"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." — First Amendment, ratified December 15, 1791
The inclusion of this amendment in the Bill of Rights most directly responded to which concern raised during ratification?
- Acheck_circle
Anti-Federalist demands that the new Constitution explicitly enumerate protections against federal power
- B
Federalist insistence that an established national church was incompatible with republican government
- C
Demands by Catholic immigrants for protection against state-level religious tests
- D
Quaker pressure to abolish militia service throughout the new republic
Explanation
Anti-Federalists conditioned ratification on a written enumeration of rights restraining the federal government, and Madison drafted the Bill of Rights to honor that demand. Federalists generally opposed adding a bill of rights initially; the other options misstate the political coalitions of 1789-91.