Early in the 15th Century, men and women came to America in search of religious freedom from their very restrictive society. They wanted to be able to express their own beliefs without the retaliation of a higher power. In 1791, James Madison proposed that the Bill of Rights be added to the Constitution. Included in those Bill of Rights was the freedom of religion. This country was built on the idea that people were allowed to be whomever they wanted to be. They were allowed to express their ideas and beliefs to other people. The United States government passed the amendments that separate the church and state, saying that Congress and states can not pass a law that establishes religion, restricting them from forcing a religion on its people,
