~1776–Religious Oaths Required to Hold Public Office
“Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.”
— John Adams
~1776 – Religious Oaths Required to Hold Public Office (and for Voting)
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The original thirteen colonies REQUIRED religious oaths for individuals to hold public office, often mandating that officeholders affirm their allegiance to specific religious beliefs, typically Christianity. This practice continued until the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated such requirements in 1961, ruling them unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
Religion in the Original 13 Colonies (kulasingam.weebly.com)
By the year 1702 all 13 American colonies had some form of state-supported religion. This support varied from tax benefits to religious requirements for voting or serving in the legislature. Below are excerpts from colonial era founding documents citing these religious references. …
Early State Constitutions
Connecticut
HTML Version or Menu 1662 Constitution (in effect until 1818)
Delaware
HTML Version or Menu 1776 Constitution
Georgia
HTML Version or Menu 1777 Constitution
Maryland
HTML Version or Menu 1776 Constitution
Massachusetts
HTML Version or Menu 1691 Charter
HTML Version or Menu 1725 Explanatory Charter (minor modification of the 1691 charter)
HTML Version or Menu 1780 Constitution (first state constitution submitted to the people for appoval)
New Hampshire
HTML Version or Menu 1776 Constitution
New Jersey
HTML Version or Menu 1776 Constitution
New York
HTML Version or Menu 1777 Constitution
North Carolina
HTML Version or Menu 1776 Constitution
Pennsylvania
HTML Version or Menu 1776 Constitution
Rhode Island
HTML Version or Menu 1663 Constitution (used through Revolutionary era)
South Carolina
HTML Version or Menu 1776 Constitution (before independence)
HTML Version or Menu 1778 Constitution
Virginia
HTML Version or Menu 1611 Third Charter
HTML Version or Menu 1621 Ordinances (supplemented charter)
HTML Version or Menu 1776 Constitution
Source: The Federal and State Constitutions Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies Now or Heretofore Forming the United States of America, Compiled and Edited Under the Act of Congress of June 30, 1906 by Francis Newton Thorpe
Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1909.