Jefferson and the Danbury Baptists....

The letter from the Danbury Baptist to Pres. Thomas Jefferson:

The address of the Danbury Baptists Association in the state of Connecticut, assembled October 7, 1801. To Thomas Jefferson, Esq., President of the United States of America.

Sir,

Among the many million in America and Europe who rejoice in your election to office; we embrace the first opportunity which we have enjoyed in our collective capacity, since your inauguration, to express our great satisfaction, in your appointment to the chief magistracy in the United States: And though our mode of expression may be less courtly and pompous than what many others clothe their addresses with, we beg you, sir, to believe that none are more sincere.

Our sentiments are uniformly on the side of religious
liberty--that religion is at all times and places a matter
between God and individuals--that no man ought to suffer in name, person, or effects on account of his religious opinions--that the legitimate power of civil government extends no further than to punish the man who works ill to his neighbors; But, sir, our constitution of government is not specific. Our ancient charter together with the law made coincident therewith, were adopted as the basis of our government, at the time of our revolution; and such had been our laws and usages, and such still are; that religion is considered as the first object of legislation; and therefore what religious privileges we enjoy (as a minor part of the state) we enjoy as favors granted, and not as inalienable rights; and these favors we receive at the expense of such degrading acknowledgements as are inconsistent with the rights of freemen. It is not to be wondered at therefore; if those who seek after power and gain under the pretense of government and religion should reproach their fellow men--should reproach their order magistrate, as a enemy of religion, law, and good order, because he will not, dare not, assume the prerogatives of Jehovah and make laws to govern the kingdom of Christ.

Sir, we are sensible that the president of the United States is not the national legislator, and also sensible that the national government cannot destroy the laws of each state; but our hopes are strong that the sentiments of our beloved president, which have had such genial effect already, like the radiant beams of the sun, will shine and prevail through all these states and all the world, till hierarchy and tyranny be destroyed from the earth. Sir, when we reflect on your past services, and see a glow of philanthropy and good will shining forth in a course of more than thirty years we have reason to believe that America's God has raised you up to fill the chair of state out of that goodwill which he bears to the millions which you preside over. May God strengthen you for your arduous task which providence and the voice of the people have called you to sustain and support you
enjoy administration against all the predetermined opposition of those who wish to raise to wealth and importance on the poverty and subjection of the people.

And may the Lord preserve you safe from every evil and bring you at last to his heavenly kingdom through Jesus Christ our Glorious Mediator.

Signed in behalf of the association, Nehemiah Dodge
                                                     Ephraim Robbins
                                                     Stephen S. Nelson

Jefferson's response - perhaps one of the most misconstrued letters in the history of our nation: 

To messers Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson, a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut.

Gentlemen,

The affectionate sentiments of esteem & approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist association, give me the highest satisfaction. my duties dictate a faithful & zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, and, in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more & more pleasing.

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" thus building a wall of eternal separation between Church & State. Congress thus inhibited from acts respecting religion, and the Executive authorised only to execute their acts, I have refrained from prescribing even those occasional performances of devotion, practiced indeed by the Executive of another nation as the legal head of its church, but subject here, as religious exercises only to the voluntary regulations and discipline of each respective sect, I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves & the Danbury Baptist [your religious] association assurances of my high respect & esteem.

Th Jefferson Jan. 1. 1802.

While the religiosity of Thomas Jefferson may be a matter of debate, his steadfast adherence to other principles is not. 


The Danbury Baptists wrote to Jefferson out of a growing concern that the government was beginning to venture into areas that would jeopardize religious freedoms, perhaps to the point of naming a state religion, as had been done in England. Three points are of great concern, and Jefferson's response to their letter tells us much about the Constitutional extent of the authorities enumerated to the government.

First, the Danbury Baptists expressed their concern that the right to religious freedom was being treated by the government more "as favors granted, and not as inalienable rights..."  Second, they asserted that "...the president of the United States is not the national legislator..."  Third, they further asserted that "...the national government cannot destroy the laws of each state..."

Jefferson's response is telling, both by what he explicitly states, and what he leaves untouched.   His response regarding the "...wall of eternal separation between Church & State..." is directed solely at the government; he clearly states that the wall was one-way, addressing the stated concern that religious belief and practice were being treated as favors instead of inalienable rights. The "eternal wall" to which he referred preserved the right of the individual conscience, recognizing that such matters were between God and man, while severely limiting the government's ability to intervene in such beliefs and practices. He clearly enunciates the principle that the governance of religious exercise is the sole concern of each religious sect. At no point does he give any indication that, conversely, religious belief has no place on public life.


This is what he explicitly addresses. His failure to address the second and third assertions is equally significant. Jefferson is consistent (going back to the Kentucky resolutions) in maintaining that the federal government is to have as little impact on the daily lives of citizens as is possible. The President has no power to legislate on his own; he can only execute legislation developed by Congress. In the same manner, and contrary to what we are witnessing today, Congress is powerless to devise legislation that is at-odds with the laws of the individual States.

With Jefferson's views so clearly communicated, one has to wonder how such contrarian notions as those underlying our government in this day could ever have been developed.