Religious Liberty, the Bedrock of Freedom

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise therof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
– The Constitution of the United States of America, Bill of Rights Amendment I, Ratified December 15, 1791

On June 11, 1776 the Continental Congress appointed a five-member committee1 to draft a declaration patterned after two documents from the State of Virginia – a Declaration of Rights and Thomas Jefferson’s preamble to the first Constitution of Virginia. At two o’clock in the afternoon of July 4, 1776, The Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed by 56 members of Congress, including three congressmen from Georgia – Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton.

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