Connecticut (January 9, 1788) was the 5th State admitted to the Union. The Constitution of the State of Connecticut, adopted 1776, stated:
<The People of this State...by the Providence of God...hath the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent State...and forasmuch as the free fruition of such liberties and privileges as humanity, civility, and Christianity call for, as is due to every man in his place and proportion...hath ever been, and will be the tranquility and stability of Churches and Commonwealth; and the denial thereof, the disturbances, if not the ruin of both.(until 1818)> 1788CT001
In October of 1777, the legislature of the State of Connecticut passed an Act abolishing slavery within the State. The Constitution of the State of Connecticut, adopted 1818, stated:
<Preamble. The People of Connecticut, acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy a free government, do...establish this Constitution.> 1788CT002
<Article VII, Section 1. It being the duty of all men to worship the Supreme Being, the Great Creator and Preserver of the Universe, and their right to render that worship, in the mode most consistent with the dictates of their consciences....
And each and every society or denomination of Christians in this State shall have and enjoy the same and equal powers, rights, and privileges, and shall have power and authority to support and maintain the ministers or teachers of their respective denominations, and to build and repair houses for public worship, by a tax on the members of any such society only, to be laid by a major vote of the legal voters assembled at any society meeting, warned and held according to law, or in any other manner.> 1788CT003
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1788CT001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Connecticut, 1776, Constitution. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864). Benjamin Weiss, God in American History: A Documentation of America's Religious Heritage (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1966), p. 155. Frances Newton Thorpe, ed., Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies now or heretofore forming the United States, 7 vols. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905; 1909; St. Clair Shores, MI: Scholarly Press, 1968). Gary DeMar, God and Government (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Press, 1984), p. 164. Gary DeMar, "Censoring America's Christian History" (Atlanta, GA: The Biblical Worldview, An American Vision Publication-American Vision, Inc., July 1990), p. 7. Gary DeMar, America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc., 1993), p. 65. William Miller, The First Liberty-Religion and the American Republic (NY: 1986), p. 109.
1788CT002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Connecticut, 1777, an Act passed by the Connecticut legislature abolishing slavery within the State. The Public Statute Laws of the State of Connecticut (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1808) Book I, pp. 623-625. Connecticut Constitution, 1818, Preamble. Frances Newton Thorpe, ed., Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies now or heretofore forming the United States, 7 vols. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905; 1909; St. Clair Shores, MI: Scholarly Press, 1968). Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 168; "Hearings, Prayers in Public Schools and Other Matters," Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate (87th Cong., 2nd Sess.), 1962, pp. 268 et seq. Gary DeMar, "God and the Constitution," (Atlanta, GA: The Biblical Worldview, An American Vision Publication, American Vision, Inc., December 1993). William Miller, The First Liberty-Religion and the American Republic (NY: 1986), p. 109.
1788CT003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Connecticut, 1818, Constitution, Article VII, Section 1. The Constitutions of the Several States Composing the Union (Philadelphia: Hogan and Thompson, 1838), p. 110. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia, PA: L. Johnson & Co., 1863; George W. Childs, 1864), p. 236. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 168; "Hearings, Prayers in Public Schools and Other Matters," Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate (87th Cong., 2nd Sess.), 1962, pp. 268 et seq.