Early declarations of rights lacked enforcement and excluded Catholics and atheists
Evidence
Also serving as something of a check on governmental power under these constitutions, each of them also enumerated at least some individual rights that the legislature should respect. By not empowering any institution to enforce these rights, however, these listed protections served somewhat as hortatory barriers enshrining popular biases. “No person shall ever, within this Colony, be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping Almighty God in a manner, agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience,” the New Jersey Constitution boldly declared, but went on to specify that “no Protestant inhabitant of this Colony shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil right, merely on account of his religious principles.” Even if legislators obeyed these parchment limits, they could still deny rights to Catholics and outlaw atheism. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 271
Categorization
- XREF: Direct evidence for the course’s foundational-values question: what ‘freedom of religion’ meant to the founders was bounded by Protestant assumption, useful against modern anachronistic readings. — connects to: Enlightenment founders excluded atheists from the tolerance they championed — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 233; Founding-era liberty claims excluded slaves, natives, women, and the poor — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 2; Colonial religious liberty was originally limited to Protestants. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 282 (+1 more)
- QUESTION: How did this hortatory, unenforceable conception of rights compare to the later Federal Bill of Rights, and when did the shift to enforceable rights begin?
Broader Connections
- Enlightenment founders excluded atheists from the tolerance they championed
#corroborates(0.95) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 233 - Western tolerance traditions historically exempted atheists from its protections
#corroborates(0.95) - Founding-era liberty claims excluded slaves, natives, women, and the poor
#corroborates(0.90) — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 2 - Colonial religious liberty was originally limited to Protestants.
#corroborates(0.85) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 282