a dissenting sect beneath the Congregationalist-Presbyterian theocracy of their state.

It will be one other fifteen years earlier than Jefferson, upon listening to of the Republican victory within the 1817 Connecticut election, would write to John Adams:

“I be a part of you subsequently in honest congratulations that this den of the priesthood is at size damaged up, and {that a} protestant popedom is not to shame the American historical past and character.”

This guide, by newspaper articles from the time (together with a lot political poetry and satire), tells the story of the decade-and-a-half-long battle of Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans to overthrow the Federalists and remodel Connecticut from a “protestant popedom,” as Jefferson put it, right into a state with a structure that assured spiritual freedom.