Lesson 3: American War for Independence (1765-1785)

America’s Liberty and Independence: Founded on the Christian Faith

The positive influence of Christianity so evident in the colonization of America (presented in Lessons 1 and 2) was also plainly visible throughout the American War for Independence. In fact, the historical story of America’s quest for freedom reveals there would be no America as we have come to know it—no “land of liberty”—without the Bible and Christianity. George Washington frequently acknowledged God’s hand in the birth of America, openly affirming that “the liberties of America are the object of Divine protection.”[1] In fact, he had strong words for those who refused to see the obvious and believed otherwise.

For example, in 1778, he wrote General Thomas Nelson (who had signed the Declaration of Independence two years earlier) that“The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all of this [i.e., the events of the first three years of the war], that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations”.[2] In other words, in Washington’s view, if someone had seen all the miraculous Divine interventions so frequent and apparent throughout the War and did not feel compelled to thank God as a result, then that person must indeed be callous and wicked.

The train of events that led to the American War for Independence actually began more than a decade before the Declaration of Independence was penned. In 1765, England imposed a Stamp Act tax upon the colonists. This required that all printed materials in America (books, newspapers, documents, and so forth) be printed only on paper that bore an embossed royal stamp, meaning that a tax had been paid on those materials. The colonists were not opposed to paying taxes, but they were opposed to paying taxes when they had no voice in the decision—they objected to Parliament taxing them without their input. In their view, the Stamp Act tax violated the principle of private property: the British were taking their private property (their money) without their permission, or the permission of those they themselves had chosen to represent them.[3] Many leaders spoke out against the Stamp Act, including Christian ministers such as the Rev. George Whitefield and the Rev. Charles Chauncy, as well as political leaders such as James Otis and Samuel Adams in Massachusetts, and Patrick Henry in Virginia.

*Patrick Henry: “If this be treason, make the most of it.”*

Henry had become a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses (the state legislature) shortly after the Stamp Act Tax had been imposed.[4] He was new in the state assembly, but when he found no one willing to stand publicly and oppose the tax, he felt compelled to take action. He therefore penned resolutions against the Stamp Act and introduced them in the legislature. Because several members were staunchly pro-British and therefore supported whatever the British did, Henry reported, “Upon offering them [the resolutions] to the house, violent debates ensued. Many threats were uttered, and much abuse cast on me.”[5] Those debates were intense and highly emotional.

At one point in the discussions, Henry brought up lessons from history he felt were applicable. He invoked ancient Roman history and noted that when Caesar (the Roman Emperor and leader) disregarded the wishes of the people, Brutus rose up to kill him for the good of the country. He similarly noted that in England’s own history, when King Charles I had similarly disregarded the people, Oliver Cromwell had him executed for the good of the people and the country. Henry then brought his lesson home to the current British ruler, King George III, noting, “Caesar had his Brutus; Charles the First, his Cromwell; and George the Third…,” but before he could finish his sentence, the shout of “Treason! Treason!” erupted from every part of the room. They believed he was calling for the murder of King George III, but, as one historian recorded, without any hesitation Henry “finished his sentence with the firmest emphasis, ‘may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it’.”[6] In an instant he turned the debate in an unexpected direction, and had refused to back down.

Henry’s speech had a significant impact in rallying the patriots in the Virginia legislature. He reported the outcome:

After a long and warm contest, the resolutions [against the Stamp Act] passed by a very small majority….The alarm spread throughout America with astonishing quickness, and the ministerial party [the pro-British] were overwhelmed. The great point of resistance to British taxation was universally established in the colonies. This brought on the war, which finally separated the two countries, and gave independence to ours. Whether this will prove a blessing or a curse will depend upon the use our people make of the blessings which a gracious God hath bestowed on us. If they are wise, they will be great and happy. If they are of a contrary character, they will be miserable. Righteousness alone can exalt them as a nation [Proverbs 14:34]. Reader: whoever thou art, remember this!—and in thy sphere practice virtue thyself, and encourage it in others.[7]

Henry’s passionate speech had turned the tide. One early historian records that Henry “was hailed as the leader raised up by Providence for the occasion,”[8] and further explained:

America was filled with Mr. Henry’s fame, and he was recognized on both sides of the Atlantic as the man who rang the alarm bell which had aroused the continent. His wonderful powers of oratory engaged the attention and excited the admiration of men, and the more so as they were not considered the result of laborious training but as the direct gift of Heaven.[9]

Of Henry’s speech, Thomas Jefferson reported:

I attended the debate….and heard the splendid display of Mr. Henry’s talents as a popular orator. They were great indeed—such as I have never heard from any other man. He appeared to me to speak as Homer wrote [a brilliant Greek writer from the 7^thcentury BC].[10]

*Dr. Charles Chauncy’s sermon delivered on July 24, 1766, in response to the repeal of the Stamp Act.*

(Recall from Lesson 2 that Henry had learned his remarkable oratorical skills at the feet of the Rev. Samuel Davies.)

Due to the efforts of Henry in Virginia and patriots in other states, the British decided to repeal the Stamp Act. When those rumors reached America, many pastors began preaching happy sermons in commemoration of the anticipated news.[11] Then when official word of the repeal actually arrived, the Massachusetts legislature responded by setting aside a day of prayer and thanksgiving to Almighty God.[12] On that state-designated day, noted minister Charles Chauncy (a Massachusetts pastor who had openly opposed the Stamp Act) delivered a famous sermon commemorating the glorious event[13] (as did numerous other ministers)[14]. Chauncy chose his text from Proverbs 25:25, and both the sermon and Chauncy were praised by John Adams.[15]

The Committees of Correspondence

Before American independence, the thirteen colonies were highly independent from each other, with no reliable system of intercommunication between them. Recall from Lesson 2 that the Rev. Jonathan Mayhew of Massachusetts proposed the use of circular letters—that is, messages to be circulated widely (their form of social media) throughout the various colonies in order to unite them in thinking and action.[16] Mayhew died before his proposal could be implemented, but his idea was eventually brought to reality by Founding Father Samuel Adams, who became known as the “Father of the American Revolution.”[17] Like most of the other Founding Fathers, Adams was a strong Christian. As famous historian George Bancroft affirmed:

Adams….was a member of the church….Evening and morning, his house was a house of prayer; and no one more revered the Christian Sabbath. The austere purity of his life witnessed the sincerity of his profession [of Christianity].[18]

Adams fully understood that the conflict between the colonies and England was not just an economic and political struggle but also a spiritual one. He believed that the British government had violated the colonists’ rights not only as men and subjects but also as Christians. He realized that for independence to be achieved, a knowledge of their rights in each of these three areas must be widely appreciated. Adams understood that for the colonies to “be united” would require “time and patience to remove old prejudices, to instruct the unenlightened, convince the doubting, and fortify the timid.”[19] If the various colonies could be taught and then embrace a consensus of ideas and principles, it would promote solidarity and help them become the United States of America.

To help achieve this unity, in 1772 Adams proposed that “Committees of Correspondence” be established in each colony.[20] These committees would set up communication with the others, reporting what was occurring in each state/colony. The Committees would also provide materials that could be shared to help educate and alert the colonists in every state to the principles for which they were all fighting, and the actions each should take.

The response of other colonies to Adams’ proposal for “Committees of Correspondence” was enthusiastic. Of course, there were some naysayers, including one patriot who predicted that most people would not join in the effort because “they are dead and the dead can’t be raised without a miracle.”[21] But Adams disagreed, replying, “All are not dead!—and where there is a spark of patriotic fire, we will rekindle it!”[22]

Adams’ plan moved forward, and in 1772, he himself wrote the first letter circulated among the colonists. It was called the Rights of the Colonists, and in it Adams explained:

The rights of the colonists as Christians…may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament.[23]

Adams thus openly affirmed that the important principles and rights for which they were contending came from the Bible.

We often hear that the reason America separated from the British was “taxation without representation.” This is partially correct, but that was only one of the twenty-seven grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence. Another very real concern (rarely mentioned today) was the direct threat against religious liberties. Britain was threatening to control the religious beliefs and expressions of Americans by placing a state-established church over them, just as they had already done in England. This would destroy not only religious tolerance but also their individual rights of religious conscience. As John Adams warned: “if Parliament could tax us, they could establish the Church of England (with all its creeds, articles, tests, ceremonies, and tithes) and prohibit all other churches.”[24]

Significantly, several of the Founding Fathers specifically joined the effort for independence in order to secure complete freedom of religion. As signer of the Declaration Charles Carroll openly acknowledged:

To obtain religious as well as civil liberty I entered jealously into the Revolution, and observing the Christian religion divided into many sects, I founded the hope that no one would be so predominant as to become the religion of the State. That hope was thus early entertained because all of them joined in the same cause, with few exceptions of individuals.[25]

The Boston Tea Party

Although Great Britain had repealed the Stamp Act, the relief was short-lived. England continued to insist on taxing the colonies without their consent, and did so again through measures such as the Townsend Act of 1767 (taxes intended to show the colonists that Great Britain could tax them at will) and then the Tea Act of 1773 (which placed a tax on tea—one of the most popular drinks in America at the time). The Americans still didn’t want to pay these unjust taxes, so in the case of the Tea Act, they simply refused to buy any tea upon which the tax had been placed. As a result of this boycott, tea began to pile up in warehouses in England.

With the resulting dramatic drop in tea sales, tea merchants in England asked the British government to intervene and do something. Parliament therefore voted to subsidize (that is, underwrite) the tea. This action would greatly lower the price of tea, and Great Britain believed the colonists could be induced to buy the tea if it was cheap. But Benjamin Franklin pointed out that the Americans were concerned by the principles of unjust taxation, not the price of the tea; so even if the tea were cheap but still had the tax, the Americans would stand steadfastly by their principles and not buy it.[26] Franklin was right, and Americans refused to purchase even the inexpensive tea.King George III of Great Britain decided he would force the colonists to buy the tea. He therefore ordered it to be sent to America. He would make the Americans use it—and they were going to pay for it as well!

The patriots in the various ports across the colonies where the ships with the tea were scheduled to arrive held town meetings to decide what to do. At four cities, the ships were turned back—flatly denied entry into the ports.[27] But in Boston, one ship did dock. The patriots, however, didn’t want the tea unloaded so they put a guard on the ship. But that decision put Mr. Rotch, the owner of the ship, in a very difficult situation.

Almost 7,000 people gathered at Boston’s Old South Meeting House to hear Rotch explain his dilemma. If he attempted to sail back to England without unloading the tea, both his life and business would be in danger, for the British had promised they would seize and confiscate his ships unless the tea was offloaded by a certain date.

The colonists came up with a solution to deal with the hard-fisted British policy and at the same time protect Mr. Rotch’s ships and business. The Americans would board the ships and throw the tea overboard; the ship could therefore return to England without the tea, and so his ship would be safe. But at the same time, the Americans still would not be compromising their principles by buying the tea. In their eyes, it would be a win-win situation for both.[28]

To protect the Americans from British punishment, those specifically chosen to board Mr. Rotch’s ship and throw the tea overboard disguised themselves as Indians. Early historian Richard Frothingham reported:

The Virginia proclamation, authored by Thomas Jefferson and the Members of the Virginia House, set apart June 1 “as a Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer,” instructing the Members of the Virginia House to attend church to pray and hear a sermon.

The party in disguise,…whooping like Indians, went on board the vessels; and warning their officers and those of the customhouse to keep out of the way, unlaid the hatches, hoisted the chests of tea on deck, cut them open, and hove [dumped] the tea overboard. They proved quiet and systematic workers. No one interfered with them. No other property was injured; no person was harmed; no tea was allowed to be carried away; and the silence of the crowd on shore was such that the breaking of the chests was distinctly heard by them. “The whole,” [Governor] Hutchinson wrote, “was done with very little tumult.”[29]

This event became sarcastically known as the “Boston Tea Party.”

Boston Port Bill

When King George III and the English government learned what the colonists had done, they were furious and retaliated by passing the Boston Port Bill. Starting on June 1, 1774, the British Navy would blockade and completely close the port of Boston, thus shutting down all commerce to and from one of America’s busiest ports.[30] They intended to cut off the Bostonians’ supplies and starve the townspeople into submission.

When the Committees of Correspondence informed the other colonies what has happening, wagon loads of food and supplies began rolling into Boston from across the country.[31]

Additionally, several colonies (including Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia) responded by calling for days of fasting and prayer, with the citizens of those states fervently asking God to intervene on behalf of their oppressed brethren. Early historian Richard Frothingham described the day the Act went into effect:

*Members of the Virginia House gathered with a large assembly at Brutton Parish Church in the State Capitol of Williamsburg to observe the Day of Prayer*

The day was widely observed as a day of fasting and prayer. The manifestations of sympathy were general. Business was suspended. Bells were muffled and tolled from morning to night; flags were kept at half-mast; streets were dressed in mourning; public buildings and shops were draped in black; large congregations filled the churches.[32]

Thomas Jefferson had penned Virginia’s prayer resolve in support of the Massachusetts brethren. It called on the legislature and the people “to implore the Divine Interposition…to give us one heart and one mind firmly to oppose, by all just and proper means, every injury to American rights.”[33] Frothingham reported the official Virginia response:

*Our national seal declares E Pluribus Unum (out of many, comes one), reflecting the principle of Christian union.*

The members of the House of Burgesses assembled at their place of meeting and went in procession—with the speaker at their head—to the church and listened to a discourse [sermon]. “Never,” a lady wrote, “since my residence in Virginia have I seen so large a congregation as was this day assembled to hear Divine service.” The preacher selected for his text the words: “Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them; for the Lord thy God, He it is that doth go with thee. He will not fail thee nor forsake thee [Deuteronomy 31:6].” “The people,” Jefferson says, “met generally with anxiety and alarm in their countenances [i.e., their faces], and the effect of the day through the whole colony was like a shock of electricity, arousing every man and placing him erect and solidly on his center.” These words describe the effect of the Port Act throughout the thirteen colonies.[34]

For the first time, all thirteen colonies came together in joint action—a deep cooperation had finally been achieved on a national level. John Adams spoke of the miraculous nature of this new unity, explaining: “Thirteen clocks were made to strike together, a perfection of mechanism which no artist had ever before effected.”[35] (An old clock shop filled with various wind-up clocks never sounds all the bells and chimes together at the same time; but this time it was different.)

The external union of the colonies came about because of an internal unity of ideas and key Biblical principles sown into the hearts of the American people by leaders, families, and churches. The Latin phrase on our National Seal reflects this Christian union: E Pluribus Unum (out of many, comes one).

The First Continental Congress

Further evidence of America’s new unity was apparent when our first national Congress met in Philadelphia in September, 1774. One of its earliest acts was “that the Reverend Mr. Duché be desired to open the Congress tomorrow morning with prayers, at the Carpenter’s Hall, at nine o’clock.”[36] Significantly, the delegates from the various colonies—many of whom had never met each other—agreed to open that important meeting with an appeal to God in prayer. The records of Congress thus reported:

Agreeable to the resolve of yesterday, the meeting was opened with prayers by the Reverend Mr. Duché. Voted: that the thanks of the Congress be given to Mr. Duché…for performing Divine Service, and for the excellent prayer which he composed and delivered on the occasion.[37]

Delegate Silas Deane wrote that “Mr. Duché…prayed without book about ten minutes so pertinently, with such fervency, purity, and sublimity [simplicity] of style and sentiment…that even Quakers shed tears.”[38] He further declared that Duché’s prayer “was worth riding one hundred mile to hear”[39]—that is, it was worth traveling two or three days on horseback just to be there for that remarkable prayer.

But the Rev. Duché did more than just pray; he also spent time in reading and teaching the Bible. As John Adams affirmed to his wife, Abigail:

Duché….read several prayers in the established form, and then read the collect [the Bible lesson] for the seventh day of September, which was the thirty-fifth Psalm….I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if Heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning. After this, Mr. Duché, unexpected to everybody, struck out into an extemporary [spontaneous heartfelt] prayer which filled the bosom of every man present. I must confess I never heard a better prayer…with such fervor, such ardor [passion], such earnestness and pathos [emotion], and in language so elegant and sublime, for America, for the Congress, for the province of Massachusetts Bay, and especially the town of Boston. It has had an excellent effect upon everybody here.[40]

(Significantly, Duché covered not just Psalm 35, but also Amos 9, Matthew 8, and Psalm 36.)

