In the early nineteenth century, Protestant assumptions of sameness within difference helped many Protestant denominations downplay doctrinal differences enough to forge a single Protestant identity. This "Protestantism" was accepted by many as a national identity. Evangelical "Protestantism" then combined Christian morality with nationalistic ideals and attempted to further those ideals through civic action.

The appearance of a somewhat homogenous Protestant national identity was soon challenged, however, by the huge influx in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries of Catholics, Jews, and nonbelievers, as well as by the separate religious identities of newly freed African American slaves. Immigrants were drawn by the promise of freedom, especially religious freedom, as well as by economic opportunities available in the new land. The assumption of a unified Protestant social identity was further strained by abolitionism, the politics of the Civil War, and the women's suffrage movement. The backlash produced anti-Semitism and anti-Catholic nativism, and the rise of numerous new religions.

First Amendment to the Bill of Rights

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” 

Written by James Madison.  Passed by Congress, September 25, 1789. Ratified December 15, 1791.

Roger Williams	Thomas Paine	Richard Allen	John F. Kennedy
Martin Luther King, Jr.	Hugo Lafayette Black	Abraham Joshua Heschel	Sandra Day O'Conner