Fourteen Colonies, Ten Commandments

About this episode

The episode explores the historical context of religious freedom and government-religion relations in America, culminating in the discussion of the Ten Commandments case before the Supreme Court.

As the 10 commandments case makes its way towards the Supreme Court, we add another chapter to our study of the historical events and factors that went into the American constitutional tradition when it comes to religious freedom, religious establishment, and the relationship of government and religion as a whole. We begin this episode where The Words That Made Us began - in 1760. We take it forward through the revolutionary period, into the Articles and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and then wind up with the Civil War and Reconstruction, leaving us poised at last to take a serious look at what the Fifth Circuit thought it was doing, and what it actually was doing, when it allowed a law to stand that mandates posting of the Ten Commandments in every classroom. CLE credit is available for lawyers and judges from podcast.njsba.com.

People in this episode

Host: Akhil Reed Amar

Topics covered

• religious freedom
• government and religion
• American constitutional tradition
• historical events
• Ten Commandments case
• Supreme Court

Keywords

• Ten Commandments
• Supreme Court
• religious establishment
• American history
• constitutional law
• Fifth Circuit
• Bill of Rights

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Fifth Circuit, njsba.com

Books & works: The Words That Made Us

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