Introduction : the creation of an American metaphor
The president, a mammoth cheese, and the "wall of separation" : Jeffersonian politics and the New England Baptists
"Sowing useful truths and principles" : Thomas Jefferson and the Danbury Baptist Association
"What the wall separates" : a jurisdictional interpretation of the "wall of separation"
Early references to a "wall of separation" : prefiguring the Jeffersonian metaphor
Creating "effectual barriers" : alternative metaphors in defense of religious liberty
"Useful truths and principles ... germinate and become rooted" in the American mind : Jefferson's metaphor enters political and juridical discourse
Conclusion : the re-creation of church-state law, policy, and discourse.