The Colonists Begin to Think and Feel Together

Back in Virginia as legislative opposition to the British became more widespread and unified, many members argued that although the British were in the wrong, the colonies were too weak to take on the mighty British. Henry nevertheless urged decisive action (just as he had ten years earlier), telling the other members:

Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty and in such a country as that which we possess are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. [2 Chronicles 32:8] There is a just God [Deuteronomy 32:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:6] Who presides over the destinies of nations [Psalm 75:7; Daniel 4:17], and Who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; [Ecclesiastes 9:11] it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave….Gentlemen may cry, “Peace, Peace,” but there is no peace. [Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11] The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms [Jeremiah 50:22]! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle [Matthew 20:6]? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death![41]

Henry knew that the time for words had passed. The time for action had arrived.

The Battle of Lexington

*Gov. Jonathan Trumbull’s Prayer Proclamation*

The situation between America and England continued to deteriorate, and this was especially apparent in New England. Henry had warned Virginians that “the next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms,”[42] and he was right. Just seven months after the national Congress first met in Philadelphia, Paul Revere set out on his famous ride to alert colonists of the British forces being sent out from Boston against them. But on that ride Revere did more than just issue random alerts; he was specifically riding to find and warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock, whom the British had ordered to be seized and killed.[43] Revere headed directly to where he knew they would be staying: the home of the Rev. Jonas Clark, pastor in the small town of Lexington.

The Rev. Clark had been teaching the Biblical principles of liberty to his church (as well as the prominent men of Massachusetts), and had prepared his church members to defend themselves if necessary. After being informed that British troops were on their way to Lexington, the Rev. Clark was asked if the people would fight; he acknowledged that he had trained them for that very hour.[44]

What is often called “the shot heard around the world” (that is, the first battle of the American War for Independence) took place the next morning, April 19, 1775. Approximately 70 members[45] of Rev. Clark’s congregation (both black and white parishioners) gathered on the lawn of the church to face 800 British.[46] At the end of the skirmish, eighteen Americans—both white and black—lay dead or wounded on the ground, all of them from his church.[47] Upon seeing the slain, The Rev. Clark declared, “From this day will be dated the liberty of the world!”[48]

*State of Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull in the US Capitol*

Interestingly, in March, 1775 (which was a month before the battle at Lexington), Governor Jonathan Trumbull of neighboring Connecticut had called for…

a day of public fasting and prayer…that God would graciously pour out His Holy Spirit on us, to bring us to a thorough repentance and effectual reformation…That He would restore, preserve, and secure the liberties of this and all the other American colonies, and make this land a mountain of holiness and habitation of righteousness forever.[49]

Governor Trumbull had decided back in March, 1775, that the particular day of prayer and fasting he had called would be observed, of all days, on “Wednesday, the nineteenth day of April”[50]—the day on which (unknown to them at the time) the Battle of Lexington would occur! So God had an entire state praying on the very day that the fighting began.

The Battle of Lexington was quickly followed later the same day by the Battle of Concord, and then by armed conflict along the road to Boston. (And just a few days later in Virginia, Patrick Henry led several hundred men against British forces then who had tried to seize the colonists’ weaponry.)

With the escalation of hostilities in Massachusetts, the British ordered it be placed under martial law. On the day martial law went into effect, Congress called for a day of fasting and prayer. In that call to prayer, Congress appealed to “the Great Governor of the world Who “frequently influences the minds of men to serve the wise and gracious purposes of His Providential government,” recommending “to Christians of all denominations to assemble for public…humiliation, fasting, and prayer.”[51]

The Declaration of Independence

*Proclamation for a day of fasting and prayer issued by the Continental Congress (John Hancock was its president), July 20, 1775, to be observed on the British imposition of martial law.*

The armed fighting had begun, but it would still be another fourteen months before the colonists would finally declare their independence. They still considered themselves British citizens and sought all means possible to settle the conflict without a total break from England. For eleven years (from 1765 until 1776), the Americans worked hard to achieve reconciliation. In fact, in late 1775, the Americans had sent the Olive Branch Petition to the king, seeking to settle their differences, but the king refused even to consider the document—he flatly negated it out of hand. [52]

By July 1776, the delegates to Congress had concluded that a settlement was not possible and that it was time to declare independence.

The Continental Congress spent several days first in debating and approving independence, and then in finalizing the wording of the Declaration of Independence, which fifty-six individuals eventually signed. From Great Britain’s perspective, that act marked those fifty-six as traitors, making them all subject to the death penalty.

Faith of the Signers

Sadly, too little is known by the general public today about these Founding Fathers who risked so much. In fact, they are often wrongly presented as self-serving and largely irreligious—as atheists and secularists, or at best deists.[53] But in reality they were almost all Christians; in fact, twenty-nine of the fifty-six signers held degrees from what in their day were considered seminaries or Bible schools.[54]

Reading the voluminous writings of the individual Founders who signed the Declaration of Independence reveals the strong Christian faith that characterized so many of them. Here are a few representative examples:

Richard Stockton:[I] subscribe to the entire belief of the great and leading doctrines of the Christian religion, such as the being of God; the universal defection and depravity of human nature; the Divinity of the person and the completeness of the redemption purchased by the blessed Savior; the necessity of the operations of the Divine Spirit; of Divine faith accompanied with an habitual virtuous life; and the universality of the Divine Providence. [I]…exhort and charge [my children] that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, that the way of life held up in the Christian system is calculated for the most complete happiness that can be enjoyed in this mortal state, [and] that all occasions of vice and immorality is injurious either immediately or consequentially—even in this life.[55]

Charles Carroll: On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation and on His merits, not on the works I have done in obedience to His precepts.[56] [I am] grateful to Almighty God for the blessings which, through Jesus Christ Our Lord, He has conferred on my beloved country.[57] I give and bequeath my soul to God who gave it, my body to the earth, hoping that through and by the merits, sufferings, and mediation of my only Savior and Jesus Christ, I may be admitted into the Kingdom prepared by God for those who love, fear and truly serve Him.[58]

Benjamin Rush: The Gospel of Jesus Christ prescribes the wisest rules for just conduct in every situation of life. Happy they who are enabled to obey them in all situations! . . . . My only hope of salvation is in the infinite transcendent love of God manifested to the world by the death of His Son upon the Cross. Nothing but His blood will wash away my sins [Acts 22:16]. I rely exclusively upon it. Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly! [Revelation 22:20].[59] The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effective means of limiting Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools.[60] [C]hristianity is the only true and perfect religion; and…in proportion as mankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts, they will be wise and happy.[61] [T]he Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world.[62]

John Witherspoon:Christ Jesus—the promise of old made unto the fathers, the hope of Israel [Acts 28:20], the light of the world [John 8:12], and the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth [Romans 10:4]—is the only Savior of sinners, in opposition to all false religions and every uninstituted rite. as He Himself says (John 14:6): “I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”[63] [N]o man, whatever be his character or whatever be his hope, shall enter into rest unless he be reconciled to God though Jesus Christ.[64] [T]here is no salvation in any other than in Jesus Christ of Nazareth.[65] [I]f you are not reconciled to God through Jesus Christ—if you are not clothed with the spotless robe of His righteousness—you must forever perish.[66] Whoever is an avowed enemy to God, I scruple not to call him an enemy to his country.[67]

Robert Treat Paine:I believe the Bible to be the written word of God and to contain in it the whole rule of faith and manners.[68] I desire to bless and praise the name of God most high for appointing me my birth in a land of Gospel Light where the glorious tidings of a Savior and of pardon and salvation through Him have been continually sounding in mine ears.[69] I am constrained to express my adoration of the Supreme Being, the Author of my existence, in full belief of His Providential goodness and His forgiving mercy revealed to the world through Jesus Christ, through whom I hope for never ending happiness in a future state.[70]

Samuel Adams:I…[rely] upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins.[71]

John Hancock officially called the State of Massachusetts to prayer on twenty-two occasions.Typical of his requests, he asked the state to pray:

[T]hat all may bow to the scepter of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the whole earth be filled with His glory.[72]
[T]hat the spiritual kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be continually increasing until the whole earth shall be filled with His glory.[73]
[T]hat the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be established in peace and righteousness among all the nations of the earth.[74]

Thomas McKean was chief judge in Pennsylvania. In the case Respublica v. John Roberts,[75] after a jury sentenced John Roberts to death for treason, McKean then told Roberts:

You will probably have but a short time to live. Before you launch into eternity, it behooves you…to repent of your evil deeds; to be incessant in prayers to the great and merciful God to forgive your manifold transgressions and sins; to teach you to rely upon the merit and passion of a dear Redeemer, and thereby to avoid those regions of sorrow—those doleful shades where peace and rest can never dwell, where even hope cannot enter….May you, reflecting upon these things, and pursuing the will of the great Father of light and life, be received into [the] company and society of angels and archangels and the spirits of just men made perfect; and may you be qualified to enter into the joys of Heaven—joys unspeakable and full of glory![76]

Oliver Wolcott: Through various scenes of life, God has sustained me. May He ever be my unfailing friend; may His love cherish my soul; may my heart with gratitude acknowledge His goodness; and may my desires be to Him and to the remembrance of His name….May we then turn our eyes to the bright objects above, and may God give us strength to travel the upward road. May the Divine Redeemer conduct us to that seat of bliss which He himself has prepared….It is most evident that this land is under the protection of the Almighty, and that we shall be saved not by our wisdom nor by our might, but by the Lord of Host Who is wonderful in counsel and Almighty in all His operations.[77]

Roger Sherman: I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are a revelation from God, and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him….I believe that God…did send His own Son to become man, die in the room and stead of sinners, and thus to lay a foundation for the offer of pardon and salvation to all mankind, so as all may be saved who are willing to accept the Gospel offer.[78] God commands all men everywhere to repent. He also commands them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and has assured us that all who do repent and believe shall be saved….in a way of free grace through the atonement. “Ask and ye shall receive [John 16:24]. Whosoever will, let him come and take of the waters of life freely [Revelation 22:17]. Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out” [John 6:37].[79]

Many additional declarations of Christian faith were made by other signers of the Declaration. Similar affirmations can likewise be found among signers of the Constitution, presidents of Congress, supreme court justices, military generals, early presidents, and many others. With such an abundance of pronouncements of strong Christian faith from so many leaders, it was quite obvious to those of previous generations that our Founding Fathers, with only a few individual exceptions, were collectively a group of largely Christian men.

One such confirmation of this comes from the writings of Richard Henry Lee (signer of the Declaration, President of the Continental Congress, and a framer of the Bill of Rights). Following his death in 1794, his papers and correspondence, including numerous original handwritten letters from other patriots (such as George Washington, Benjamin Rush, John Dickinson, and so forth), were passed on to his grandson, who compiled those documents into a two-volume work published in 1825. After having studied those personal letters of America’s greatest Founders and statesmen, the grandson described the great body of men who founded the nation in these words:

The wise and great men of those days were not ashamed publicly to confess the name of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! In behalf of the people, as their representatives and rulers, they acknowledged the sublime doctrine of his mediation![80]

Similarly, John Quincy Adams (the son of a signer of the Declaration, he personally knew most of the Founders) also affirmed that they were predominantly Christian, declaring:

From the day of the Declaration, the people of the North American Union and of its constituent states were associated bodies of civilized men and Christians….They were bound by the laws of God (which they all) and by the laws of the Gospel (which they nearly all) acknowledged as the rules of their conduct.[81]

And in 1854, the US House Judiciary Committee similarly declared:

Christianity….was the religion of the founders of the republic, and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants.[82]

*Leviticus 25:10 is engraved on the Liberty Bell.*

The evidence is abundant that the Founders were predominantly Christians.

On July 8, 1776, four days after the Declaration of Independence had been approved, the Liberty Bell rang out from the State House in Philadelphia, calling citizens together to hear the first public reading of the Declaration. It was appropriate that the Liberty Bell should be rung that day, for emblazoned around its top is a Bible verse which reads “Leviticus 25:10: Proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof.”

The Cost They Paid

Returning to the great personal risk faced by those who signed the Declaration of Independence, they were not thinking they would someday be famous for what they had done; rather, they were thinking they would most likely be killed. Yet they did not cower in fear, nor were they ashamed of standing for their principles. In fact, it was just the opposite.

For example, John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress, after signing the document with unusually large writing, purportedly declared: “John Bull [King George] can read my name without spectacles and may now double his reward of £500 [$100,000 today] for my head. That is my defiance!”[83] He added, “We must be unanimous. There must be no pulling different ways; we must all hang together.”[84]

Benjamin Franklin, responding with his characteristic wit, reportedly agreed, “Yes, we must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately!”[85]

Years later, Benjamin Rush (one of the signers of the Declaration) reminisced to fellow-signer John Adams about what had occurred on the day they signed the Declaration, and the fact they might all be hanged for what they were doing. Rush reminded Adams:

Elbridge Gerry

Do you recollect the pensive and awful [deep and somber] silence which pervaded the house when we were called up, one after another, to the table of the President of Congress to subscribe [sign our names to] what was believed by many at that time to be our own death warrants? The silence and the gloom of the morning was interrupted, I well recollect, only for a moment by Colonel Harrison of Virginia [a very strong and big man], who said to Mr. Gerry [a very tiny man] at the table: “I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead!” The speech procured a transient [temporary] smile, but it was soon succeeded by the solemnity [seriousness] with which the whole business was conducted.[86]

While this comment temporarily lightened the somber mood of the day, they all understood that because of what they had done, death was a very real likelihood for each of them. They clearly realized that, as one historian noted, “history was strewn with the bones and blood of freedom fighters.”[87] America would be fighting the mighty British Empire, which had the greatest military power on the earth. These men faced the very real possibility of losing everything they had; and in some way, they all suffered for their decision.

As noted historian T.R. Fehrenbach writes:

All but a very few signers of the Declaration were Christians. These leaders sacrificed much to secure liberty for all of us and for generations to come.

Nine signers died of wounds or hardships during the Revolutionary War. Five were captured or imprisoned, in some cases with brutal treatment. The wives, sons, and daughters of others were killed, jailed, mistreated, persecuted, or left penniless. One was driven from his wife’s deathbed and lost all his children. The houses of twelve signers were burned to the ground. Seventeen lost everything they owned. Every signer was proscribed as a traitor; every one was hunted. Most were driven into flight; most were at one time or another barred from their families or homes. Most were offered immunity, freedom, rewards, their property, or the lives and release of loved ones to break their pledged word or to take the King’s protection. Their fortunes were forfeited, but their honor was not. No Signer defected or changed his stand throughout the darkest hours. Their honor, like the nation, remained intact.[88]

These signers have largely been forgotten today, along with the high price they paid for the liberty we possess (and that we too often take for granted). As John Adams reminded the younger generation of his day, the sacrifice made by the Founders should always be remembered and honored:

Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it. [89]

Celebrating Independence

*Engraved in stone in the Jefferson Memorial are Jefferson’s words about the importance of relying on and openly acknowledging God.*

But our Founders not only wanted the high cost they paid for our liberty to be remembered, they also wanted us to recall that our liberty was the result of Biblical faith and dependence on God. In fact, John Adams declared that Independence Day should “be celebrated by succeeding generations…as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”[90]

John Dickinson (a general in the War and later a signer of the Constitution) similarly declared, “Our cause…is nothing less than to maintain the liberty with which Heaven itself ‘hath made us free’.”[91] And Thomas Jefferson likewise avowed: “God who gave us life gave us liberty.[92] [C]an the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?”[93]

In subsequent years as American independence was celebrated, the Founders kept a remembrance of God at the forefront of their festivities. For example, on July 4, 1793, Founding Father Elias Boudinot (a President of the Continental Congress and a Framer of the Bill of Rights) reminded citizens:

Let us then, my friend and fellow-citizens, unite all our endeavors this day to remember with reverential gratitude to our Supreme Benefactor all the wonderful things He has done for us in a miraculous deliverance from a second Egypt [that is, God delivered America from Britain in the same way he delivered His people Israel from the Egyptians thousands of years earlier]—another house of bondage. “And thou shalt show thy son on this day, saying, this day is kept as a day of joy and gladness because of the great things the Lord has done for us when we were delivered from the threatening power of an invading foe” [Exodus 13:8]….[M]ay these great principles in the end become instrumental in bringing about that happy state of the world when from every human breast, joined by the grand chorus of the skies, shall arise with the profoundest reverence that Divinely celestial anthem of universal praise, “Glory to God in the highest; peace on earth; good will towards men [Luke 2:14].”[94]

The Founders knew and regularly reminded Americans that God was the Author of our liberties.

