The religion clauses of the First Amendment : guarantees of states' rights? / Ellis M. West.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

West, Ellis M. (Ellis McKinney), 1936-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Church and state--United States.

Church and state.

Freedom of religion--United States.

Freedom of religion.

States' rights (American politics).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (217 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Lexington Books, c2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Were the religion clauses of the First Amendment intended to protect individuals' right to religious freedom and equality or the states' traditional right to legislate on religion? This book examines all the arguments and historical evidence relating to this question, and demonstrates, contrary to the views of some scholars and Supreme Court justices, that the clauses were sought, drafted, and originally understood not as guarantees of states' rights but as normative restraints on the national government's power over religion.

Contents:

Contents; Preface; 1 Introduction; 2 Clarification of the Issue; 3 A Critical Analysis of the Federalist Interpretation; 4 The Ratification Debate and Proposed Religion Clauses; 5 The Drafting of the Religion Clauses; 6 Were the Framers Hopelessly Divided over the Issue of Government and Religion?; 7 The Early American Understanding of the Religion Clauses; 8 The Federalist Interpretation of the Religion Clauses: A Concluding Assessment; Bibliography; Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

979-82-16-30432-6

1-283-59945-7

9786613911902

0-7391-4679-3

OCLC:

817812577