Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania was the American colony founded by the Quaker William Penn. Its first Colonial Legislative Act, the Great Law of Pennsylvania, December 7, 1682, mandated: "That no person ... who shall confess and acknowledge one Almighty God to be the Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the World ... shall in any case be molested or prejudiced for his, or her Conscientious persuasion or practice."

The Continental Congress met in Pennsylvania. The Declaration of Independence was signed there, the Liberty Bell is there, and the Continental Army spent the winter of 1777 at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. The American Constitution was written in Philadelphia, and the United States Capitol was once there. Pennsylvania was the 2nd State to join the Union on December 12, 1787.

Benjamin Franklin helped write Pennsylvania's 1776 Constitution. In Frame of Government, Chapter 2, Section 10, it states: "Each member of the legislature, before he takes his seat, shall make and subscribe the following declaration: 'I do believe in one God, the Creator and Governor of the Universe, the Rewarder of the good and Punisher of the wicked, and I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine Inspiration.'"