John Locke and North Carolina’s Constitution (1669)
“[T]hose who removed from other parts to plant here will unavoidably be of different opinions concerning matters of religion, the liberty whereof they will expect to have allowed them, and it will not be reasonable for us, on this account, to keep them out, … [T]hat Jews, heathens, and other dissenters from the pursuit of Christian religion may not be scared and kept at a distance from it, but by having an opportunity of acquainting themselves with the truth and reasonableness of its doctrines …., any seven or more persons agreeing in any religion, shall constitute a church or profession …” - Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina (1669) The Coastal Upper South’s Revolutionary Constitutions
| John Locke (1697) - courtesy Wikimedia Commons “[R]eligion … can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other.” - Virginia Constitution (1776) “All political power is vested in and derived from the people only.” – North Carolina Constitution (1776) |
EMPIRE OF LAWS - The Legal History of the 50 American States > 3. OLD SOUTH LEGAL HISTORY > 3.1 The Old South: Colonial Era and Independence (1607-1787) > 3.1.1 The Old South (1607-1787): The Fight for Religious Freedom >