Original Intent - David Barton

This book takes an intense look at the First Amendment, the courts, and the intent of the founding fathers. David Barton goes directly to the source of both the Constitution (which does not ever state “separation of church and state”) and the founding fathers’ writings and quotes. He also sites many court rulings throughout history that have both supported the “original intent” as indicated in the wording of the constitution and the founding fathers own words and have reshaped and revised the intent of the first amendment.


While the text was hard to push through at times, with all the citations and legalize, I found the reading to be interesting. I was challenged to reexamine some of the things I believed when it comes to religion and the government.

I do have one very large issue with the book. It continued to reference “Chapter 18” and the “Appendix” for further information on given topics. However, the copy I read only went to Chapter 11 and had no Appendix. So I feel like I am missing good chunks of knowledge and information that I would like to have been able to read.

Even with that, though, it was worth the read.