Faith, Reason, and Consent: Legislating Morality in Early American States

Americans commonly insist that government should not legislate morality. The early American state founders, revolutionaries known for their commitment to liberty, were equally concerned about what kind of morality both should and should not be legislated. In U.S. state constitutions and legislation, they exhibited a commitment to morality grounded primarily on the fixed principles of both natural rights and Christian theology. Scholars have often concluded that popular sovereignty emerged from the founding period as the predominant political ideal. However, the constitutional and legislative tradition reveals something quite different that the principles of natural rights and Christian theology were embraced prior to, and in actuality provided the basis for, the principle of popular sovereignty in the minds of the state founders.