Question

Why was freedom of religion added to the First Amendment? The colonists wanted prayer taken out of schools. The colonists suffered persecution for their religious beliefs. The colonists wanted Catholicism to be the country’s main religion. The colonists thought the government needed to have religious control.

Answer 1

The reason that freedom of religion was added to the first amendment was because some of the colonists suffered persecution for their beliefs. Due to the fact that the American colonists were such a diverse group of people coming from all over the world, it was very important that all religions were tolerated equally.

Answer 2

The correct answer is B. The colonists suffered persecution for their religious beliefs

Explanation:

The First Amendment adopted in 1791 stated the government could not make any laws to establish any religion, forbid the free exercise of it or limit the freedom of speech, press, and assembly. In the case of religion, this issue emerged as religious minorities were concerned about the dominance of only one church or religion in the states as this has led to persecution to religious minorities and after multiple court cases found difficulties in determining whether religion should be considered in relation to the job or the school context. This implies the First Amendment was added as many of the colonists belonged to religious minorities and suffered persecution for it and thus, wanted the state to guarantee their right to free exercise other religions different to the dominant one.