1784-1799
1784
Methodist Episcopal Church established.
1786
Thomas Jefferson's "Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom" passed by Virginia Assembly; state support of religion prohibited.
1787
U.S. Constitution adopted; religious tests for public service under the federal government prohibited.
1788-89
Protestant Episcopal Church fully established; ties with Church of England cut; Presbyterian Church also established on a new footing.
1789
Bill of Rights passed by Congress; proscribes congressional "establishment" of religion and congressional interference with the "free exercise thereof."
Reproduced with permission from: James H. Hutson, Religion and the Founding of the American Republic (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1998).
