T imothy V erhoeven . Secularists, Religion and Government in Nineteenth-Century America

Throughout the nineteenth century, the vision of the United States as a secular nation was advanced by an evolving grassroots coalition that often included devoutly religious Americans. That is the central claim of Timothy Verhoeven’s expansive and methodically researched work, Secularists, Religion and Government in Nineteenth-Century America, that considers key moments of debate about church-state relations. While the specific constituents of this coalition varied based on the particular issues involved, Verhoeven nonetheless demonstrates that secularists exerted a consistent influence on American public life. They forcefully argued that religious values should not be reflected in official policy, and that the government should not support religious institutions. Verhoeven traces the development of this secularist coalition through a series of contentious debates over social policy. He begins with the 1785 debate over the religious tax in Virginia, highlighting how Baptists and other dissenting Christians supported James Madison’s efforts to fight the proposed...

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