Congressional Actions Affirming America’s Religious Faith

Shortly after the Continental Congress declared independence from Great Britain, it appointed multiple chaplains to open the daily meetings of Congress in prayer including the Rev. Jacob Duché (an Anglican), the Rev. Patrick Allison (a Baptist), and the Rev. William White (an Episcopalian).

Congress also made George Washington commanding general over the Continental Army. One of his first military orders established chaplains for each regiment, and he then told the soldiers:

The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.[95]

Prayer and Fasting

The American Congress frequently declared days of fasting and prayer to seek God for His aid and assistance in their struggle for freedom, followed later by days of thanksgiving to acknowledge the Hand of God after victories in battle and other significant events. In fact, they issued fifteen official calls for prayer during the War for Independence.[96] Publicly acknowledging God and seeking His help was indeed a central part of American public life. (See Appendix 1).

Bibles and Congress

By 1777, as a result of British blockades of American ports, America began experiencing a shortage of several important commodities, including Bibles. A request was therefore placed before the Continental Congress to print or import more, because “unless timely care be used to prevent it, we shall not have Bibles for our schools and families and for the public worship of God in our churches”[97] Congress recognized this need and announced: “The Congress desire to have a Bible printed under their care and by their encouragement.”[98] A special congressional committee investigated and found it would be cheaper and quicker to import the Bibles than print them here in America, so it therefore recommended:

[T]he use of the Bible is so universal and its importance so great,…your Committee recommend that Congress will order the Committee of Commerce to import 20,000 Bibles from Holland, Scotland, or elsewhere, into the different ports of the States of the Union.[99]

Congress agreed, and ordered the Bibles imported.[100]

Interestingly, decades later in 1854 when a group claimed that the government was violating the so-called “separation of church and state” by allowing government-sponsored religious activities and funding in public, the Chairman of the US House Judiciary Committee responded with a lengthy report refuting their claims. In so doing, he specifically cited that 1777 act of Congress, noting:

On the 11^thof September, 1777, a committee, having consulted with Dr. Allison [an early congressional chaplain] about printing an edition of thirty thousand Bibles, and finding that they would be compelled to send abroad for type and paper with an advance of £10,272, 10s [over $2 million in today’s currency], Congress voted to instruct the Committee on Commerce to import twenty thousand Bibles from Scotland and Holland into the different ports of the Union. The reason assigned was that the use of the book was so universal and important. Now what was passing on that day? The army of Washington was fighting the battle of Brandywine; the gallant soldiers of the Revolution were displaying their heroic though unavailing valor; twelve hundred soldiers were stretched in death on that battlefield; Lafayette was bleeding; the booming of the cannon was heard in the hall where Congress was sitting [in Philadelphia]—in the hall from which Congress was soon to be a fugitive. At that important hour, Congress was passing an order for importing twenty thousand Bibles; and yet we have never heard that they were charged by their generation of any attempt to unite Church and State or surpassing their powers to legislate on religious matters.[101]

*Front of Aitken Bible “Whereupon, Resolved, That the United States in Congress assembled…recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States.”*

For whatever reason, those Bibles were not imported as Congress had ordered in 1777; and as the war prolonged, the shortage increased.

So in 1781, Robert Aitken, official printer of the Continental Congress, petitioned Congress for permission to print Bibles on his presses in Philadelphia, thus precluding the need to import them. Explaining that this Bible would be “a neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools,”[102] Congress approved his request and appointed a congressional committee to oversee the project.[103] On September 12, 1782, that Bible received the approval of the full Congress[104] and soon began rolling off the presses—with a congressional endorsement printed in front [105] Known as “The Bible of the Revolution,” it was the first English-language Bible printed in America.

God’s Hand Visible

America eventually prevailed in its struggle for freedom, becoming an example to the world of a free nation that embraced Biblical principles. It had indeed became “a city set upon a hill” as long before envisioned by Puritan leader John Winthrop (see Lesson 1).

Throughout the American War for Independence, Americans believed God performed many miracles on behalf of the American army. Here are some examples of what they perceived to be God’s direct intervention.

Long Island (August 1776)

In August 1776, fighting erupted on the western end of Long Island (in New York) between British and American forces. British General Howe and his army of 32,000 men inflicted great losses on the heavily outnumbered 8,000 troops of the American army. At Brooklyn Heights, General Howe prepared to capture or destroy the remaining Americans, thus ending the war only a month after America had declared independence.

The British army had forced Washington’s troops up against the nearly mile-wide East River and created a great semicircle around them, fully entrapping them. Washington realized that to stand and fight against such odds would mean defeat and the end of the war; but to surrender was unthinkable. Strangely, however, British General Howe—despite his superior position and numbers—for two days chose not to attack and end the war; had he struck, victory would have been certain due to overwhelming British numbers and superiority.

Meanwhile, Washington, with all land routes blocked by the British, decided to retreat across the East River. He issued orders for every rowboat, sailboat, and seagoing vessel in the area to be quietly collected and used for an escape. However, unknown to Washington, the British were planning to close that route by sailing their ships up the river, taking up position behind the Americans. But as Washington’s men gathered the small craft, a heavy storm entered the region: rain began falling, and strong winds blowing, which kept the British ships from sailing up behind them and blocking their escape.

By that evening, the American fleet of little crafts had finally been gathered, and some boats began loading and departing on the rough waves, but the waters were so turbulent that the boats could only be partially loaded. By eleven o’clock, the raging winds stopped, at which time it was too dark for the British ships to make their advance up the river. A gentle breeze then began to blow from the south and southwest, which actually favored the Americans, allowing them to fully fill the rest of the boats and depart.

Washington’s men crossed the river all night without being heard or seen. Butas the sun began to rise, not all the troops had been evacuated. The British would surely see what they were doing and stop them; death for the remaining Americans would be certain. But something else completely unexpected happened. American Major Benjamin Tallmadge, still with the remaining men on the island, reported:

As the dawn of the next day approached, those of us who remained in the trenches became very anxious for our own safety, and when the dawn appeared, there were several regiments still on duty. At this time a very dense fog began to rise and it seemed to settle in a peculiar manner over both encampments. I recollect this peculiar Providential occurrence perfectly well; and so very dense was the atmosphere that I could scarcely discern a man at six yards distance.[106]

The fog hovered over the area until the last American boats left, carrying the remaining troops to safety. Providentially, Washington and the Americans had been miraculously preserved and kept alive to continue the fight for freedom.

But there was more to the story—another miraculous event had also occurred during the retreat.

A family of British-sympathizers lived near the point where the American troops were being evacuated. The lady of the house, when she learned what the Americans were doing, sent a servant to alert the British. He safely slipped past the American guards, but upon reaching the British lines was stopped by German-speaking mercenaries serving with the British, with whom he was unable to communicate. They therefore put him under guard and held him until the next morning, when a British officer finally questioned him. Upon learning the news of the American evacuation, British troops were immediately sent to confirm the report, only to find the Continental camp completely empty. The British then rushed toward the shore, arriving just as the fog lifted enough for them to see the last boats crossing the East River. Over eight thousand American soldiers and their supplies had miraculously escaped.[107]

This extraordinary retreat was one of the many remarkable events of the war, and the outcome was attributed to the direct intervention of God. (By the way, notice that in this account and others to follow that many of these miraculous events often involved unusual and sudden changes in the weather. Such changes certainly cannot be summoned or controlled by any human hand but only by God Himself.)

Trenton and the Crossing of the Delaware (December 1776)

A few months after the retreat from Long Island, Washington found himself in another desperate situation that again threatened to end the War for Independence. The American army was made up of citizen volunteers who enlisted for one year at a time. It was now December at the end of the first year of the conflict, so most of the men’s one-year enlistments were up at the end of the month. Since few American military victories had been won, morale was low and re-enlistments were few. Washington’s army was rapidly dwindling, and a defeat at the hands of the British would likely destroy all remaining hope. Washington knew he had to make a bold decision, so he went on the offensive.

In a desperate move, he decided to cross the treacherous Delaware River in pre-dawn hours in order to surprise the enemy. He chose the early morning of December 26 to attack the British German-Hessian garrison quartered at Trenton. (He knew that the German custom of drinking on Christmas would help assure their deep slumber the next morning.)

As the American troops prepared to cross the Delaware River, a violent snow and hailstorm suddenly began. This hardship, however, worked in their favor by reducing the visibility to near zero, thus causing the enemy’s sentries to leave their posts and seek cover. The Americans entered Trenton so unexpectedly and with such surprise, that after only 45 minutes of fighting, some 1,000 Hessian prisoners were taken captive. Only three Americans were wounded in the battle. (Two others died, but not from the fighting; they froze to death on the harsh march.) General Henry Knox reported: “The hurry, fright, and confusion of the enemy was not unlike that which will be when the last trump will sound”[108] (a reference to 1 Corinthians 15:52, describing the last trumpet sounding and Christ returning to earth, thus creating immense confusion among His enemies). General Knox affirmed, “Providence seemed to have smiled upon every part of this enterprise.”[109] This victory raised American spirits, causing new enlistments. God once again was helping secure American liberty.

Battle of Saratoga (October 1777)

Despite the welcome victory at Trenton, the Americans were still losing more battles than they were winning. One of their more notable losses was at the Battle of Brandywine, where 1,200 American were killed in a great defeat. Following that tragic loss, Washington prayed fervently for a change—for a “signal stroke of Providence.”[110]

*Surrender of British General Burgoyne at Saratoga*

The British leaders had been emboldened by that Brandywine victory and sought to crush the Americans as quickly as possible. So in a bold move of overwhelming force, Lord North of Great Britain made plans to send British General Howe with his 30,000+ men north from New York City to join General Burgoyne’s 7,000 men at Saratoga in northern New York. Together, these nearly 40,000 soldiers would crush the American army of some 9,000 soldiers led by General Horatio Gates. It was an excellent plan—except that in Lord North’s haste to leave London for a holiday, he forgot to sign the order for General Howe to move his thirty thousand troops. And unexpectedly adverse weather conditions in the Atlantic kept additional British reinforcements from arriving on time. The result was a massive American victory. The British forces at Saratoga surrendered to General Gates in October 1777, with 5,000 British soldiers being taken prisoner.

(Incidentally, an indication of the generally just and honorable attitude of the Americans was seen in their treatment of those British prisoners. After receiving their pledge that they would no longer take up arms against the Americans, the British were allowed to keep their weapons; and three armed American officers then led the 5,000 armed prisoners back to Boston to put them on ships to send them back to England.[111] (What an amazing sight that must has been!)

Following the victory, the Continental Congress proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and praise, explaining:

Forasmuch as it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the Superintending Providence of Almighty God,…and it having pleased Him in His abundant mercy…to crown our arms with most signal success: It is therefore recommended…[a day] for solemn thanksgiving and praise.[112]

Congress further recommended that Americans take time to confess any of their own personal sins and humbly ask God “through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance” so that He would be able to continue pouring out His blessings upon the nation.[113]

That victory at Saratoga is considered one of the most significant battles in world history,[114] and it certainly was a turning point in the American War for Independence. One consequence of this victory was that France realized their long-time enemy Britain might be defeated. They therefore decided to help the Americans, sending them much-needed French munitions, ships, and money, as well as highly experienced troops, all of which were invaluable to the American cause.

Benedict Arnold’s Treason (September 1780)

Late in the war, American general Benedict Arnold devised a treacherous secret plan to hand a key American fort and General George Washington over to the British. That treasonous plot was uncovered through what Washington described as “a combination of extraordinary circumstances.”[115]

*The American traitor General Benedict Arnold (sitting) plots his treasonous action with British Major André (standing).*

British Major John André had secretly met with General Arnold at American-held West Point, New York. André obtained from Arnold vital information on how and when to capture that fort and then either kill or capture General Washington. Dressed in civilian clothing, André returned from that meeting to a British-held region of the state to deliver the crucial information to his superiors. When he reached that British-controlled area, he encountered some folks he assumed to be British supporters, but who were actually American militiamen dressed as common citizens. André talked too freely to them, which aroused their suspicion. They searched him and found incriminating secret papers hidden in the bottom of his boot.

André offered them large amounts of money to release him, but they refused. As Washington himself later affirmed, “They [the American militiamen] were offered, I am informed, a large sum of money [by André] for his release, and as many goods as they would demand, but without effect. Their conduct gives them a just claim to the thanks of their country.”[116] Those American soldiers had refused to be bribed or bought, no matter what André offered.

The militiamen took André to the nearest American military outpost, where the commanding officer carried the news to his immediate superior, General Benedict Arnold, not realizing that Arnold was actually part of the plot. Arnold, now having been accidentally warned of André’s capture and the plan’s exposure, fled to British lines for safety. But had not Arnold’s treasonous plans been providentially uncovered, West Point and General Washington would surely have fallen into British hands, which would have been a defeat too great for the Americans to overcome.

God had once again intervened to save the American Army and its fight for freedom. As Washington affirmed to his troops:

Treason of the blackest dye was yesterday discovered! General Arnold, who commanded at West Point, lost to every sentiment of honor, of public and private obligation, was about to deliver up that important post into the hands of the enemy. Such an event must have given the American cause a deadly wound if not a fatal stab. Happily, the treason has been timely discovered to prevent the fatal misfortune. The Providential train of circumstances which led to it affords the most convincing proof that the liberties of America are the object of Divine protection.[117]

General Washington later told Colonel John Laurens, “In no instance since the commencement of the War has the interposition of Providence appeared more conspicuous than in the rescue of the post and garrison of West Point from Arnold’s villainous perfidy [treachery].”[118]

When the Continental Congress learned of the event, they, too, saw God’s hand in the affair and therefore recommended the states set aside a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. Congress asked the people not only to praise and thank God for His direct intervention in uncovering the secret treason but also to ask Him to pardon their sins, smile upon their endeavors, and “cause the knowledge of Christianity to spread over all the earth.”[119]

The Battle of Yorktown (October 1781)

*The Surrender of British Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown*

By late 1781, British General Cornwallis (the commander of all British forces in America) had moved his troops and stationed them at Yorktown, Virginia. George Washington therefore marched his army from New York down to Yorktown.

Cornwallis was awaiting a British fleet to reinforce him and move his troops into winter quarters at a new location. But unknown to him, a French fleet under Admiral De Grasse had been sent, and it arrived just in time to stop the British fleet from reaching Cornwallis.

When Cornwallis learned that his forces were outnumbered and no help would be coming, he decided to retreat across the York River. At ten o’clock on the night of October 17th, sixteen large boats were loaded with troops and sent out. The first few boats landed safely, but then Cornwallis reported: “[A]t this critical moment, the weather, from being moderate and calm, changed to a violent storm of wind and rain and drove all the boats, some of which had troops on board, down the river.”[120]

Because of this unexpected, even miraculous change in the weather, Cornwallis was unable to complete the withdrawal of the rest of his troops. He now found his army divided, half on one side of the river and half on the other. At daybreak, Washington’s artillery opened up on the stranded Cornwallis, who ordered the troops across the river to come back and help him, but it was too late. Later that day, he surrendered his remaining forces to Washington, essentially marking the end of the American War for Independence.

Both Washington and the Continental Congress recognized God’s hand in the events at Yorktown, and wanted to thank Him. The Journals of the Continental Congress reports:

Resolved, that Congress will at two o’clock this day go in procession to the Dutch Lutheran Church and return thanks to Almighty God for crowning the allied arms of the United States and France with success by the surrender of the Earl of Cornwallis.[121]

Congress went to church together, en masse, to thank God for the victory. Then in Washington’s congratulatory order to the army the day after the surrender, he wrote:

The General congratulates the army upon the glorious event of yesterday….Divine service is to be performed tomorrow in the several brigades and divisions. The Commander-in-Chief recommends that the troops not on duty should universally attend with that seriousness of deportment and gratitude of heart which the recognition of such reiterated and astonishing interpositions of Providence demand of us.[122]

So not just Congress but also the American army gathered together in public religious services to thank God.

Ending the War for Independence

On February 4, 1783, sixteen months after the victory at Yorktown, England officially declared an end to hostilities. On September 8, the peace treaty was signed by John Adams, John Jay, and Benjamin Franklin and then approved by the full Congress. That final document, like so many others of the Revolution, contained explicitly Christian acknowledgements, with its opening line declaring:

In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity.[123]

The Christian spirit undergirding the American Founding was clear. And most Americans openly acknowledged (as did our military leaders and public officials) that God had directly influenced events leading to the birth of America and a new era of liberty in the world. They were unashamed in identifying Christian principles as the basis of what had been accomplished.

