"Separation of church and state" is a metaphor paraphrased from Thomas Jefferson and used by others in discussions of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the Un
The Capitol Christmas Tree
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Madalyn Murray O'Hair's 1963 lawsuit led to an end of mandatory prayer in public schools after the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional.
The "Ten Commandments" monument at Mower County Courthouse, Austin, Minnesota
Thomas Jefferson was a Founding Father and the third president of the United States, serving from 1801 to 1809. He was also the second vice president under John Adams from 1797 to 1801. A prolific wri
Separation of church and state in the United States
…Separation of church and state" is a metaphor paraphrased from Thomas Jefferson and used by others in discussions of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which…
The Wren Building at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, where Jefferson studied in 1761 and 1762
Monticello, Jefferson's home near Charlottesville, Virginia
The Declaration of Independence, which Jefferson largely wrote in isolation between June 11 and 28, 1776, from a floor he was renting in a home at 700 Market Street in Center City Philadelphia, contain "the most potent and consequential words in American history," historian Joseph Ellis later wrote.