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When we think about the adoption of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom in 1786, we typically focus on the power duo of Thomas Jefferson, its author, and James Madison, its vigorous and adroit shepherd through the Virginia legislature. But there was a third force behind its passage: the Dissenters. Primarily Presbyterians and Baptists, Virginia's Dissenters were members of a growing and increasingly powerful community that had real worries about state involvement in religion. Monticello’s Gary Sandling talks with John Ragosta, a recent fellow at Monticello's Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies who’s been researching the subject for a new book. (Originally offered as a Monticello Podcast on July 1, 2008. Approx. 45 min.) |
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