The United States of America (commonly referred to as America) was founded in 1776 by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the other Founding Fathers and formally established as the United States by the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1788.
The Declaration of Independence acknowledges the existence of God when it refers to "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" and says all men "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." Conservatives argue that most of the Founding Fathers were Christians and that, explicitly or not, the United States was founded upon the principles and ideals of Christianity. However, the freedom of religion (which means the government cannot interfere in the conduct of churches) is a fundamental aspect of the First Amendment to the Constitution.