A bill for the support “of teachers of the Christian religion” created a stir among the population, especially in the dissenting communities. A debate over it played out publicly in town squares and in the press, but the real impact came from the petitions sent to the legislature. The overwhelming response from the dissenting communities ensured that the legislature would be flooded with anti-establishment petitions when it met in the fall of 1785. Most of these petitions were drawn up by dissenters as part of a broader campaign that united the dissenting community. Madison also drew up an influential petition that echoed the same arguments as the others. This chapter demonstrates that despite their differences the authors of these petitions urged that the state be barred from legislating religion. State intervention in religious concerns, they insisted, violated their rights of conscience, and harmed religion, government, and society. They wanted the complete separation of church and state so that religious freedom could be established. Nearly one hundred of these anti-establishment petitions were submitted to the legislature that fall.