The Effect of the American Example of Religious Equality Upon Protestants

FAIN: FT-12580-75

David C. Smith
President and Trustees of Bates College (Lewiston, ME 04240-6028)

To examine the impact of the American model of religious equality upon German Protestant thought in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Study involves obtaining and reading German periodicals, pamphlets, and reference books in order to assess the role of the American example of the independence of political rights from religious confession in German discussions and deliberations. Hypothesis is that the American model was less the source of ideals of religious equality than it was confirmation in practice that political rights could effectively be granted to all religious groups.