In the State Constitution of North Carolina (1868). the Preamble declares (boldface added):
"We, the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for the preservation of the American Union and the existence of our civil, political and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those blessings to us and our posterity, do, for the more certain security thereof and for the better government of this State, ordain and establish this Constitution."
Sometimes people think that references to God, or some god (small "g"), are mostly ceremonial in official documents - a "tip of the hat" if you will. The language in the passage above seems to go far beyond a tip of the hat, and also seems to recoginize that there is one God.
Similarly, the language found later is also fairly specific. In Sec. 13. Religious liberty (boldface added):
"All persons have a natural and inalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, and no human authority shall, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience."
Read the entire North Carolina Constitution
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