Constitution

In the American system of federalism, the federal government makes the supreme law of the nation that all the states must follow; however, to prevent a tyranny of the national government (something greatly feared by the states and the Constitutional framers) the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution declares that all powers that are not explicitly reserved for the federal government fall to the state governments.

The Federalist Papers were written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay in 1790 and 1791 as a series of newspaper editorials. The Federalist Papers were a series of essays written to support the ratification of the Constitution and garner support for a strong and centralized national government.

The Establishment Clause of the Constitution states that the government can make no law establishing a state religion, and the Free Exercise Clause says that the government cannot stop any American group or individual from freely practicing their religious beliefs.

The Free Exercise Clause is included in the part of the Constitution that features the Establishment Clause, and thus it is related to freedom of religion. The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from establishing a state religion. The Free Exercise Clause forbids the government from preventing any religious group from freely practicing their religious beliefs.

For many Americans the freedom to practice their religion was one of the reasons why they moved to the colonies in the first place. Many colonists had been persecuted for their religion in Europe, and so when it came time to establish their own government, freedom of religion was considered extremely important. The Establishment Clause in the Constitution prohibits the government from establishing a state religion.