Espinoza: First Amendment Neutrality, History and Anti-Religious Animus

The issue the Court deemed relevant was the history and tradition of government support to private schools, including private religious schools. Consider this discussion in Espinoza on p. 1890:

But no comparable “historic and substantial” tradition supports Montana’s decision to disqualify religious schools from government aid. In the founding era and the early 19th century,  governments  provided  financial  support  to  private  schools,  including  denominational   ones. . . .   Local   governments   provided   grants   to   private   schools,  including religious ones, for the education of the poor. . . . Even States with bans on government-supported clergy, such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, provided various forms  of aid to religious schools. . . . Early federal aid (often land grants) went to  religious  schools. . . .  Congress  provided  support  to  denominational  schools  in  the  District  of  Columbia  until  1848,  . . .  and  Congress  paid  churches  to  run  schools  for  American  Indians  through  the  end  of  the  19th  century  . . . .  After  the  Civil  War,  Congress spent large sums on education for emancipated freedmen, often by supporting denominational schools in the South through the Freedmen’s Bureau. . . .

 This helps us focus on what the Court deemed to be the relevant historical question.