American Luster and Religious Freedom

This week we have been discussing the American Revolution and I always try to take a few minutes in class to explore the time immediately following the American War for Independence; a time of democratic and federal exploration or, as Eric Foner refers to it, the "Revolution Within."1  Our identity as the United States didn't just blossom from the ground or get marched in on the back of Washington's horse.  The years between 1783 and 1787 were filled with trial, error and ideological exploration.

Yesterday in class, we looked at a quote from James Madison exploring the issues of religious freedom.  Madison, continuously emerges as one of my favorite authors from the early republic (Sorry Hamilton!).  To teach, Madison is clear and assessable without the characteristic run-on sentences of the period.  The quote we looked at was from a Madison document written to the Virginia General Assembly in 1785 in which he describes America as an "asylum to the persecuted and oppressed of every nation and religion.”  He continues that this idea of America adds a "lustre" to our country.  A great sheen or soft glow, luster.   The full link to the Madison document is below.2

By now, my students recognize that I am going to ask them to think about connecting our history.   The period following the American Revolution is ripe with inquiry into what is an American, what are the freedoms of Americans and who we should invite to this lustrous party, if indeed, I hope, it still has luster.

Read Madison, he matters.


1 Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty, W.W. Norton, 2012.
2 James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments, ://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_religions43.html