Toleration to liberty as civic revolution

American political culture moved from a model of toleration (the majority grudgingly allowing private dissent) to a conception of religious liberty as an inalienable civic right. The shift is visible in the changing attitudes of founding figures like John Adams as exposure to pluralist practice (e.g., Philadelphia, Charles Carroll) forced rethinking of who belongs in the political community. — Framing American religious liberty as an intentional civic revolution reframes contemporary debates over church‑state boundaries and whose conscience claims deserve constitutional protection.