Early American Separation of Church and State Early America is often portrayed as a land of religious freedom, a land where people came to escape being persecuted on the basis of their faith. However, a closer look and analysis into early American Christianity shows us that this early religious freedom was limited; not every faith was included in those sentiments and those who lacked any faith or religious affiliation were viewed as a threat to the moral fiber of America. There are many events throughout American history that can showcase this, the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials, the persecution of Quakers in Puritan New England, and more. These strong Christian views that often led to the persecution of those who differed also made it a challenge to truly separate legal and political aspects of American life from Christianity. An example of this can be seen in “The relations of Christianity to law and the legal profession: a discourse” published by Reverend Ebenezer Platt ...