{"product_id":"the-founding-fathers-and-the-place-of-religion-in-america-9780691088297","title":"The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America","description":"\u003cp\u003eHow did the United States  founded as colonies with explicitly religious aspirations  come to be the first modern state whose commitment to the separation of church and state was reflected in its constitution? Frank Lambert explains why this happened  offering in the process a synthesis of American history from the first British arrivals through Thomas Jeffersons controversial presidency.  Lambert recognizes that two sets of spiritual fathers defined the place of religion in early America: what Lambert calls the Planting Fathers  who brought Old World ideas and dreams of building a \"City upon a Hill \" and the Founding Fathers  who determined the constitutional arrangement of religion in the new republic. While the former proselytized the \"one true faith \" the latter emphasized religious freedom over religious purity.  Lambert locates this shift in the mid-eighteenth century. In the wake of evangelical revival  immigration by new dissenters  and population expansion  there emerged a marketplace of religion characterized by sectarian competition  pluralism  and widened choice. During the American Revolution  dissenters found sympathetic lawmakers who favored separating church and state  and the free marketplace of religion gained legal status as the Founders began the daunting task of uniting thirteen disparate colonies. To avoid discord in an increasingly pluralistic and contentious society  the Founders left the religious arena free of government intervention save for the guarantee of free exercise for all. Religious people and groups were also free to seek political influence  ensuring that religions place in America would always be a contested one  but never a state-regulated one.  An engaging and highly readable account of early American history  this book shows how religious freedom came to be recognized not merely as toleration of dissent but as a natural right to be enjoyed by all Americans.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45280141082677,"sku":"ByrdShop_0691088292","price":64.35,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780691088297.jpg?v=1780622686","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-founding-fathers-and-the-place-of-religion-in-america-9780691088297","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}