Although (North Carolina’s) 1776 Constitution prohibited the establishment of any particular denomination, it required those who held civil office to be professing Protestants and forbade any man to hold office who denied “the being of God or the truth of the Protestant religion”…
Henry Abbot (1740-1791) expressed concerns over the Religious Test Clause, saying that “if there be no religious test required, pagans, deists and Mahometans might obtain offices among us and (…) the senators and representatives might all be pagans…
Presbyterian Minister David Caldwell (1725-1824), the founder of an academy in Greensboro, North Carolina, also expressed concern over the US Constitution’s Religious Test Clause, writing that it would be “an invitation for Jews and pagans of every kind to come among us,” which in the future “might endanger the character of the United States.” While it is true that the U.S. Constitution’s Religious Test Clause, and later the First Amendment, applied only to the general (federal) government, accounts like these demonstrate the concerns many had if Protestantism was not assumed and promoted in civil office.
Sean McGowan, from “Reformed Christian Politics“, 2026
I am all in on Protestantism being clearly manifest.
Absolutely, Fred. And I found it fascinating that Greensboro’s own David Caldwell felt it ought to be a qualification for public office, and that he explicitly stated he did not want other kinds of folks in these positions of responsibility.