What Did Atheism Look Like in Early U.S. History?

We’re all familiar with the impact of the New Atheists, but what did non-belief look like in the early years of the United States?

Peter Manseau, the religion scholar who co-authored Killing the Buddha: A Heretic’s Bible, has written a book about our country’s spiritual history that doesn’t just focus on the usual Christian voices.

It’s called One Nation, Under Gods: A New American History.

In the adapted excerpt below, Manseau talks about what atheism looked like more than two centuries ago:

Lon...