Without these Biblical principles, America would not have been born, nor would it have become a beacon of liberty for the world. Jedidiah Morse, who lived through the American War for Independence and wrote one of the early histories of the conflict, openly affirmed:
To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoy.[124]

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Lesson 3: Appendix A

Public Prayer Proclamations

Early Americans were predominantly Christians, and they strongly embraced the doctrine of Divine Providence. The word “Providence” is sometimes difficult to fully grasp today because it is no longer a term used as commonly as it had been by previous generations.

Proclamation by the Massachusetts government for a day of fasting,September 22, 1670-possibly the first printed broadside for a day of prayer. Before this, fast and thanksgiving proclamations were written by hand.

A better understanding of the meaning of that word can be found by examining words or phrases used as synonyms for “Providence” in early Bible translations. Those terms include “tender mercies,” “loving kindness,” “compassion,” “watchfulness,” “preservation,” “favor,” and “protection.” They all convey the same meaning: “Providence” indicates (1) an active God, (2) Who is watching over His beloved with foresight, care, and protection. Founding Father Noah Webster, when defining this term in America’s first dictionary (1828), affirmed the same two meanings, noting that (1) “by Divine providence is often understood God Himself,” and that (2) “Providence” means “the care and superintendence which God exercises over His creatures.”[125]

Earlier generations looked to the Scriptures as a source and guidebook for both personal and civil behavior. They firmly believed God’s blessings would come upon those who obeyed His commands, and curses would come upon the disobedient (see Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26). Consequently, whenever there were times of calamity or crisis, both church and civil authorities would proclaim days of fasting and prayer to seek God’s direct intervention; and then when God answered those prayers and responded with deliverance and blessing, the leaders would routinely proclaim days of prayer and thanksgiving to express their gratitude to God. Such days of direct appeal to God were a regular part of American life.

There are many examples illustrating this alternating pattern. For example,in October 1746, France sent a fleet to attack Boston. Governor Shirley of Massachusetts proclaimed a day of fasting to seek God’s intervention,[126] and people everywhere thronged to the churches to pray for deliverance. God then miraculously sent a storm that wiped out the French fleet.[127] God clearly had answered their prayers, so everyone gathered in a time of thanksgiving to God.[128]

During the American War for Independence, the Continental Congress followed this pattern of alternating between days of prayer and fasting and days of prayer and thanksgiving. It issued at least eight different prayer and fasting day proclamations during the conflict, and seven intervening thanksgiving proclamations.[129] (As already seen, times of thanksgiving were called after events such as the victory of Saratoga, the discovery of the treason of Benedict Arnold, and the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.)

As has been evident throughout this lesson, the proclamations of the Continental Congress were not bland, vague, or deistic documents but rather explicitly Christian—asin March 1776, when the Founders asked the country to observe…

a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, that we may…appease His righteous displeasure, and through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ obtain His pardon and forgiveness.[130]

Subsequent calls to prayer were just as forthright—as when they called the nation…

- to“join the penitent confession of their manifold sins…that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance…and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth ‘in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost’ [Romans 14:17].”][131] November 1, 1777
- to thank God that “above all, that He hath diffused the glorious light of the Gospel, whereby, through the merits of our gracious Redeemer, we may become the heirs of His eternal glory,” asking America also to pray “that He would…spread the light of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth.”[132] October 20, 1779
- “to offer our fervent supplications to the God of all grace…to cause the knowledge of Christianity to spread over all the earth.”[133] October 18, 1780

Individual states also followed this alternating pattern of fasting and thanksgiving. During such times, people would gather at their local meeting houses and churches to hear a sermon. And there were also times when Congress as a body, or the full state assembly would go to church together on such days. State legislatures also regularly invited ministers to preach on these days, and many of those sermons were printed and distributed at state expense.[134]

Significantly, in the period from 1620 to 1815, at least 1,400 official proclamations calling for either public days of fasting or thanksgiving were issued by civil government (including colonial, state, national, and federal governments).[135] Such proclamations continued regularly after 1815 as well, and on through the nineteenth century. Even today the practice endures, with thousands more official calls to prayer having been issued in the twentieth century.

The practice of publicly issuing official proclamations calling the nation, states, and cities to prayer now spans more than four centuries of American history. ■

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[1] George Washington, Revolutionary Orders of George Washington, Issued During the Years 1778, ‘80, ‘81, & ‘82, Henry Whiting, editor (New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1844), p. 109, General Order from September 26, 1780.

[2] George Washington, The Writings of George, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Ferdinand Andrews, 1840), Vol. VI, p. 36, to Brigadier General Nelson on August 20, 1778.

[3] America’s Founding Fathers believed that property rights are a foundational component of a free society. As Samuel Adams explained, “Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: first, a right to life; secondly, to liberty; thirdly, to property.” (Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams, Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1906), Vol. II, p. 351, from “The Rights of the Colonists.”) A person’s property is whatever he has exclusive right to possess and control. We have God-given rights to both internal property (thoughts, opinions, conscience, ideas, mind, talents) and external property (land, money, possessions, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly). Signer of the Constitution John Dickinson reveals the Founders’ view of how their right to property was being violated by the action of the English government, writing: “Men cannot be happy without freedom; nor free without security of property; nor so secure unless the sole power to dispose of it be lodged in themselves; therefore, no people can be free but where taxes are imposed upon them with their own consent.” (John Dickinson, The Life and Writings of John Dickinson, Paul Leicester Ford, editor (Philadelphia: The Historical Society of Philadelphia, 1895), p. 202, “An Address to ‘Friends and Countrymen’ on the Stamp Act,” November 1765.)

[4] William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (Philadelphia: James Webster, 1817), p. 51.

[5] William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (Philadelphia: James Webster, 1817), p. 58, later written by Patrick Henry on the back of the 1765 resolutions he presented relating to the Stamp Act.

[6] William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (Philadelphia: James Webster, 1817), p. 65.

[7] William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (Philadelphia: James Webster, 1817), p. 58, handwritten note by Patrick Henry on the back of resolutions he presented relating to the Stamp Act.

[8] William Wirt Henry, Patrick Henry, Life, Correspondence and Speeches (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1891), Vol. 1, p. 94. Patrick Henry’s Christian faith was common among our Founders. An affirmation of that strong faith is seen in his last will and testament, dated November 20, 1798, in which, after distributing his estate among his descendants, he concluded: “This is all the inheritance I can give to my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.” (Patrick Henry’s Will. From a photocopy in the author’s possession. The transcription can be found at The Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation, https://www.redhill.org/biography/henrys-will.)

[9] William Wirt Henry, Patrick Henry, Life, Correspondence and Speeches (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1891), Vol. 1, p. 101.

[10] Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1914), p. 8.

[11] See, for example, Samuel Stillman, Good News from a Far Country, A Sermon Preached at Boston, May 17, 1766, upon the Arrival of the Important News of the Repeal of the Stamp-Act (Boston: Kneeland & Adams, 1766), Evans #10503; and Nathaniel Appleton, A Thanksgiving Sermon on the Total Repeal of the Stamp-Act, Preached in Cambridge New-England, May 20^th, in the Afternoon preceding the Public Rejoicings of the Evening upon that Great Occasion (Boston: Edes and Gill, 1766), Evans #10230; and Jonathan Mayhew, The Snare Broken, A Thanksgiving-Discourse, Preached at the Desire of the West Church in Boston, N.E. Friday May 23, 1766, Occasioned by the Repeal of the Stamp-Act (Boston: R. & S. Draper, 1766), Evans #10389; and Elisha Fish, Joy and Gladness: A Thanksgiving Discourse, Preached in Upton, Wednesday, May 28, 1766; Occasioned by the Repeal of the Stamp-Act (Providence: Sarah Goddard and Co., 1767), Evans #10612; and David Sherman Rowland, Divine Providence Illustrated and Improved, A Thanksgiving Discourse, Preached (By Desire) in the Presbyterian, or Congregational Church in Providence, N.E. Wednesday June 4, 1766, Being His Majesty’s Birth Day, and Day of Rejoicing, occasioned by the Repeal of the Stamp-Act (Providence: Sarah Goddard and Co., n.d.), Evans #10483; and John Joachim Zubly, The Stamp-Act Repealed, A Sermon, Preached in the Meeting at Savannah in Georgia, June 25^th, 1766 (Savannah, 1766), Evans #10531; and Benjamin Troop, A Thanksgiving Sermon, upon the Occasion of the Glorious News of the Repeal of the Stamp Act; Preached in New-Concord, in Norwich, June 26, 1766 (New London: T. Green, 1766), Evans #10506.

[12] Francis Bernard, “A Proclamation for a Day of Public Thanksgiving,” issued on July 4, 1766, to be observed on July 24, 1766. Evans #10380.

[13] Charles Chauncy, A Discourse on “The Good News from a Far Country.” Delivered July 24^th. A Day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God, throughout the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay in New-England, on Occasion of the Repeal of the Stamp Act (Boston: Kneeland and Adams, 1766) (at: https://wallbuilders.com/sermon-stamp-act-repeal-1766/). Evans #10255.

[14] See, for example, Joseph Emerson, Thanksgiving Sermon Preach’d at Pepperrell, July 24^th1766, A Day Set Apart by Public Authority as a Day of Thanksgiving on the Account of the Repeal of the Stamp-Act (Boston: Edes and Gill, 1766), Evans #10293; and William Patten, A Discourse Delivered at Hallifax in the County of Plymouth, July 24^th1766, on the Day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God, throughout the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay in New England, for the Repeal of the Stamp-Act (Boston: D. Kneeland, 1766), Evans #10440.

[15] John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1856), Vol. X, p. 191, to Dr. Jedediah Morse on December 5, 1815.

[16] Alden Bradford, Memoir of the Life and Writings of Rev. Jonathan Mayhew, D.D. (Boston: C.C. Little & Co., 1838), pp. 427-430, to James Otis, June 8, 1766.

[17] See, for example, Mark Puls, Samuel Adams; Father of the American Revolution (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2006).

[18] George Bancroft, History of the United States (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1852), Vol. 5, pp. 194-195.

[19] Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams, Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907), Vol. III, pp. 304-305, to Benjamin Kent on July 27, 1776.

[20] William V. Wells, The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1865), Vol. I, pp. 496-497.

[21] Richard Frothingham, Life and Times of Joseph Warren (Boston: Little, Brown, & Company, 1865), p. 212, James Warren to Samuel Adams on December 8, 1772.

[22] Warren-Adams Letters (The Massachusetts Historical Society, 1917), Vol. I, p. 14, Samuel Adams to James Warren, December 9, 1772.

[23] Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams, Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1906), Vol. II, p. 355, “The Rights of the Colonists, a List of Violations of Rights and a Letter of Correspondence,” November 20, 1772.

[24] John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1856), Vol. X, p. 288, to Hezekiah Niles on February 13, 1818.

[25] Kate Mason Rowland, The Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 1737-1832, With His Correspondence and Public Papers (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1898), Vol. II, p. 358, to Rev. John Stanford on October 9, 1827.

[26] Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin (Philadelphia: William Duane, 1809), Vol. VI, p. 310, to Thomas Cushing on June 4, 1773, in which Franklin said, “They have no idea that any people can act from any other principle but that of interest; and they believe that three pence on a pound of tea, of which one does not perhaps drink ten pounds in a year, is sufficient to overcome all the patriotism of an American.”

[27] For more about the ships that attempted to land with tea, see: George Bancroft, History of the United States (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1854), Vol. VI, pp. 488, 525.

[28] The events leading up the Boston Tea Party are covered in Richard Frothingham, The Rise of the Republic of the United States (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1872), pp. 306-308; and George Bancroft, History of the United States (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1854), Vol. VI, pp. 482-487.

[29] Richard Frothingham, The Rise of the Republic of the United States (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1872), p. 309.

[30] “Great Britain: Parliament—The Boston Port Act,” March 31, 1774, The Avalon Project (at: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/boston_port_act.asp).

[31] For information about specific shipments that came into Boston from across the American colonies, see: George Bancroft, History of the United States (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1858), Vol. VII, pp. 73-75.

[32] Richard Frothingham, The Rise of the Republic of the United States (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1872), p. 324.

[33] Thomas Jefferson, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Julian P. Boyd, editor (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950), Vol. 1, pp. 105–107, “Resolution of the House of Burgesses Designating a Day of Fasting and Prayer, 24 May 1774.”

[34] Richard Frothingham, The Rise of the Republic of the United States (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1872), p. 324.

[35] John Adams,The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1856), Vol. X, p. 283, to Hezekiah Niles on February 13, 1818.

[36] The Journals of the American Congress, from 1774 to 1788 (Washington, D. C.: Way and Gideon, 1823), Vol. I, p. 8, September 6, 1774.

[37] The Journals of the American Congress, from 1774 to 1788 (Washington, D. C.: Way and Gideon, 1823), Vol. I, p. 8, September 7, 1774.

[38] Silas Deane, The Silas Deane Papers (New York: New York Historical Society, 1886), Vol. I, p. 20, to Elizabeth Deane on September 7, 1774. See also Letters of Delegates to Congress, Paul H. Smith, editor (Washington, D. C.: Library of Congress, 1976), Vol. I, p. 34, Silas Deane to Elizabeth Deane on September 7, 1774.

[39] Silas Deane, The Silas Deane Papers (New York: New York Historical Society, 1886), Vol. I, p. 20, to Elizabeth Deane on September 7, 1774. See also Letters of Delegates to Congress, Paul H. Smith, editor (Washington, D. C.: Library of Congress, 1976), Vol. I, p. 34, Silas Deane to Elizabeth Deane on September 7, 1774.

[40] John Adams, Letters of John Adams, Addressed to His Wife, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1841), Vol. I, pp. 23-24, to Abigail Adams on September 16, 1774.

[41] William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (New York: M’Elrath, Bangs & Co., 1834), p. 141, speech on March 23, 1775.

[42] William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (New York: M’Elrath, Bangs & Co., 1834), p. 141, speech on March 23, 1775.

[43] The London Chronicle (June 15-June 17, 1775), Vol. XXXVII, No. 2890, p. 2, excerpts from a letter by a member of the British Army noting orders were given to “seize….the bodies of Mess. Hancock and Adams, who were both attained and were at that place enforcing by all their influence the rebellious spirit of the Provincial Congress.”

[44] J.T. Headley, The Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution (New York: Charles Scribner, 1864), pp. 78-79.

[45] Jonas Clark, The Fate of Blood-Thirsty Oppressors and God’s Tender care of His Distressed People. A Sermon, Preached at Lexington, April 19, 1776. To Commemorate the Murder, Bloodshed and Commencement of Hostilities Between Great-Britain and America in that Town, by a Brigade of Troops of George III under Command of Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, on the Nineteen of April 1775. To Which is Added A Brief Narrative of the Principal Transactions of That Day (Boston: Powers and Willis, 1776), p. 5, “A Narrative & c.,” where he says, “for 800 disciplined troops of Great-Britain, without notice or provocation, to fall upon 60 or 70 undisciplined Americans.”

[46] Benson Lossing, A History of the United States for Families and Libraries (New York: Mason Brothers, 1860), p. 232.

[47] J.T. Headley, The Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution (New York: Charles Scribner, 1864), p. 79.

[48] J.T. Headley, The Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution (New York: Charles Scribner, 1864), p. 81.

[49] Governor Jonathan Trumbull, “A Proclamation” (for fasting and prayer), issued on March 22, 1775, to be observed on April 19, 1775. Evans #13879.

[50] Governor Jonathan Trumbull, “A Proclamation” (for fasting and prayer), issued on March 22, 1775, to be observed on April 19, 1775. Evans #13879.

[51] Journals of The Continental Congress (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1905), Vol. II, pp. 87-88, June 12, 1775 (a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer).

[52] George Bancroft, History of the United States (Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1860), Vol. VIII, pp. 130-132.

[53] There are countless scores of articles and books making this claim during the modern era, including Professor William Edelen, “Our founding presidents were not Christians,” Santa Barbara News-Press, February 4, 2001, G-5; Dr. Steven Morris, “The Founding Fathers Were Not Christians,” Free Inquiry, Fall 1995, p. 12; Rob Massey, “Authors of the Declaration were Enemies of Christ,” Sun Herald, July 3, 1999, editorial; Dr. Steven Morris, “America’s Unchristian Beginnings,” The Los Angeles Times, August 3, 1995, p. B-9; and many others.

