Today is National Religious Freedom Day, which commemorates the day in 1786 when the Virginia legislature adopted the Statute for Religious Freedom, drafted by Thomas Jefferson. The U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment incorporated the principles stated in the statute, which was passed largely through the hard work of James Madison. Madison also played a significant role in drafting the First Amendment and in shepherding it through Congress. But the guiding light behind the statute was its author, Thomas Jefferson. For a FREE lesson on this groundbreaking law, see CRFs The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom: The Road to the First Amendment: crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-26-1-the-virginia-statute-for-religious-freedom.html Image: Thomas Jeffersons gravestone. Per Jeffersons own request, the gravestone reads as follows: Here was buried Thomas Jefferson Author of the Declaration of American Independence of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom Father of the University of Virginia
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 19:18:36 +0000
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