Disestablishment
The
disestablishment of the Congregational church has been discussed
above, in the section on the Constitution of 1818. The central
published work there is Richard Purcell’s Connecticut in Transition.
Relevant works not cited elsewhere:
Coons,
Paul Wakeman. The Achievement of Religious Liberty in Connecticut.
Tercentenary pamphlet LX (1936). Greene, Purcell, and others
are available and better. But this is only thirty-two pages long.
Dreisbach,
Daniel L. "'Sowing Useful Truths and Principles': The Danbury
Baptists, Thomas Jefferson, and the 'Wall of Separation',"
Journal of Church and State. 39 (Summer, 1997) 455-501.
The "Petition" is printed as an appendix to vol. XI
of the Public Records of the State.
Gerardi,
Donald F. "Zephaniah Swift and Connecticut's Standing Order:
Skepticism, Conservatism, and Religious Liberty in the Early Republic,"
67 (June, 1994) 234-56. This article deals with Swift's high
Federalism and deism by describing the rationalist context of
Swift's Yale years and Revolutionary intellectual currents. Gerardi's
object is to explain the "apparently incongruous alliance
of rationalists and pietists" in the post-War era that in
Connecticut -- as in other states -- led to the disestablishment
of churches. How could the deist Swift also favor public support
for religion? Gerardi takes at face value Ezra Stile's remark
in 1794 that among the forty lawyers nominated to stand for the
Council, one-third were Revelationhists, one-third Deists, one-third
doubtful. (Lit Dia III: 546.) It seems unlikely that this division
reflects the population as a whole, of course, But deists supported
public morality and often saw the church as the bulwark of that.
Reardon,
John J. “Religious and Other Factors in the Defeat of the Standing
Order in Connecticut, 1800-1818.” Historical Magazine of the
Protestant Episcopal Church 30(June, 1961)2:93-110. An analysis
of the issues, with emphasis on the influence of the “Establishment”
in maintaining Federalism, not just as a party, but as a creed,
until 1817. Reardon quotes Lyman Beecher: “On election day they
had a festival all the [Congregational] clergy used to go, walk
in procession, smoke pipes and drink. And, fact is, when they
got together they would talk over who should be governor.... etc,
and their councils would prevail.” (p. 96. The quotation is from
Lyman Beecher’s Autobiography. 1:259).
Just
to demonstrate that the matter of church organization is still
alive—if not well—in Connecticut, see Marcel Garsaud,Jr., “Ecclesiastical
Societies and Church Corporations—A Proposal for Change,” in Connecticut
Bar Journal 41(September, 1967)3:402-25. The first fourteen
pages are historical. The rest deals with the situation as of
1965. An excellent summary of the legal questions involved.
|
