Simon Schama explores how faith has shaped American political life. For the first time in a generation it’s the Democrats who are claiming to be the party of God. In the recent Presidential election it was Barack Obama, and not John McCain, who spoke of his faith.

The British have long regarded American religion as a conservative force, yet Simon reveals that throughout American history faith helped to shape America, and it was that very search for religious freedom that led thousands to make the dangerous journey to the colonies in the 1600s.

After America won its independence, religious freedom was enshrined in the Constitution, making it the first country in the world to do so. Simon also looks at the remarkable role the black church has played, first in the liberation of the slaves in the 1800s, and again in the civil rights movement of the Sixties. It’s this very church that has been the inspiration for Barack Obama, who traces the roots of his political inspiration to his faith.