–President Thomas Jefferson
Letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, (January 1, 1802)
Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743
Thomas Jefferson, third president (Source: White House)
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between church and State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.
–Thomas Jefferson
Letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, (January 1, 1802)
Full text from the Library of Congress
Read more about Jefferson and his life in this post, “Happy Birthday, Mr. Jefferson”
