The Blaine Amendments

A presentation about The Blaine Amendments by Jordan Luty

for EDCI 710: Social Foundations of K-12 Education.
Nast, T. (1871) The American River Ganges [Published in Harper
Weekly]
 Politics of the 19th Century
“These racial clashes can be traced back to the
colonial period, in which political equality and
freedom were only intended for white, male
Protestants” (Perez 2016)
The accepted Protestant King
James Version bible was read
in public classrooms (Sonja
2016)

Religious Freedom comes into

question
 Catalyst for the Amendments
“Catholic students suffered beatings or expulsions for refusing to
read from the Protestant Bible, and crowds… rioted over whether
Catholic children could be released from the classroom during Bible
reading” (Jeffries, Jr. 2001.)

President at the time Ulysses S.

Grant speech: supports a
constitutional amendment to bar
any states from providing public
funds to schools that taught
sectarian tenants (Cordelli)
 The Blaine Amendments
After Grant’s speech, Blaine’s constitutional amendment:
No money raised by taxation in any state for the support of public schools, or derived from any
public fund therefor… shall ever be under the control of any religious sect, nor shall any money so
raised or lands so devoted be divided between religious sects or denominations (Cordelli; Rainey)

James G. Blaine

Any parochial school? No, just

Catholics

Result:

Passed House
Nearly passed the majority needed
in the Senate
 Impact of The Blaine
Amendments During the 1800’s
Though the amendment failed on a
national scale, implications at the state
level (Rainey)

Emphasized the hypocrisy and religious

bigotry that existed in America and our
early school systems (Cordelli; Rainey)

Separation of Church and State

 Impact of The Blaine
Amendments Now
Many states still have “Blaine”
amendments (NH, TX, Etc) (Cordelli,
Sonja)

Some argue that students do not have

free choice of where to attend school
because…

Espinoza vs. Montana

 My Thoughts

Religious Freedom is good!

(but) Blaine Amendments are A-Ok with

me!

Reflecting back on Thomas Nast’s image

Connection to
Reading

Deculturalization
One more look at this image
 References

Justice, B. (2005). Thomas Nast and the Public School of the 1870s. History of Education Quarterly, 45(2), 171–206. https://doi.org/
10.1111/j.1748-5959.2005.tb00034.x
Perez, D. (2016). Social Foundations of K-12 Education. Kansas State University Press.
Sonja, R. (2016, September 9). Time for the Blaine Amendment in Texas to Die! Conservatives in Action. http://redsonja-conservativesinaction.blogspot.com/2016/09/time-for-
blaine-amendment-in-texas-to.html.

CORDELLI: Why Is Anti-Catholic Amendment Still In NH Constitution? InsideSources. (2020, December 8). https://insidesources.com/cordelli-why-is-anti-catholic-amendment-
still-in-nh-constitution/.

Jeffries, Jr., J. C., & Ryan, J. E. (2001). A Political History of the Establishment Clause. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.267786

Rainey, J. G. (2009). Blaine Amendments. https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1036/blaine-amendments.