Through biographical histories of individuals involved in the freedom of religion debates, readers will discover how individuals' thoughts, beliefs, and actions affected how the religion clauses are viewed today and throughout American history.

Introduction: Religious Freedoms in America The Interest of Righteousness by John Cotton A Woman Not Fit for Our Society by Anne Hutchinson Soul Liberty by Roger Williams From God and the Company by Peter Stuyvesant A Holy Experiment by William Penn American Whig by William Livingston An Equal Claim by Isaac Backus A Matter between Man and His God by Thomas Jefferson Beyond the Cognizance of Civil Society by James Madison Borrowed from the Bible by Lyman Beecher Judging the New Republic by Joseph Story Dagger John by John Hughes A Temple in the Heart by Ralph Waldo Emerson The Cry of the Oppressed by Joseph Smith An Open Gate by Isaac Mayer Wise A Constitutional Weathervane by Joseph Franklin Rutherford A Nation Made to Order by John Collier Freedoms in the Courts by Earl Warren An American Thesis by John Courtney Murray The Religious Right by Jerry Falwell Appendix 1: Minor Biographies Appendix 2: Some Important Supreme Court Cases

American history has been shaped by numerous debates over issues far ranging in content and time. This series, Shapers of the Great American Debates, examines many of these debates--from those between Native Americans and European settlers to those between natives and newcomers. Each volume focuses on a particular issue, concentrating on those men and women who shaped the debates. The authors pay special attention to fleshing out the life histories of the shapers, considering the relationship between biography or personal history and policy or philosophy. Unlike other works that emphasize end results, the books in this series devote equal attention to both sides, to the winners and the losers. Taken together, the books in this series remind us of the many ways that class, race, ethnicity, gender, and region have divided rather than united the inhabitants of the United States of America. Each study reminds us of the frequency and variety of debates in America, a reflection of the diversity of the nation and its democratic credo. All of the works are written with the needs of college and advanced high school students in mind. They should prove valuable both as sources for research papers and as supplemental texts in both general and specialized courses. The general public should also find the works an attractive means toward learning more about many of the most important figures and equally as many seminal issues in American history.