[54] All colleges up until this time were started by Christian denominations or by Christian leaders, all with a primary mission of training Godly ministers. The instruction in these seminary/colleges covered theological training and also a Biblical worldview on all spheres of life (law, science, history, etc.). Twenty-nine signers of the Declaration attended such colleges, including John Adams, Samuel Adams, Braxton Carter, Charles Carroll, William Ellery, Elbridge Gerry, Lyman Hall, John Hancock, Benjamin Harrison, Joseph Hewes, William Hooper, Francis Hopkinson, Thomas Jefferson, Francis Lewis, Philip Livingston, Thomas Lynch, Arthur Middleton, Lewis Morris, Thomas Nelson Jr, William Paca, Robert Treat Paine, Benjamin Rush, James Smith, Richard Stockton, William Williams, James Wilson, John Witherspoon, Oliver Wolcott, and George Wythe.

[55] From the Last Will & Testament of Richard Stockton, dated May 20, 1780, on file at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

[56] From an autograph letter in WallBuilders’ possession written by Charles Carroll to Charles W. Wharton, Esq., September 27, 1825. See also, Lewis A. Leonard, Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (New York: Moffit, Yard & Co, 1918), p. 226.

[57] Lewis A. Leonard, Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (New York: Moffit, Yard & Co, 1918), pp. 256-257.

[58] Kate Mason Rowland, Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1890), Vol. II, pp. 373-374, will of Charles Carroll, December 1, 1718 (later replaced by a subsequent will not containing this specific phrase, although he re-expressed this same sentiment on several subsequent occasions throughout the latter years of his life).

[59] Benjamin Rush, A Memorial Containing Travels Through Life or Sundry Incidents in the Life of Dr. Benjamin Rush (Lanoraie: 1905), p. 127, “An Account of the Sundry Incidents in the Life of Benjamin Rush, Written by Himself.”

[60] Benjamin Rush, Letters of Benjamin Rush, L.H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1951), Vol. I, p. 521, to Jeremy Belknap on July 13, 1789.

[61] Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral & Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas & Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), p. 93, “A Defence of the Use of the Bible as a School Book.”

[62] Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral & Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas & Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), p. 93, “A Defence of the Use of the Bible as a School Book.”

[63] John Witherspoon, The Works of the Rev. John Witherspoon (Philadelphia: William Woodward, 1802), Vol. II, p. 349, “The Absolute Necessity of Salvation Through Christ,” January 2, 1758.

[64] John Witherspoon, The Works of the Rev. John Witherspoon (Philadelphia: William Woodward, 1802), Vol. II, p. 342, “The Absolute Necessity of Salvation Through Christ,” January 2, 1758.

[65] John Witherspoon, The Works of the Rev. John Witherspoon (Philadelphia: William Woodward, 1802), Vol. II, p. 344, “The Absolute Necessity of Salvation Through Christ,” January 2, 1758.

[66] John Witherspoon, The Works of the Rev. John Witherspoon (Philadelphia: William Woodward, 1802), Vol. II, p. 366, “The Absolute Necessity of Salvation Through Christ,” January 2, 1758.

[67] John Witherspoon, The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men. A Sermon Preached at Princeton on the 17^thof May 1776 (Philadelphia: 1777), p. 33.

[68] Robert Treat Paine, The Papers of Robert Treat Paine, Stephen T. Riley and Edward W. Hanson, editors (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1992), Vol. I, p. 49, Robert Treat Paine’s Confession of Faith, 1749.

[69] Robert Treat Paine, The Papers of Robert Treat Paine, Stephen T. Riley and Edward W. Hanson, editors (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1992), Vol. I, p. 48, Robert Treat Paine’s Confession of Faith, 1749.

[70] From the Last Will & Testament of Robert Treat Paine, attested May 11, 1814.

[71] From the Last Will & Testament of Samuel Adams, attested December 29, 1790. See also Samuel Adams, Life & Public Services of Samuel Adams, William V. Wells, editor (Boston: Little, Brown & Co, 1865), Vol. III, p. 379, Last Will and Testament of Samuel Adams.

[72] John Hancock, “A Proclamation for a Day of Public Thanksgiving,” issued on October 5, 1791, to be observed on November 17, 1791.

[73] John Hancock, “A Proclamation for a Day of Public Thanksgiving,” issued on October 29, 1788, to be observed on November 27, 1788.

[74] John Hancock, “A Proclamation for a Day of Public Thanksgiving,” issued on October 25, 1792, to be observed on November 29, 1792.

[75] A.J. Dallas Reports of Cases Ruled and Adjudged in the Courts of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: P. Byrne, 1806), p. 39, Respublica v. John Roberts, Pa. Sup. Ct. 1778.

[76] William B. Reed, Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed (Philadelphia: Lindsay and Blakiston, 1847), Vol. II, pp. 36-37.

[77] Letters of Delegates to Congress: January 1, 1776-May 15, 1776, Paul H. Smith, editor (Washington DC: Library of Congress, 1978), Vol. 3, pp. 502-503, Oliver Wolcott to Laura Wolcott on April 10, 1776.

[78] Lewis Henry Boutell, The Life of Roger Sherman (Chicago: A.C. McClurg and Company, 1896), p. 272, “Confession of Faith,” handwritten by Roger Sherman, c. 1788.

[79] Correspondence Between Roger Sherman and Samuel Hopkins (Worcester, MA: Charles Hamilton, 1889), p. 9, from Roger Sherman to Samuel Hopkins, June 28, 1790.

[80] Richard Henry Lee, Memoir of the Life of Richard Henry Lee, and His Correspondence, Richard Henry Lee, editor (Philadelphia: H.C. Carey and I. Lea, 1825), Vol. I, p. 201.

[81] John Quincy Adams, An Address Delivered at the Request of the Committee of Arrangements for the Celebrating the Anniversary of Independence at the City of Washington on the Fourth of July 1821 upon the Occasion of Reading The Declaration of Independence (Cambridge: Hilliard and Metcalf, 1821), p. 28. See also, John Quincy Adams, An Oration Delivered Before the Inhabitants of the Town of Newburyport, at Their Request, on the Sixty-First Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1837 (Newburyport: Charles Whipple, 1837), pp. 5-6.

[82] Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives Made During the First Session of the Thirty-Third Congress (Washington: A.O.P. Nicholson, 1854), pp. 8-9, “H. Rep. 124: Chaplains in Congress and in the Army and Navy,” March 27, 1854.

[83] This anecdote is reported by many sources, including John F. Watson, The Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania in Olden Times, Being a Collection of Memoirs, Anecdotes, and Incidents of the City and Its Inhabitants, and of the Earliest Settlements of the Inland Part of Pennsylvania from the Days of the Founders (Philadelphia: Elijah Thomas, 1857), Vol. I, p. 399n. This account has been repeated in numerous other sources over the decades.

[84] Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, with Notes and A Life of the Author, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan and Dennet, 1844), Vol. 1, p. 408.

[85] Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, with Notes and A Life of the Author, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan and Dennet, 1844), Vol. 1, p. 408.

[86] Benjamin Rush, Letters of Benjamin Rush, L.H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1951), Vol. II, p. 1090, to John Adams on July 20, 1811.

[87] T.R. Fehrenbach, Greatness to Spare (Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1968), p. 23.

[88] T.R. Fehrenbach, Greatness to Spare (Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1968), p. 247.

[89] John Adams, Letters of John Adams, Addressed to His Wife, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1841), Vol. I, p. 218, to Abigail Adams on April 26, 1777.

[90] John Adams, Letters of John Adams, Addressed to His Wife, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1841), Vol. I, p. 128, to Abigail Adams on July 3, 1776.

[91] Warren-Adams Letters (Massachusetts Historical Society, 1917), Vol. 1, p. 4, John Dickinson to James Otis on December 5, 1767. See also Mercy Otis Warren, History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution, Interspersed with Biographical, Political, and Moral Observations (Boston: Manning and Loring, 1805), Vol. I, p. 414.

[92] Thomas Jefferson, A Summary View of the Rights of British America Set Forth in Some Resolutions Intended for the Inspection of the Present Delegates of the People of Virginia Now in Convention (Williamsburg: Clementina Rind, 1774), p. 43.

[93] Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1794), p. 237, “Query XVIII.”

[94] The Life, Public Services, Addresses, and Letters of Elias Boudinot, L.L.D. President of the Continental Congress, J.J. Boudinot, editor (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1896), Vol. II, pp. 358-359, 378, “Oration Before the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey,” July 4, 1793.

[95] George Washington, The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscripts, John C. Fitzpatrick, editor (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1932), Vol. 5, pp. 244-245, General Orders, July 9, 1776.

[96] Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905-1922), Vol. II, pp. 87-88, day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, June 12, 1775; Vol. IV, pp. 208-209, day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, March 16, 1776; Vol. VI, p. 1022, day of fasting and humiliation, December 11, 1776; Vol. IX, pp. 854-855, day of thanksgiving and praise, November 1, 1777; Vol. X, p. 229-230, day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, March 7, 1778; Vol. XII, p. 1139, day of thanksgiving and praise, November 17, 1778; Vol. XIII, pp. 343-344, day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, March 20, 1779; Vol. XV, pp. 1191-1193, day of thanksgiving, October 20, 1779; Vol. XVI, pp. 252-253, day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, March 11, 1780; Vol. XVIII, pp. 950-951, day of thanksgiving and prayer, October 18, 1780; Vol. XIX, pp. 284-286, day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, March 20, 1781; Vol. XXI, pp. 1074-1076, day of thanksgiving and prayer, October 26, 1781; Vol. XXII, pp. 137-138, day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, March 19, 1782; Vol. XXIII, p. 647, day of thanksgiving, October 11, 1782; Vol. XXV, pp. 699-701, day of thanksgiving, October 18, 1783.

[97] Letters of Delegates to Congress, Paul H. Smith, editor (Washington: Library of Congress, 1981), Vol. 7, p. 311, n1.

[98] Letters of Delegates to Congress, Paul H. Smith, editor (Washington: Library of Congress, 1981), Vol. 7, p. 311, “Committee on Publishing a Bible to Sundry Philadelphia Printers,” on July 7, 1777.

[99] Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907), Vol. VIII, p. 734, September 11, 1777.

[100] Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907), Vol. VIII, p. 735, September 11, 1777.

[101] Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives Made During the First Session of the Thirty-Third Congress (Washington: A.O.P. Nicholson, 1854), p. 3.

[102] Memorial of Robert Aitken to Congress, 21 January 1781, obtained from the National Archives, Washington, DC. See also the introduction to the Holy Bible As Printed by Robert Aitken and Approved & Recommended by the Congress of the United States of America in 1782 (Philadelphia: R. Aitken, 1782; reprinted New York: Arno Press, 1968).

[103] Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1914), Vol. XXIII, p. 572, September 12, 1782.

[104] Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907), Vol. XXIII, pp. 572-573, September 12, 1782.

[105] Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1914), Vol. XXIII, p. 574, September 12, 1782.

[106] Benjamin Talmadge, Memoir of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge, Prepared by Himself at the Request of His Children (New York: Thomas Holman, 1858), pp. 10-11.

[107] Washington Irving, Life of George Washington (New York: G.P. Putnam & Co., 1856), Vol. II, pp. 334-335.

[108] Francis Drake, Life and Correspondence of Henry Knox, Major-General in the American Revolutionary War (Boston: Samuel G. Drake, 1873), p. 36, to Mrs. Knox, December 28, 1776.

[109] Francis Drake, Life and Correspondence of Henry Knox, Major-General in the American Revolutionary War (Boston: Samuel G. Drake, 1873), p. 37, to Mrs. Knox, December 28, 1776.

[110] George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Russell, Odiorne, and Metcalf, 1834), Vol. V, p. 104n, to John A. Washington on October 18, 1777.

[111] Paul Allen, A History of the American Revolution (Baltimore: William Woody Jr, 1822), Vol. I, pp. 107-111.

[112] Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907), Vol. IX, pp. 854-855, day of thanksgiving and praise, November 1, 1777.

[113] Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907), Vol. IX, pp. 854-855, day of thanksgiving and praise, November 1, 1777.

[114] Sir Edward Creasy, The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World from Marathon to Waterloo (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1918), pp. 298-326.

[115] George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Russell, Odiorne, and Metcalf, 1835), Vol. VII, p. 256, to John Laurens on October 13, 1780.

[116] George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Russell, Odiorne, and Metcalf, 1835), Vol. VII, p. 220, to the President of Congress on September 26, 1780.

[117] Revolutionary Orders of General Washington, Issued During the Years 1778, ‘80, ‘81, & ‘82, Henry Whiting, editor (New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1844), p. 109, September 26, 1780.

[118] George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Russell, Odiorne, and Metcalf, 1835), Vol. VII, p. 256, to John Laurens on October 13, 1780.

[119] Journals of The American Congress: from 1774 to 1788 (Washington: Way and Gideon, 1823), Vol. III, pp. 537-538, October 18, 1780.

[120] Correspondence of Charles, First Marquis Cornwallis,Charles Ross, editor (London: John Murray, 1859), p. 129, Earl Cornwallis to Sir Henry Clinton, October 20, 1781.

[121] Journals of the American Congress: from 1774 to 1788 (Washington: Way and Gideon, 1823), Vol. III, p. 679, October 24, 1781.

[122] George Washington, The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscripts, John C. Fitzpatrick, editor (Washington: US Government Printing Office, 1937), Vol. 23, pp. 245, 247, After-Orders attached to General Orders, October 20, 1781.

[123] The New Annual Register or General Repository of History, Politics, and Literature for the Year 1783 (London: G. Robinson, 1784), p. 113, “The Definitive Treaty of Peace and Friendship Between His Brittanic Majesty and the United States of America, Signed at Paris the 3^rdDay of September, 1783.”

[124] Jedidiah Morse, A Sermon, Exhibiting the Present Dangers and Consequent Duties of the Citizens of the United States of America. Delivered at Charlestown. April 25, 1799, The Day of the National Fast (MA: Printed by Samuel Etheridge, 1799), p. 9. Evans #35838.

[125] Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (New York: S. Converse, 1828), s.v., “providence.”

[126] William Shirley, “A Proclamation for a Public Fast,” proclaimed on October 6, 1746, for a fast day on October 16, 1764. Evans #5807.

[127] Narrative and Critical History of America, Justin Windsor, editor (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1887), Vol. V, Part 1, p. 147.

[128] William Shirley, “A Proclamation for a General Thanksgiving,” proclaimed on November 7, 1746 for a day of Thanksgiving on November 27, 1764, Evans #5809.

[129] Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905-1922), Vol. II, pp. 87-88, day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, June 12, 1775; Vol. IV, pp. 208-209, day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, March 16, 1776; Vol. VI, p. 1022, day of fasting and humiliation, December 11, 1776; Vol. IX, pp. 854-855, day of thanksgiving and praise, November 1, 1777; Vol. X, p. 229-230, day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, March 7, 1778; Vol. XII, p. 1139, day of thanksgiving and praise, November 17, 1778; Vol. XIII, pp. 343-344, day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, March 20, 1779; Vol. XV, pp. 1191-1193, day of thanksgiving, October 20, 1779; Vol. XVI, pp. 252-253, day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, March 11, 1780; Vol. XVIII, pp. 950-951, day of thanksgiving and prayer, October 18, 1780; Vol. XIX, pp. 284-286, day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, March 20, 1781; Vol. XXI, pp. 1074-1076, day of thanksgiving and prayer, October 26, 1781; Vol. XXII, pp. 137-138, day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, March 19, 1782; Vol. XXIII, p. 647, day of thanksgiving, October 11, 1782; Vol. XXV, pp. 699-701, day of thanksgiving, October 18, 1783.

[130] Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1906), Vol. IV, p. 209, March 16, 1776.

[131] Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907), Vol. IX, p. 855, November 1, 1777.

[132] Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1909), Vol. XV, p. 1192, October 20, 1779.

[133] Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1910), Vol. XVIII, pp. 950-951, October 18, 1780.

