Delaware
Constitution (1776)
Article 22:
"Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any
office or place of trust...shall...also make and subscribe the following declaration, to
whit:
"I, _____, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and
in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures
of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration"
Maryland Constitution (1776)
Article XXXV:
"That no other test or qualification ought to be required...than such oath of support
and fidelity to this State...and a declaration of a belief in the Christian
religion."
Massachusetts Constitution (1776):
"All persons elected to office must make the following declaration: "I do
declare that I believe the Christian religion, and have firm persuasion of its truth"
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New Jersey Constitution
(1776)
Article XIX:
"No Protestant inhabitant of this Colony shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil
right...all persons, professing a belief in the faith of any Protestant sect...shall be
capable of being elected into any office of profit or trust, or being a member of either
branch of the Legislature."Pennsylvania Constitution
(1776)
Section 10:
"And each member [of the legislature], before he takes his seat, shall make and
subscribe the following declaration, viz: "I do believe in one God, the Creator
and Governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and punisher of the wicked, and I
do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine
Inspiration."
North Carolina Constitution (1776)
Article XXXII
"That no person who shall deny the being of God, or the truth of the Protestant
religion, or the divine authority of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold
religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the State, shall be
capable of holding any office or place of trust or profit in the civil department within
this State." |
Vermont Constitution (1777)
Declaration of Rights, III:
"Nor can any man who professes the protestant religion, be justly deprived or
abridged of any civil rights, as a citizen, on account of his religious
sentiment...nevertheless, every sect of denomination of people ought to observe the
Sabbath, or the Lord's day..."South Carolina Constitution
(1778)
Article XXXVIII:
"That all persons and religious societies who acknowledge that there is one God, and
a future state of rewards and punishments, and that God is publicly to be worshipped,
shall be freely tolerated... That all denominations of Christian[s]...shall enjoy equal
religious and civil privileges."
New Hampshire Constitution (1784)
Part 2:
"[Provides that no person be elected governor, senator, representative or member of
the Council] who is not of the protestant religion."
Tennessee Constitution (1796)
Article VIII, Section 2:
"No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments,
shall old any office in the civil department of this State."
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