The 1657 Religious Magna Carta of the New World by Lawrence Reed

Very recommendable! Another example why religious freedom is so important even in the 21st century!

"... With those words, Edward Hart, the town clerk of what is now the Queens neighborhood of Flushing, New York, began a powerful 650-word document known as the Flushing Remonstrance. It was December 27, 1657. Hart wrote on behalf of the 30 inhabitants of the village who also boldly signed their name below his.
This was a defiant shot across the bow of the state, personified by Governor Stuyvesant. It was an act of resistance and an early declaration in favor of the freedom of peaceful worship. Moreover, it was not a self-serving stand for the freedom of those who signed it (none of them were Quakers), but rather a defense of the freedom of others. ...
If you are inclined to stop reading because freedom of peaceful worship is not important to you—perhaps you are not of any faith or you believe your faith is not threatened—think again. Freedom in one sense is indivisible; a successful attack on one of its elements invites assaults on the others. Allow the state to breach one wall of freedom’s fortress and you have invited it inside, where its agents will work to bring down the remaining walls. ..."

The Religious Magna Carta of the New World - Foundation for Economic Education A governor [Peter Stuyvesant] demanded religious persecution of the Quakers. The citizens of Flushing refused.