North Carolina (November 21, 1789) was the 12th State admitted to the Union. The Constitution of the State of North Carolina, adopted 1776, stated:
<Article XIX. That all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience.> 1789NC001
<Article XXXII. That no person who shall deny the being of God, or the truth of the Protestant religion, or the divine authority of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the State, shall be capable of holding any office or place
of trust or profit in the civil department within this State. (until 1876)>1789NC002
<Section XXXIV. There shall be no establishment of any one religious church or denomination in this State in preference to any other.> 1789NC003
In 1835, the word "Protestant" in Article XXXII was changed to:
<Christian.> 1789NC004
The Constitution of the State of North Carolina, adopted 1868, stated:
<Preamble. We the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for the preservation of the American Union and the existence of our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those blessings to us and our posterity, do, for the more certain security thereof and for the better government of this State, ordain and establish this Constitution.> 1789NC005
<Article I, Section 1. That we hold it to be self-evident that all persons...are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.> 1789NC006
<Article I, Section 26. All persons have a natural and inalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences.> 1789NC007
<Article IV, Section 8. The following classes of persons shall be disqualified for office: First, all persons who shall deny the being of Almighty God.> 1789NC008
<Article XXXIV. That there shall be no establishment of any one religious church or denomination in this State, in preference to any other.>1789NC009
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1789NC001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). North Carolina, 1776, Constitution, Article XIX. 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), Vol. V, p. 2788. Edwin S. Gaustad, Neither King nor Prelate-Religion and the New Nation, 1776-1826 (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1993), p. 168. Anson Phelps Stokes and Leo Pfeffer, Church and State in the United States (NY: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1950, revised one-volume edition, 1964), p. 54.
1789NC002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). North Carolina, 1776, Constitution, Article XXXII. The Constitutions of the Several Independent States of America, Published by Order of Congress (Boston: Norman & Bowen, 1785) p. 138. The Constitutions of All the United States According to the Latest Amendments (Lexington, KY: Thomas T. Skillman, 1817), p. 224. 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. 233. Supreme Court Justice David Josiah Brewer, who served 1890-1910, in his work, The United States-Christian Nation (Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 1905, Supreme Court Collection). 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, "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. 68.
1789NC003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). North Carolina, 1776, Constitution, Section 34. The Constitutions of the Several Independent States of America (Boston: Norman and Bowen, 1785), p. 138. Allen Nevins, The American States During and After the Revolution: 1770-1789 (New York: MacMillan, 1924), pp. 437-438, Tim LaHaye, Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1987), p. 257.
1789NC004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). North Carolina, 1835, Constitution, Amendments to the North Carolina Constitution of 1776, Article IV, Section 2. The Constitutions of the Several States Composing the Union (Philadelphia: Hogan and Thompson, 1838), p. 202. Supreme Court Justice David Josiah Brewer, who served 1890-1910, in his work, The United States-Christian Nation (Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 1905, Supreme Court Collection).
1789NC005. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). North Carolina, 1868, Constitution, Preamble. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 173; "Hearings, Prayers in Public Schools and Other Matters," Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate (87th Cong., 2nd Sess.), 1962, pp. 268 et seq.Tim LaHaye, Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1987), p. 92.
1789NC006. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). North Carolina, 1868, Constitution, Article 1, Section 1. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 173; "Hearings, Prayers in Public Schools and Other Matters," Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate (87th Cong., 2nd Sess.), 1962, pp. 268 et seq.
1789NC007. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). North Carolina, 1868, Constitution, Article 1, Section 26. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 173; "Hearings, Prayers in Public Schools and Other Matters," Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate (87th Cong., 2nd Sess.), 1962, pp. 268 et seq.
1789NC008. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). North Carolina, 1868, Constitution, Article IV, Section 8. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 173; "Hearings, Prayers in Public Schools and Other Matters," Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate (87th Cong., 2nd Sess.), 1962, pp. 268 et seq. Supreme Court Justice David Josiah Brewer, who served 1890-1910, in his work, The United States-Christian Nation (Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 1905, Supreme Court Collection).
1789NC009. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). North Carolina, 1776, Constitution, Article XXXIV. 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). Edwin S. Gaustad, Neither King nor Prelate-Religion and the New Nation, 1776-1826 (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1993), p. 169.