Deism and the Founding of the United States | National Humanities Center

TeacherServe Essays

Deism and the Founding of the United States

By Staloff, Darren

In recent decades, the role of deism in the American founding has become highly charged. Evangelical and/or “traditional” Protestants have claimed that Christianity was central to the early history of the United States and that the nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. Secularists respond that large fractions of the principal founding fathers were not Christians at all but deists and the American founding was established on secular foundations. Although both sides have some evidence, neither is persuasive. Ultimately, the role of deism in the American founding is just too complex to force into such simplistic formulas.

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Subjects

History / Education Studies / American History / Christianity / Secularism / American Enlightenment / Deism /