[134] See, for example, Samuel West, A Sermon Preached Before the Honorable House of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, May 29, 1776 (Boston: John Gill, 1776), inside information page, Evans #15217; and Samuel Webster, A Sermon Preached Before the Honorable Council, and the Honorable House of Representatives of the State of the Massachusetts-Bay in New-England. At Boston, May 28, 1777 (Boston: Edes & Gill, 1777), inside front cover, Evans #15703; and Jonas Clark, A Sermon Preached Before His Excellency John Hancock, Esq; Governor; His Honor Thomas Cushing, Esq; Lieutenant-Governor; The Honorable Council, and the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, May 30, 1781 (Boston: John Gill, 1781), inside information page, Evans #17114.J

[135] Deloss Love, The Fast and Thanksgiving Days of New England (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1895), pp. 464-514. DeLoss Love lists some 1,735 proclamations issued between 1620 and 1815, in a non-exclusive list. Of those, 284 were issued by churches and 1,451 by civil authorities. These, however, are only a part of what were issued; for example, WallBuilders owns hundreds of additional proclamations not listed in Love’s work. While the exact number of government-issued prayer proclamations is unknown, it is certain that they number in the thousands.

Lesson 2: Colonial Period (mid 1600s – 1765)

As was apparent in Lesson 1, Christianity was central to the planting of the first American colonies, including Virginia (1607), Plymouth Plantation (1620), Massachusetts Bay (1630), Maryland (1634), Rhode Island (1636), and Connecticut (1638). Christianity was also very evident in the founding charters and laws of the rest of the thirteen colonies.

Pennsylvania, 1682

In 1681, King Charles II gave Quaker minister William Penn the land between New York and Maryland to repay a debt Charles owed Penn’s father. Penn accepted the land; but understanding that it was not actually the king’s to give, Penn went to America and proceeded to purchase the land from the Indians, at the price they set.[1] In fact, he had to purchase some of the same land multiple times because several different tribes claimed it. [2] Of this land, he said, “My God that has given it to me…will, I believe, bless and make it the seed of a nation.”[3]

In 1682, Penn wrote the Great Law of Pennsylvania, establishing“laws as shall best preserve true Christian and civil liberty, in opposition to all unChristian, licentious, and unjust practices, whereby God may have his due, Caesar his due, and the people their due.” [4]

Penn knew that good laws were necessary in order to have good government, but he also identified something even more important, explaining:

Governments, like clocks, go from the motion men give them….Wherefore governments rather depend upon men, than men upon governments. Let men be good and the government cannot be bad. If it be ill, they will cure it. But if men be bad, let the government be never so good, they will endeavor to warp and spoil it to their turn. I know some say, “Let us have good laws, and no matter for the men that execute them.” But let them consider that though good laws do well, good men do better; for good laws may want [lack] good men and be abolished or invaded by ill men; but good men will never want [lack] good laws, nor suffer [allow] ill ones. [5]

Penn realized that to produce good government the quality of leaders was more important than the quality of laws, although both were necessary. He understood that rarely do bad people follow good laws, or good people enact bad laws; so while good civil laws are important, good character in a leader is even more important. Penn once told the Russian Czar, Peter the Great, “If thou wouldst rule well, thou must rule for God—and to do that, thou must be ruled by Him.” [6] Penn was simply espousing the position set forth in the Bible in Proverbs 29:2, which declares: “When the righteous rule, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.”

Consequently, the Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges (1701) contained qualifications for officials whereby:

[A]ll persons who also profess to believe in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, shall be capable…to serve this government in any capacity, both legislatively and executively. [7]

Penn was a wise lawgiver, and his great wisdom was “derived from that book of Gospel statutes.” [8] Penn is honored in the US Capitol in the House of Representatives as one of the world’s greatest lawgivers.

Georgia

Fifty years after the founding of Pennsylvania, Georgia became the last of the original thirteen colonies to be established. (Several other colonies had been founded during those intervening fifty years.) Instrumental in Georgia’s founding was the Rev. Dr. Thomas Bray (the founder of England’s Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts and also of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge [9]). Bray founded an organization to send missionaries to America, [10] and many of his associates [11] joined with General James Oglethorpe to found the colony of Georgia Colony in 1732. [12]

The original settlers to Georgia numbered 114 and were soon followed by Moravians (Protestant Christians from Czechoslovakia) and other persecuted Christians and Jews. When that original group touched shore in 1733, they knelt in thanks to God, declaring: “Our end in leaving our native country was not to avoid want, God having given us plenty of temporal blessings; nor to gain the dung or dross of riches and honor; but singly this: to save our souls; to live wholly to the glory of God.” [13] The object of the devout Oglethorpe and others was “to make Georgia a religious colony.” [14] Thus, when the city of Savannah (the first city in the colony) was laid out, it was done with numerous religious activities and ceremonies. [15]

Oglethorpe invited the Revs. John and Charles Wesley, and the Rev. George Whitefield from England to serve as chaplains in the colony, oversee Indian affairs, and build orphanages. Whitefield spent much time in Georgia, but his influence grew well beyond its borders. He eventually had a dramatic impact on all the colonies through his role in the national revival known as the First Great Awakening, which was foundational in preparing Americans in the Biblical character and worldview necessary for independence.

Other Early Colonies

While not every American colony has been specifically mentioned thus far, the influence of Christianity was nevertheless evident in all of them. Here are a few more examples.

New York: Early Governor Richard Nicolls, in his February 1665 letter establishing a legislature for the colony, recommended the people choose rulers with Godly characteristics, the result of which would be “the propagation of true religion amongst us.” [16] And the New York Charter of Liberties and Privileges (October 30, 1683) declared: “No person or persons which profess faith in God by Jesus Christ shall at any time be any ways molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question for difference in opinion.”[17]

New Jersey: The Fundamentals of West New Jersey (1681) declared: “[I]t hath pleased God to bring us into this Province…that we may be a people to the praise and honor of His name.”[18]

Carolina: The Fundamental Constitution of Carolina (1669) was written with the help of noted English philosopher and lay theologian John Locke, an outspoken Christian. That constitution required: “No man shall be permitted to be a [citizen] of Carolina or to have any estate or habitation within it that doth not acknowledge a God, and that God is publicly and solemnly to be worshipped.”[19] Religious freedom was also acknowledged for others, including: “Jews, [non-Christians], and other dissenters from the purity of Christian religion.” [20]

The Carolina colony was divided into North and South Carolina in 1710, and in South Carolina’s An Act to Ascertain the Manner and Form of Electing Members to Represent the Province (1721), one qualification for voting or holding public office was that of “professing the Christian religion.”[21] Additionally, officials “shall take the following oath on the Holy Evangelists [that is on the Bible, including the New Testament]: I______, do sincerely swear that I am duly qualified to be chosen and serve…So help me God.[22]

This same pattern of open acknowledgment of God and Christianity was apparent in each of the colonies. In fact, during the colonization period of America, at least 128 different covenants, compacts, charters, and constitutions were written. Of these, eighty-six were written in the American colonies, and forty-two were written in England for the colonists, [23] but the Christian element was readily apparent throughout. These were the foundational civil documents of the original colonies, and subsequently of the thirteen states that comprised the United States of America.

Pastors in Public Affairs in the 1600s

*Ministers were the primary educators in early America.*

Clergymen in the early colonies had a significant positive impact on both the personal lives of citizens and the public affairs of the day. For example:

1619: The Rev. William Wickham served in Virginia’s original General Assembly—the first elected governing body in America. [24]
1620: The Rev. John Robinson shaped the Mayflower Compact—the first governing document written in America.[25]
1636: Harvard—six ministers helped found the first successful college in America.[26]
1636: The Rev. Roger Williams and Rev. John Clarke founded the colony of Rhode Island.[27]
1639: The Rev. Thomas Hooker and the Rev. John Davenport founded the colony of Connecticut and helped produce the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut—the first constitution ever written in America.[28]
1641: The Rev. Nathaniel Ward wrote the Massachusetts Body of Liberties—the first bill of rights in America.[29]
1681: Quaker minister William Penn founded Pennsylvania and wrote its Frame of Government. [30]

These are only a few examples of the scores of ministers who had a beneficial public impact on policy in the seventeenth century (the 1600s).

The Role of the Church and the Clergy in the Cultivation of Liberty

Early author David Gregg correctly observed of the early American republic: “The people made the laws, and the churches made the people.” [31] Although the church as an official ecclesiastical body did not directly hold political power or specifically make civil law, the power of Bible teachings in the lives of citizens and the community indisputably had a wholesome influence. As affirmed by French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville in his famous book Democracy in America:

Alexis de Tocqueville

Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other….Upon my arrival in the United States, the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more did I perceive the great political consequences resulting from this state of things, to which I was unaccustomed. In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other; but in America I found that they were intimately united, and that they reigned in common over the same country. [32]

Another early French visitor to America was Achille Murat, who penned A Moral and Political Sketch of the United States of North America (1833). Unlike De Tocqueville, Murat was openly hostile to Christianity, declaring that “its [America’s] religion is the only feature which disgusts a foreigner.”[33] Nonetheless, he saw the influence of Christianity and the Bible throughout every aspect of America’s culture, reporting:

[T]here is no country in which the people are so religious as in the United States…The great number of religious societies existing in the United States is truly surprising: there are some of them for everything. For instance, societies to distribute the Bible; to distribute tracts; to encourage religious journals; to convert, civilize, educate the savages; to marry the preachers; to take care of their widows and orphans; to preach, extend, purify, preserve, reform the faith; to build chapels, endow congregations, support seminaries; catechize and convert sailors, Negroes, and loose women; to secure the observance of Sunday and prevent blasphemy by prosecuting the violators; to establish Sunday schools where young ladies teach reading and the catechism to little rogues, male and female; to prevent drunkenness, and so forth.[34]

Despite his personal dislike for religion, Murat nevertheless conceded that:

While a death-struggle is waging in Europe…it is curious to observe the tranquility which prevails in the United States.[35]

So even those who disliked Christianity and the Bible openly acknowledged its powerful positive influence on America.

Thus, early American clergy, by their teaching of the Bible and its principles, were the primary shapers of thinking during the colonial period. As explained by Yale professor Harry Stout: “The average weekly church-goer in New England (and there were far more church-goers than church members) listened to something like seven thousand sermons in a lifetime, totaling somewhere around fifteen thousand hours of concentrated listening.” [36] The sermons and writings of the clergy had a definite impact on the thinking of both leaders and the people.The influence of clergy was also felt with their training of the rising generations. For example, many noted Founding Fathers (including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Mason, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Rush, Noah Webster, and scores of others) were personally tutored by ministers. And other youth who attended college without the aid of such tutors were also directly influenced by the clergy, for clergy were frequently the president of the colleges as well as their professors.

The Rev. John Wise

Many ministers could be singled out to show their significant impact, but the Rev. John Wise, (a clergyman in Massachusetts in the late 1600s and early 1700s) is worthy of special notice. He has been identified as one of the six most influential persons in shaping the American thinking that led to independence.[37]

As early as 1687, the Rev. Wise was teaching that “taxation without representation is tyranny,”[38] the “consent of the people” was the foundation of government,[39] and that “every man must be acknowledged equal to every man.”[40] If this language sounds strikingly similar to that later found in the Declaration of Independence, there is a good reason.

In 1772, with the American War for Independence looming on the horizon, leading patriots reprinted two of Wise’s works (which were distributed by Sons of Liberty, along with others) to reintroduce core Biblical principles of government to the thinking citizens of that day. [41] The first printing sold so fast that a second reprint was quickly issued,[42] and many of the points made by Wise in that work subsequently appeared four years later in the language of the Declaration of Independence. As historian Benjamin Franklin Morris affirmed in 1864:

[S]ome of the most glittering sentences in the immortal Declaration of Independence are almost literal quotations from this [1772 reprinted] essay of John Wise….It was used as a political text-book in the great struggle for freedom.[43]

Decades later in 1926 when President Calvin Coolidge delivered a speech on the 150^thanniversary of the Declaration of Independence, he similarly acknowledged:

[T]hese thoughts [in the Declaration] can very largely be traced back to what John Wise was writing in 1710. He said, “Every man must be acknowledged equal to every man.” Again, “The end of all good government is to cultivate humanity and promote the happiness of all and the good of every man in all his rights, his life, liberty, estate, honor, and so forth”….His works were reprinted in 1772 and have been declared to have been nothing less than a textbook of liberty for our Revolutionary fathers.[44]

But Wise not only advocated the Biblical principles of civil liberty, he also stood boldly in their defense. For example, when British-appointed Governor Edmund Andros tried to seize the charters of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, revoke their representative governments, and force the establishment of the British Anglican Church upon them, Wise was a key leader against Andros’ plan. [45] He was imprisoned for his resistance but remained an unflinching voice for freedom, forcefully asserting that representative government was God’s ordained plan in both Church and State.[46]

It was Christian ministers such as John Wise (and scores like him) who, through their writings, countless sermons, and bold leadership not only helped found free governments in America but also laid the intellectual basis for American independence.

The First Great Awakening

America was originally founded on the teachings of the Bible, but it is a sad truth of both history and human nature that just because something begins in a good manner does not mean it will remain that way.

The early colonists truly were, by and large, sincerely pious and devout, relying on the Bible, and guided by wholesome motives. But having been so in the past does not guarantee it will continue into the future. Each generation must always decide for itself whether to obey and keep lit the internal flame of God’s Word; and by the time Georgia (the last colony) was established (well over a century after the founding of the first colonies), America was experiencing a marked lull in religion.

*George Whitefield preached to large crowds throughout the colonies.*

Famous minister Jonathan Edwards described Massachusetts (originally the land of the Pilgrims and Puritans) as experiencing a “degenerate time” with “dullness of religion.” [47] And in Pennsylvania (founded by Quaker minister William Penn), the Rev. Samuel Blair (who later became a chaplain of Congress) likewise affirmed that “religion lay, as it were, dying and ready to expire its last breath of life in this part of the visible church.[48] By the 1720s and 1730s, the excitement and enthusiasm of Christian life had departed from many people and their churches. A great American spiritual awakening was needed—and it occurred, impacting not only America but other nations as well. This revival, known as the First Great Awakening, lasted from 1730-1770. It occurred through the hard work and leadership of ministers such as the Revs. George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, William Tennant, Samuel Davies, and many others who helped set the colonies aflame spiritually.

Benjamin Franklin (who later became a prominent Founding Father) developed a close friendship with the Rev. George Whitefield and often heard him preach. Franklin appreciated the great impact the revival had:

It was wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seemed as if all the world were growing religious so [that] one could not walk through the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street. [49]

For thirty-four years, Whitefield traveled up and down the colonies, preaching some 18,000 times, drawing huge crowds in churches, streets, and open fields.[50] In fact, it is estimated that an amazing eighty percent of all Americans actually heard him speak. [51] Thousands of people were converted, and churches were filled. Godliness swept the colonies, and a love for the Bible and its teachings was renewed among citizens and families.

Here are others of the many ministers who played important roles that contributed to the rekindling of practical Biblical faith in America.

The Rev. Elisha Williams

The Rev. Williams of Connecticut was a schoolteacher, state representative, judge, ambassador, and president of Yale. Greatly influenced by the Rev. George Whitefield, he was not only a chaplain of New England’s military forces during the French and Indian War but also became a colonel and led troops in the field. In 1744, he wrote The Essential Rights and Liberties of Protestants, which contained a clear and full explanation of the Biblical principles of equality, liberty, and property. The ideas that he preached during the revival were key in preparing people for the War for Independence a few decades later.

The Rev. Samuel Davies

The Rev. Davies was an influential pastor in Virginia who also served as a lawyer, ambassador to England, and president of Princeton College. He is considered the greatest pulpit orator in American history.[52]

When Patrick Henry was a young boy, his mother joined the church where Davies pastored. She always took Patrick to church with her, and each Sunday as they rode home in their buggy, Mrs. Henry and Patrick would review the sermon. Significantly, hearing the great Davies preach week after week greatly influenced the development of Patrick Henry’s own oratorical skills. As affirmed by an early biographer, Henry’s “early example of eloquence…was Mr. Davies, and the effect of his teaching upon [Henry’s] after life may be plainly traced.”[53]

Henry, who became one of the most noted orators among the Founding Fathers, affirmed that Davies was “the greatest orator he ever heard”[54] but Thomas Jefferson later called Henry“the greatest orator that ever lived.”[55] Clearly, Henry had learned from the best.

Jonathan Mayhew, “Father of Civil Liberty”

The Rev. Mayhew of Massachusetts was the first clergyman to begin preaching resistance to England’s tyranny. In fact, his 1750 sermon Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission[56] helped form the basis of an early motto of the American Revolution: “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.”[57]

In 1765, the British passed the onerous Stamp Act. Resistance in the colonies to that measure was organized and widespread. Under unified pressure from both civil and religious leaders, the Stamp Act was eventually repealed.

