AMENDMENT:

Personal Relations: No established religion: No appropriation to religious sects

Amendment Details:

Date:

Aug. 8, 1876

Type:

Congressional Bills

State of Origin:

Ohio (OH)

Congress:

44th Congress (1875-1877)

Summary:

Personal Relations: No established religion: No appropriation to religious sects

Text:

"SECTION 1. No state shall make any law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. SEC 2. No public property or money raised by taxation or from any public fund or property in any State or place subject to the legislative power of Congress shall ever be given to or be under the control of any religious sect or denomination. SEC 3. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

Chamber:

House

Sponsor or Proponent:

Lawrence

Committee of referral:

Judiciary

Comments:

Tracking information provided by Ames:\n1876, Aug. 8. H. R. 163, 44th Cong., 1st sess. By Mr. Lawrence of Ohio; read twice; to Com. on Judiciary. H. J., p. 1403; Record, p. °5318-5319.

Record Source:

Ames, Herman V. The Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States During the First Century of Its History, American Historical Society Annual Report for the year 1896; H. Doc. 353 part 2, 54th Cong., 2d Session, volume 3550-2, Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1897.

Cite As:

The Amendments Project, edited by Jill Lepore and Tobias Resch, 2023, https://amendmentsproject.org [Record Number b044-h00163, accessed 2026-07-16]. Record Source: [Ames, Herman V. The Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States During the First Century of Its History, American Historical Society Annual Report for the year 1896; H. Doc. 353 part 2, 54th Cong., 2d Session, volume 3550-2, Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1897.]