These two books review the history of church-state relations in the United States, with a focus on the meaning of the establishment clause. Both cover the colonial, revolutionary, and constitution-making periods. Curry ends with ratifications of the first amendment in 1791; Levy continues to the final disestablishment in Massachusetts in 1833. Levy also reviews and criticizes the Supreme Court's interpretations of the establishment clause.
Citation
Douglas Laycock, Responding to the Nonpreferentialists (reviewing Thomas Curry, The First Freedoms & Leonard Levy’s The Establishment Clause) 4 Journal of Law and Religion 241 (1986).