Mayhew, having witnessed the power of that unified stand, wrote to James Otis (mentor of Sam Adams, John Hancock, and other leading patriots), telling him: “You have heard of communion [i.e., unity]of the churches….[W]hile I was thinking of this,…[the] importance of a communion [unity]of the colonies appeared to me in a strong light.” [58] Mayhew thus proposed “to send circulars to all the rest [of the colonies][59] on key issues. This suggestion later became reality through what became known as the Committees of Correspondence, which distributed news flashes and educational materials among the various colonies in an effort to achieve unity in both thinking and action.

Jonathan Mayhew’s impact in numerous areas was substantial. In fact, John Adams affirmed that he was one of the individuals “most conspicuous, the most ardent, and influential” in the “awakening and revival of American principles and feelings” that led to our independence. [60]

Some Great Awakening Sermon Titles

*An Election Sermon preached in 1790 before the government leaders in Massachusetts*

Sermons preached and printed during the First Great Awakening helped bring about Biblical thinking on numerous issues, including civil liberties, the proper use of the military, limited government, equal rights, the wrongs of slavery, and much else. The titles of sermons from that era affirm that Biblical truth was shown to be relevant to all areas of life, including not only a personal but also political issues. A few of those sermons addressing civil topics included:

Civil Magistrates Must Be Just, Ruling in the Fear of God (1747), by Charles Chauncey [61]
Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers (1750), by Jonathan Mayhew [62]
Religion and Patriotism, the Constituents of a Good Soldier (1755), by Samuel Davies [63]
The Advice of Joab to the Host of Israel Going Forth to War (1759), by Thaddeus Maccarty [64]
Good News from a Far Country (sermon on the repeal of the Stamp Act) (1766), by Charles Chauncey [65]
An Oration upon the Beauties of Liberty (1773), by John Allen [66]
Scriptural Instructions to Civil Rulers (1774), by Samuel Sherwood [67]
Jesus Christ the True King (1778), by Peter Powers [68]
(This sermon resulted in the political cry “No King but King Jesus!”[69]

These sermon topics (and countless others) demonstrate that church leaders truly believed (and taught the nation) that there was nothing in life that the Bible did not address, directly or indirectly. Early pastors were indispensable in shaping America and our unique view of government and liberty. As early historian Alice Baldwin affirmed:

There is not a right asserted in the Declaration of Independence which had not been discussed by the New England clergy before 1763. [70]

Baldwin further affirmed, “The Constitutional Convention and the written Constitution were the children of the pulpit.”[71] No wonder Founding Father John Adams openly rejoiced that the“pulpits have thundered,”[72] further affirming that:

The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were….the general principles of Christianity….I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God; and that those principles of liberty are as unalterable as human nature.[73]

There would have been no American War for Independence without the ideas and thoughts preached across America during the First Great Awakening. Significantly, the Founding Fathers who gave us our remarkable governing documents grew up during that revival—it molded their faith, character, and worldview, preparing them to give birth to an exceptional nation—the first truly Christian constitutional republic in history. But not only were our Founders shaped by the Bible and its teachings, many of them were even ministers of the Gospel.

Founding Fathers Who Were Ministers

*Rev. John Witherspoon trained many of the men who established America as an independent nation.*

The Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He had been a pastor in Scotland and came to America in 1768 to become president of the College of New Jersey (now called Princeton). He was elected to the Continental Congress and served on over l00 congressional committees.[74] He is said to have had more influence on the monetary policies found in the Constitution than any other individual. [75]

Witherspoon was not only directly involved in government as a member of Congress, but through his role as an educator he shaped many of the men who shaped America. During his tenure as president of the College of New Jersey (i.e., Princeton), there were 478 graduates. Of these, at least 86 became active in civil government and included one US president, one vice-president, 10 cabinet members, 21 senators, 39 congressmen, 12 governors, a Supreme Court justice, and one Attorney General of the United States (and these are only those who served at the national level; many others held local and state offices). In fact, nearly one-fifth of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, one-sixth of the delegates of the Constitutional Convention, and one-fifth of the members of the first federal Congress that framed the Bill of Rights were graduates of the College of New Jersey. [76]

Another signer of the Declaration who was a minister was Robert Treat Paine, a chaplain in the War for Independence who later became the attorney general of Massachusetts and a justice on the state supreme court. And signer William Williams was a licensed Baptist minister who filled various pulpits, and signer Lyman Hall was an ordained Congregationalist minister who later became governor of Georgia.

There were also several ministers among the signers of the Constitution. They included the Rev. Abraham Baldwin, who was a chaplain in the War for Independence and taught divinity at Yale. He founded the University of Georgia as a school to train Gospel ministers. He also served in the first US House of Representatives (where he helped frame the Bill of Rights) and then the US Senate. And Hugh Williamson was a licensed preacher of the Presbyterian Church who likewise served in the first US Congress, where he, too, helped frame the Bill of Rights. Roger Sherman (the only Founding Father to sign all four founding documents: the Articles of Association, 1774; the Declaration of Independence, 1776; the Articles of Confederation, 1781; and the US Constitution, 1787; and he also helped frame the Bill of Rights), was a noted lay theologian, penning multiple pieces on theological issues.

And there were numerous ministers in the first federal Congress that framed the Bill of Rights. In addition to those just mentioned were the Revs. Frederick A. C. Muhlenberg, Abiel Foster, Benjamin Contee, John Peter Muhlenberg, and Paine Wingate. In fact, the Rev. Frederick A. C. Muhlenberg was elected the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, where he became one of only two individuals to sign the Bill of Rights.

Other Ministers

Clergy also contributed much to America’s freedoms and civil liberties in a variety of other arenas. On the military side, many clergymen experienced active combat and led soldiers in battle, even becoming military generals. [77] On the political side, in addition to the ministers already named among the signers, Baptist ministers Isaac Backus and John Leland were lobbyists for religious freedom in the 1780s, working with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. They became significant influences in helping provide the religious freedom protections of the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. And the Rev. Manassas Cutler was an author of the Northwest Ordinance (written in 1787), under which thirty-two territories eventually became states in the United States. [78] And forty-four clergymen were elected as delegates to ratify the US Constitution. [79] There are many more that could also be named, making clear that the number of clergy who held public office or directly influenced public policy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was large.[80]

Other Significant Clergy-Statesmen

Ministers continued to be engaged in civil affairs throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. For example, the Rev. Charles Finney led the fight against slavery. US President James Garfield was a preacher, college president, military general, and then a Member of Congress, where he helped end slavery and pass numerous civil rights laws. And the Revs. Lyman Beecher, D.L. Moody, and Billy Sunday stood against alcohol abuse and for women’s rights. Others built hospitals and provided leadership for various charitable organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Red Cross. In more recent times, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. worked to end racial discrimination, the Rev. Jerry Falwell fought against abortion and pornography, the Rev. Franklin Graham led benevolence efforts in America and across the world, and the Rev. James Robison provided wells and clean drinking water in villages across Africa. And still today, numerous ministers serve in civil government, including a number of current Members of Congress who are pastors.

Teaching the Principles of Liberty

Returning to the influence of clergy in the 150 years leading up to the American War for Independence, pastors used every opportunity possible to educate the people in the principles of liberty. Some of the more common means included:

The Election Sermon. Of the many types of sermons on government and liberty, probably the most popular and recognizable one was called the Election Sermon—the longest traditional form of annual sermon in America. The first documented election sermon was preached in 1634 in Massachusetts, [81] and it became an annual practice for centuries thereafter. Many states began each year’s legislative session by inviting a minister to preach a sermon to civil leaders addressing Biblical principles regarding government, lawmaking, and the civil issues of the day.

Significantly, many of these sermons involved notable Founding Fathers such as John Hancock [82] and Samuel Adams [83] (each was a governor of Massachusetts and a signer of the Declaration of Independence); Samuel Huntington [84] (a governor of Connecticut and a signer of the Declaration of Independence); Caleb Strong [85] (a governor of Massachusetts and a framer of the Constitution); Oliver Wolcott [86] (a governor of Connecticut and a signer of the Declaration of Independence); and many others. These Election Sermons were often printed and distributed at state expense, [87] being widely read across the state and even throughout other colonies.

Of these Election Sermons, eighteenth-century historian John Wingate Thornton says that:

[T]he clergy were generally consulted by the civil authorities; and not infrequently the suggestions from the pulpit on election days (and other special occasions) were enacted into laws. The statute-book—the reflex of the age—shows this influence. The State was developed out of the Church. The annual “Election Sermon” (a perpetual memorial continued down through the generations from century to century) still bears witness that our fathers ever began their civil year and its responsibilities with an appeal to Heaven, and recognized Christian morality as the only basis of good laws.…The sermon is styled the Election Sermon, and is printed. Every representative has a copy for himself, and generally one or more for the minister or ministers of his town.[88]

The practice of Election Sermons continued until the twentieth-century.

The Weekday Lecture. Many churches offered regular training on applying Biblical principles to pressing problems of the day. One way of doing this was the community-wide weekly lecture. This tradition began in Boston in 1633 when the Rev. John Cotton provided Thursday lectures discussing the current social and political issues. The practice spread to other communities and colonies, and continued for centuries, [89] with ministers directly applying the Bible to the questions of the day, thus showing citizens that the Bible and its principles were applicable and relevant to everything in daily life. Founding historian Benjamin Trumbull wrote that not only were the clergy “the principal instructors” of those who would become the political leaders but that…

For many years, they [the clergy] were consulted by the legislature in all affairs of importance, civil or religious. They were appointed on committees with the Governor and magistrates to advise, make drafts, and assist them in the most delicate and interesting concerns of the Commonwealth.[90]

The Artillery Sermon. These were sermons delivered to the military on the annual election of their officers. As can be expected, such sermons addressed issues relevant to the military, covering such topics as what constitutes a just war, [91] the sin of cowardice, [92] the character and courage of a soldier, [93] the necessity of a militia, [94] and many other relevant military topics.

Special Fast, Thanksgiving, and Anniversary Sermons. Those sermons were commonly associated with governmental calls to prayer issued by the governor or US president (by 1815, there had been some 1,400 government-issued calls to prayer [95]). In regions like New England, there was usually an annual day of fasting in the spring (and an accompanying sermon), and an annual day of thanksgiving in the fall (with an accompanying sermon). And there were also sermons related to national days of prayer, such as those surrounding President George Washington’s calls for national times of thanksgiving, President John Adams’ calls for national times of fasting, President James Madison’s numerous calls to prayer, and similar calls by other presidents.

Execution Sermons. Ministers would often address the community before public executions were carried out for capital crimes. [96] In these Execution Sermons, the guilty party would be called to repentance and citizens publicly warned of the consequences for criminal behavior. (It was also common practices for judges in the courtroom to deliver a Gospel message to defendants if they had been found guilty of a capital crime and sentenced to death by the jury. [97])

Occasional Sermons. These sermons related to some significant occasion, and might be preached in observance of military victories, calamities and natural disasters, or societal events and trends—such as immigration issues, the sin of dueling, or the rise of alcohol use. Anything in the news might be covered from the pulpit, including sermons on earthquakes, fires, solar eclipses, sighting of comets, the discovery of a new planet, a particular naval disaster, the death of a president or statesman, and countless other topics. [98] Breaking news stories were often the subject of sermons in order to provide a Biblical perspective on issues arising in and pertaining to daily life.

Anniversary, Historical, and Holiday Sermons. These included things such as Century Sermons (preached in the year 1701, 1801, or 1901, to review significant events of the previous century from a providential viewpoint—looking at what God had done in that century) and Decade Sermons (similarly reviewing the previous decade). And there were sermons commemorating the anniversary of events such as the Pilgrims’ Landing, the construction of the Bunker Hill Monument, or the 100^thanniversary of a major battle or event. And there were countless Fourth of July sermons looking back at that important holiday. In short, sermons were preached about significant events from the past, viewing them from a Biblical perspective.

— — — ⧫ ⧫ ⧫ — — —

All of these (and other) types of sermons had a direct positive impact in shaping early America’s thinking. In fact, modern political scientists have documented that an amazing ten percent of all published pamphlets in the Founding Era were sermons. [99]

And significantly, those published sermons represented only a fraction of the tens of thousands of additional unpublished sermons that were also preached. From an historical viewpoint, it is clear that colonial clergymen may properly be considered part of our American Founding Fathers.

Higher Education

*This is the Wen Building at the College of William and Mary-America’s second college. It was started primarily by the efforts of Rev. James Blair.*

Ministers colonized states, wrote laws and constitutions, served as judges and legislators and military leaders, helped shape the thinking of citizens, and were also key figures in the establishment and development of higher education. In fact, until the twentieth century nearly every university was started by a minister or Christian denomination.

Reflective of this pattern, in 1636 Harvard was founded by and for Congregationalists(so, too, with Yale in 1701 and Dartmouth in 1769). In 1692 the College of William and Mary was founded by and for Anglicans(as was the University of Pennsylvania in 1740, Kings College in 1754, and the College of Charleston in 1770). In 1746 Princeton was founded by and for Presbyterians(as was Dickinson in 1773 and Hampden-Sydney in 1775). In 1764 the College of Rhode Island (now Brown University) was founded by and for the Baptists. In 1766 Queens College (now Rutgers) was founded by and for the Dutch Reformed. In 1780 Transylvania University was founded by and for the Disciples of Christ, and so on.

With few exceptions, America’s earliest universities were closely associated with particular denominations and were typically run by ministers from that denomination. In fact, by 1860, 262 out of 288 college presidents were ministers of the Gospel—as were more than a third of all university faculty members, [100] and only seventeen colleges and universities at that time were state institutions.[101] But even the state schools were not secular, for the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Georgia, and others had self-declared purposes of Christian education and the inculcation of Christian character. In fact, in 1890, James Angell, President of the University of Vermont and the University of Michigan, reported that even at state universities, over 90 percent conducted chapel services; at half of them, chapel attendance was compulsory; and a quarter of them even required regular church attendance in addition to chapel attendance. [102] Well into the 20th century, this remained the practice of state universities.

These universities were the principal educators of leaders in every sphere of life, including law, medicine, government, religion, economics, education, literature, science, and all other areas. Here is a closer look at the beliefs and practices of some of the more notable early universities. (Since Harvard and William and Mary were covered in Lesson 1, some of the other famous colleges will be covered here.)

Yale University, 1701

Yale University in Connecticut was started by colonists whose purpose was “to plant and, under the Divine Blessing, to propagate in this wilderness the blessed reformed Protestant religion in the purity of its order and worship.”[103] Some famous graduates of this school included Constitution signers Jared Ingersoll, William Samuel Johnson, William Livingston, early educator Noah Webster, and other notables such as Nathan Hale, Eli Whitney, and Samuel F.B. Morse.[104]

Princeton, 1746

One of the early presidents of the college was noted signer of the Declaration John Witherspoon, and his educational philosophy was clear:“Cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.”[105] Significantly:

[T]he two principal objects the trustees had in view [when founding Princeton] were science and religion. Their first concern was to cultivate the minds of the pupils in all those branches of erudition [knowledge] which are generally taught in the universities abroad. And to perfect their design, their next care was to rectify the heart by inculcating the great precepts of Christianity in order to make them good men.[106]

Famous graduates of Princeton included signer of the Declaration Benjamin Rush, signers of the Constitution James Madison, William Paterson, Jonathan Dayton, and Constitutional Convention delegate William Houston (who was also a professor at Princeton). [107]

University of Pennsylvania, 1751

Benjamin Franklin was instrumental in founding the University of Pennsylvania. While this school was not started by a specific denomination, its policies nevertheless openly reflected its Christian character. For example, its Laws Relating to the Moral Conduct and Orderly Behaviour of the Students and Scholars of the University of Pennsylvania required:

None of the students or scholars belonging to this seminary [i.e., university] shall make use of any indecent or immoral language, whether it consist in immodest expressions, in cursing and swearing, or in exclamations which introduce the name of God without reverence and without necessity.
None of them shall without a good and sufficient reason be absent from school or late in his attendance—more particularly at the time of prayers and of the reading of the Holy Scriptures.[108]

Some famous graduates of the University of Pennsylvania included signers of the Declaration Francis Hopkinson and William Paca, and signers of the Constitution Thomas Mifflin and Hugh Williamson. [109] Trustees of the university included Declaration signer Thomas McKean and Constitution signers George Clymer, John Dickinson, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, and Robert Morris. [110] And Declaration signer Benjamin Rush and Constitution signer James Wilson both taught classes at the University of Pennsylvania.[111]

Columbia, 1754

In 1754, an Anglican minister, the Rev. Samuel Johnson, became the first president of what is now called Columbia. (It was known as King’s College from its founding until 1784, but with America’s independence, it no longer seemed appropriate to honor a king, so its name was changed.) At that time, William Samuel Johnson (a signer of the Constitution, and the son of the school’s founder, the Rev. Samuel Johnson) became president. [112] Originally founded as an Anglican school, it became a non-denominational Christian college. An advertisement for the college affirmed its purpose and objective:

The chief thing that is aimed at in this college is to teach and engage the children to know God in Jesus Christ, and to love and serve him in all sobriety, godliness, and righteousness of life, with a perfect heart and a willing mind, and to train them up in all virtuous habits and all such useful knowledge as may render them creditable to their families and friends. [113]

Some of the school’s students included signer of the Constitution Alexander Hamilton, original US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay, and Robert Livingston (the highest judicial official in New York, and one of the five assigned by Congress to draft the Declaration of Independence). [114]

Others

Most other colleges reflected the same pattern, and in addition to the influential graduates mentioned above, tens of thousands more were produced by these Christian, Bible-based schools. Sadly, many of these once Christian universities have now abandoned their heritage and today have become completely secularized, even hostile to Christianity. But that does not alter the fact that genuinely Christian education shaped the leaders that shaped early America.

