He said religious freedom in the U.S. has unfolded over time, much like the unfolding of the Restoration, and religious freedom neither started nor stopped at the advent of the nation. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Religious ideas to reality<\/p>\n
Religious ideas inspired the formation of the United States. However, the Revolution was \u201cnot a war fought for religious freedom,\u201d McBride clarified.<\/p>\n
See a timeline of Church and American historical events here<\/a>. <\/p>\n Prior to the Revolution, colonists experienced religious toleration but not full freedom; for example, they still had to pay taxes to a state-sponsored church of which they were not a part.<\/p>\n State constitutions allowed for more religious freedom after the Revolution, which led to a rise in affiliation and membership in various churches and faiths.<\/p>\n \u201cYou give more Americans a choice of where they go to church, of how they worship, of what they choose to believe, and the number of people who actually participate in religion increases,\u201d said McBride.<\/p>\n These initial steps made way for the Bill of Rights, which was ratified in 1791, though full religious freedom was not recognized until 1833 in some states.<\/p>\n McBride highlighted the impact of a lesser-known 18th-century law: the Proclamation Line of 1763, which forbade colonists to settle west of a line along the Appalachian and Adirondack mountains.<\/p>\n With the Revolution, the line was dissolved, and new Americans began to migrate westward, resulting in belief changes and the reactionary cultural nervousness that provoked religious revivals and cultivating the familiar environment in which Joseph Smith grew up.<\/p>\n When considering the setting for the Restoration, the three decades leading up to it were crucial; without other religious movements and truth-seeking individuals, the Church might not have been restored, McBride said.<\/p>\n Heavenly Father \u201ccan do just as miraculous things in those gradual, small changes as He can in those big, magnificent moments,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n \u2018Facilitate the worship of others\u2019<\/p>\n Mob violence towards early members of the Church and other denominations illustrates the absence of \u201cuniversal religious freedom,\u201d said McBride.<\/p>\n In 1833, the Saints were expelled from Jackson County, Missouri; Joseph Smith reacted by going to congress, invoking religious freedom in the Constitution and running for president. <\/p>\n He saw that the Bill of Rights protected people from the infringement of the federal government, but it did not apply to individual states. He also noted how important it was to have religious freedom for all, not just one religious group.<\/p>\n Though unsuccessful in his appeals, Joseph\u2019s actions reflected his vision of the nation.<\/p>\n For example, when Joseph Smith was mayor of Nauvoo, he paid the dues for a Catholic priest in need to travel across the Mississippi River to visit a dying parishioner. <\/p>\n \u201cIt does not hurt our belief to facilitate the worship of others,\u201d said McBride.<\/p>\n The Church\u2019s complicated history with the United States reveals the \u201ccomplexities of religious pluralism,\u201d he added, and how religious freedom is a process, not a one-time event. <\/p>\n National vision<\/p>\n For Joseph, the beauty of the founding of the United States was what it \u201cbrought about in God\u2019s bigger plan for the redemption of humankind,\u201d McBride said.<\/p>\n While freedoms in the United States allowed the Church to grow, even from the early days, it was a global church. Those freedoms also come with responsibility<\/a>, said McBride, quoting Church President Dallin H. Oaks<\/a>. <\/p>\n In a democratic society, \u201cwe are responsible for being informed, for understanding and for standing up for what\u2019s right.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the power is coming from the people, then we have the responsibility as well.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/BCAFUZAGPBH4JKIMN3QRUALTFY.JPG\")
A road near the Joseph Smith family farm and the Sacred Grove is pictured in Palmyra, New York. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints <\/p>\n![\"Spencer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GXIUC6LPUNFSZAEH3T6DKDDWXM.JPG\")
Spencer McBride, associate managing historian of the Joseph Smith Papers, stands by historical documents newly acquired from the Community of Christ and displayed at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 25, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n