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The "Wall of Separation" between church and state does not appear anywhere in the [[U.S. Constitution]].  However, many feel that the Establishment Clause provides for such a separation.

The '''"Wall of Separation"''' between church and state does not appear anywhere in the [[U.S. Constitution]].  However, many feel that the Establishment Clause provides for such a separation.

The phrase originally came from Roger Williams and was later quoted by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the colony founded by Roger Williams, Rhode Island.  However, Rhode Island did not even send a representative to the [[Constitutional Conventio]]n and refused for economic reasons for years even to ratify the [[U.S. Constitution]].

The phrase originally came from [[Roger Williams]] and was later quoted by [[Thomas Jefferson]] in a letter to the colony founded by Roger Williams, [[Rhode Island]].  However, Rhode Island did not even send a representative to the [[Constitutional Convention]] and refused for economic reasons for years even to ratify the [[U.S. Constitution]].

Roger Williams had been found guilty of preaching religious liberty in England, and he fled to Boston on Feb. 5, 1631.  He was banished from that region by Puritan John Cotton.  

Roger Williams had been found guilty of preaching religious liberty in England, and he fled to Boston on Feb. 5, 1631.  He was banished from that region by Puritan John Cotton.  

In 1639, Williams established the first Baptist Church in America.  In response to his nemesis Mr. Cotton, Williams published "Mr. Cotton's Letter Lately Printed, Examined and Answered" (1644).  In this Roger Williams wrote:  

In 1639, Williams established the first Baptist Church in America.  In response to his nemesis Mr. Cotton, Williams published "Mr. Cotton's Letter Lately Printed, Examined and Answered" (1644).  In this Roger Williams wrote:  

:The church of the Jews under the Old Testament in the type, and the church of the Christians under the New Testament in the anti-type, were both separate from the world; and when they opened a gap in the hedge or '''wall of separation''' between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world, God hath ever broken down the wall ... therefore if He will ever please to restore His garden and paradise again, it must of necessity be walled in peculiarly unto Himself from the world.

:The church of the Jews under the Old Testament in the type, and the church of the Christians under the New Testament in the anti-type, were both separate from the world; and when they opened a gap in the hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world, God hath ever broken down the wall ... therefore if He will ever please to restore His garden and paradise again, it must of necessity be walled in peculiarly unto Himself from the world.

This was the "wall of separation" to which Jefferson referred in his letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802.

This was the "wall of separation" to which Jefferson referred in his letter to the Danbury [[Baptist]]s in 1802.

[[category:politics]]

[[category:politics]]