Early Textbooks of American Common Education

In addition to the strong Christian influence in higher education, that same influence was present in the general common school classrooms that students attended before entering college. This was particularly evident in the sequence of textbooks used in early American education.

John Locke (a political philosopher who penned the constitution for America’s Carolina colony and whose writings had a significant influence upon the Founding Fathers [115]) described the typical educational path for children. According to Locke, students learned to read by following “the ordinary road of Hornbook, Primer, Psalter, Testament, and Bible.”[116] Consider each of these five texts.

A Hornbook was a flat piece of wood with a handle, upon which a sheet of printed paper was attached, covered with transparent animal horn to protect it. A typical hornbook had the alphabet, the vowels, a list of syllables, the acknowledgement of the Christian Trinity, and the Lord’s Prayer.

Next on the “ordinary road” of education were Primers. They contained catechisms that taught the fundamentals of the Christian faith through a system of questions and answers. Hundreds of different catechisms were used. At first, William Perkins’ The Foundation of Christian Religion Gathered into Six Principles was a highly popular one, but it was eventually passed by the Westminster Catechism, and later the New England Primer.

The Psalter, next in the sequence of educational texts, was a songbook whose text was composed solely from the book of Psalms in the Bible.

Next came the Testament—that is, the New Testament, a part of the Bible.

Finally, came the full Bible.

All five of the texts mentioned by Locke, and used to teach reading in America, were clearly Bible-centered.

The New England Primer

Of the primers mentioned above, The New England Primer was the most widely used textbook of the eighteenth century. Interestingly, it was the first textbook ever published in America, [117] originally printed in Boston around 1690 and reprinted frequently over the next two centuries. Well into the 20th century, The New England Primer remained a common text from which American students learned to read. [118]

The Primer was the equivalent of a first-grade textbook. (There were no grade levels in early American education at that time, but the Primer was the beginning reader—it was where students began their reading lessons; so today it would be called a first-grade textbook.)

Significantly, Founding Father Samuel Adams (called the “Father of American Independence”) had advocated that students be instructed in Christian principles[119] and he himself helped accomplish this goal by reprinting the New England Primer for students in Massachusetts.[120] The Primer was also reprinted by Noah Webster for students in Connecticut, and by Benjamin Franklin for students in Pennsylvania.[121]

The fact that Franklin was directly involved with personally distributing such an overtly Christian schoolbook might surprise many today, for Franklin is considered one of the least religious of our Founding Fathers. However, “least” is a comparative term, and certainly does not mean he was anti-religious, for he definitely was not. In fact, he was more openly religious than many so-called devoutly religious individuals today.

For example, in the 1760s he helped found schools in which African American students were taught not only academics but also the principles of Christianity. [122] Before that he had helped found the University of Pennsylvania for the explicitly declared purpose of instructing youth in the knowledge of the Christian religion, [123] and in his Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania he discussed the content of the academic curriculum of the state’s new university, noting that in its history classes:

History will…afford frequent opportunities of showing the necessity of a public religion from its usefulness to the public [and] the advantage of a religious character among private persons…and the excellency of the Christian religion above all others, ancient or modern. [124]

But returning to the content of The New England Primer as used in classrooms over the centuries (and reprinted by leading Founding Fathers), perhaps its most characteristic feature is what was called the rhyming alphabet. It taught the alphabet by using a rhyme based on Bible facts and teachings:

A—In Adam’s Fall
We sinned all. [Romans3:23]

B—Heaven to find
The Bible Mind. [Deuteronomy 13:4 & Matthew 7:21]

C—Christ crucified
For sinners died. [Romans 5:8]

D—The Deluge drowned
The Earth around. [Genesis 7]

E—Elijah hid
By Ravens fed. [1 Kings 17:2-16]

F—The judgment made
Felix afraid. [Acts 24]

G—As runs the Glass,
Our Life doth pass [James 4:14]

H—My Book and Heart
Must never part…. [Joshua 1:8]

And so forth. [125]

Conclusion

It is clear that Christians were a direct influence in founding and shaping the early American colonies as well as many of the great institutions and admirable features of America, including elective governments, written constitutions, bill of rights, public schools, universities, textbooks, and much else. There is no doubt that Christianity and the Bible was a substantial positive force in helping America become the greatest and freest nation in the world. ■

___________
[1] Mrs. Mary Hugh, The Life of William Penn (Philadelphia: Carey, Lee and Carey, 1828),pp. 94, 109.

[2] Samuel M. Janney, The Life of William Penn: With Selections from His Correspondence and Autobiography (Philadelphia: Friends Book Association, 1852), p. 442.

[3] John Fanning Watson, Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: John Pennington and Uriah Hunt, 1844), Vol. I, p. 82, from William Penn to Robert Turner on January 5, 1681.

[4] Charter to William Penn, and Laws of the Province of Pennsylvania, Passed Between the Years 1682 and 1700 (Harrisburg: L.S. Hart, 1879), p. 107, “The Great Law or The Body of Laws, of the Province of Pennsylvania & Territories Thereunto Belonging,” December 1682.

[5] Thomas Clarkson, Memoirs of the Private and Public Life of William Penn (London: Longman, 1813), Vol. I, p. 303.

[6] Samuel M. Janney, The Life of William Penn: With Selections from His Correspondence and Autobiography (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1852), p. 407, letter from William Penn to the Czar of Muscovy.

[7] “Charter of Privileges Granted by William Penn, to the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania and Territories,” The Avalon Project, October 28, 1701 (at: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/pa07.asp).

[8] John Fanning Watson, Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: John Fanning Watson, 1850), Vol. I, p. 311.

[9] George Gresley Perry, A History of the English Church: From the Accession of Henry VIII to the Silencing of Convocation in the Eighteenth Century (London: John Murray, 1880), p. 561.

[10] Charles McLean Andrews and Frances Gardiner Davenport, Guide to the Manuscript Materials for the History of the United States to 1783 in the British Museum, in Minor London Archives, and in the Libraries of Oxford and Cambridge (Washington DC: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1908), p. 331; and George Gresley Perry, A History of the English Church: From the Accession of Henry VIII to the Silencing of Convocation in the Eighteenth Century (London: John Murray, 1880), p. 561.

[11] William Stevens Perry, The History of the American Episcopal Church: 1587-1883 (Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1885), p. 143.

[12] “Charter of Georgia: 1732,” The Avalon Project (at: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/ga01.asp); and “Trustee Georgia, 1732-1752,” New Georgia Encyclopedia, updated September 2, 2015 (at: https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/trustee-georgia-1732-1752).

[13] John Whitehead, Life of the Rev. John Wesley (Boston: Dow & Jackson, 1845), p. 288.

[14] Benson Lossing, A Pictorial History of the United States (New York: Mason Brothers, 1857), p. 130.

[15] See, for example, George Bancroft, History of the United States (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1853), Vol. III, pp. 421, 425.

[16] John Romeyn Brodhead, Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York (Albany: Weed, Parsons and Company, 1883), Vol. 3, p. 564, “The Governor to the Inhabitants of Long Island, Touching a General Meeting of Deputies at Hempstead,” February 1665.

[17] C.B. Richardson, The Historical Magazine: And Notes and Queries Concerning the Antiquities, History, and Biography of America (New York: Charles B. Richardson, 1859), Vol. 3, p. 313, “Acts of the Assembly of 1683.”

[18] “Province of West New-Jersey, in America,” The Avalon Project, November 25, 1681 (at: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/nj08.asp).

[19] “The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina,” The Avalon Project, March 1, 1669 (at: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/nc05.asp).

[20] “The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina,” The Avalon Project, March 1, 1669 (at: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/nc05.asp).

[21] A.S. Johnston, The Statutes at Large of South Carolina: Acts from 1716 to 1752 (Columbia: A.S. Johnston, 1838), p. 50, “An Act to Ascertain the Manner and Form of Electing Members to Represent the Inhabitants of This Province in the Common House of Assembly, and to Appoint Who Shall be Deemed and Adjudged Capable of Choosing or Being Chosen Members of the Said House,” 1719.

[22] A.S. Johnston, The Statutes at Large of South Carolina: Acts from 1716 to 1752 (Columbia: A.S. Johnston, 1838), p. 52, “An Act to Ascertain the Manner and Form of Electing Members to Represent the Inhabitants of This Province in the Common House of Assembly, and to Appoint Who Shall be Deemed and Adjudged Capable of Choosing or Being Chosen Members of the Said House,” 1719.

[23] Publius(Oxford University Press, Fall 1980), Vol 10, No. 4, pp. 129-132, Donald S. Lutz, “From Covenant to Constitution in American Political Thought.” See the text of many of these compacts, charters, and constitutions on The Avalon Project from the Yale Law School under “17^th Century Documents” and “18^th Century Documents” (at: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/).

[24] William Henry Foote, Sketches of Virginia (Philadelphia: William S. Martien, 1850), p. 21.

[25] John Robinson and Robert Ashton, The Works of John Robinson, Pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers (London: John Snow, 1851), pp xlvii-li, “Memoir of Rev. John Robinson.”

[26] Samuel Atkins Eliot, A History of Cambridge, Massachusetts: 1630-1913 (Cambridge: Cambridge Tribune, 1913), p. 30.

[27] The Blue Laws of New Haven Colony: Usually Called Blue Laws of Connecticut; Quaker Laws of Plymouth and Massachusetts; Blue Laws of New York, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina. First Record of Connecticut; Interesting Extracts from Connecticut Records; Cases of Salem Witchcraft; Charges and Banishment of Rev. Roger Williams (Hartford: Case, Tiffany & Co, 1838), p. 64; and May Emery Hall, Roger Williams (Boston: The Pilgrim Press, 1917), p. 62.

[28] Margaret Huntington Hooker and Edward Hooker, The Descendants of Rev. Thomas Hooker, Hartford, Connecticut, 1586-1908 (Rochester: Margaret Huntington Hooker, 1909), pp. xxiii-xxiv; and Old South Meeting House, The Founders of New England (Boston, Old South Meeting House, 1894), p. 16

[29] John Ward Dean, A Memoir of the Rev. Nathaniel Ward, A.M., Author of The Simple Cobbler of Agawam in America. With Notices of his Family (Albany: Joel Munsell, 1868), pp. 59-60

[30] “Frame of Government of Pennsylvania,” The Avalon Project, May 5, 1682 (at: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/pa04.asp); and George Hodges, William Penn (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1901), pp. 65-66.

[31] David Gregg, Makers of the American Republic (New York: E.B. Treat, 1896), p. 319, “The Church and the Republic.”

[32] Alexis de Tocqueville, The Republic of the United States of America and Its Political Institutions, Henry Reeves, translator (Garden City, NY: A.S. Barnes & Co., 1851), Vol. I, pp. 335, 337.

[33] Achille Murat, A Moral and Political Sketch of the United States (London: Effingham Wilson, 1833), p. 142.

[34] Achille Murat, A Moral and Political Sketch of the United States (London: Effingham Wilson, 1833), pp. 113, 132.

[35] Achille Murat, A Moral and Political Sketch of the United States (London: Effingham Wilson, 1833), p. 111.

[36] Harry S. Stout, The New England Soul: Preaching and Religious Culture in Colonial New England (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986), p. 3.

[37] Clinton Rossiter, Seedtime of the Republic (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1953), p. 2, “Introduction.”

[38] David Otis Mears, Oberlin Lectures of 1829: The Pulpit and the Pews (Oberlin: Edward G. Goodrich, 1892), p. 87.

[39]John Wise,A Vindication of the Government of New England Churches (Boston: John Boyles, 1772), p. 5.

[40] John Wise, A Vindication of the Government of New England Churches (Boston: John Boyles, 1772), p. 26.

[41] See the 1772 Boston reprintings of: John Wise,A Vindication of the Government of New England Churches (Boston: John Boyles, 1772); John Wise, Churches Quarrel Espoused (Boston: John Boyles, 1772). For information about some of the subscribers/distributors of these printings of John Wise’s sermons, see: Clinton Rossiter, Seedtime of the Republic (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1953), p. 225.

[42] Claude H. Van Tyne, The Causes of the War of Independence (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1922), p. 357.

[43] Benjamin Franklin Morris, Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States: Developed in the Official and Historical Annals of the Republic (Philadelphia: G.W. Childs, 1864), p. 34, quoting from A Vindication of the Government of New England Churches and the Churches Quarrel Espoused (Boston: Congregational Board of Publication, 1860), p. xx, “Introductory Notice.”

[44] Calvin Coolidge: “Address at the Celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,” The American Presidency Project, July 5, 1926 (at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-the-celebration-the-150th-anniversary-the-declaration-independence-philadelphia).

[45] The National Magazine(Cleveland: Magazine of Western History Publishing Company, 1888), Vol. VIII, No. 5, p. 398, J.H. Crooker, “John Wise, The Forgotten American.”

[46] George Bancroft, History of the Colonization of the United States (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1838), Vol. II, p. 429.

[47] Jonathan Edwards, A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton (Edinburgh: Thomas Lumisden and John Robertson, 1738), p. 16

[48] Joseph Tracy, The Great Awakening: A History of the Revival of Religion in the Time of Edwards and Whitefield (Boston: Charles Tappan, 1845), p. 26, by the Rev. Samuel Blair on August 6, 1744.

[49] Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, John Bigelow, editor (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Company, 1868), p. 253.

[50] Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, editors (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1889), Vol. VI, p. 478, s.v. “Whitefield, George.”

[51] See, for example, “George Whitefield: Did You Know?” Christian History, April 1993 (at: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-38/george-whitefield-did-you-know.html); and Dave Schleck, “CW to Recreate Visit of Famous Preacher,” Daily Press, December 16, 1995 (at: https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-19951216-1995-12-16-9512160076-story.html).

[52] William Edward Schenck, An Historical Account of the First Presbyterian Church of Princeton, N.J.: Being a Sermon Preached on Thanksgiving Day, December 12, 1850 (Princeton: John T. Robinson, 1850), p. 23.

[53] William Wirt Henry, Patrick Henry, Life, Correspondence and Speeches (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1891), Vol. 1, p. 16.

[54] William Wirt Henry, Patrick Henry, Life, Correspondence and Speeches (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1891), Vol. 1, p. 15.

[55] Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography, James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, editors (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1889), Vol. III, p. 175, s.v. “Henry, Patrick.”

[56] Jonathan Mathew, A Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-resistance to the Higher Powers (Boston: D. Fowle, 1750). Evans # 6549.

[57] John Adams, Letters of John Adams, Addressed to His Wife, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1841), Vol. I, p. 152, to Abigail Adams on August 14, 1776.

[58] Alden Bradford, Memoir of the Life and Writings of Rev. Jonathan Mayhew, D.D. (Boston: C.C. Little & Co, 1838), p. 429, from Jonathan Mayhew to James Otis on June 8, 1766.

[59] Alden Bradford, Memoir of the Life and Writings of Rev. Jonathan Mayhew, D.D. (Boston: C.C. Little & Co, 1838), p. 428, from Jonathan Mayhew to James Otis on June 8, 1766.

[60] John Adams, Novanglus and Massachusettensis: or Political Essays Published in the year 1774 and 1775 (Boston: Hews & Goss, 1819), p. 235.

[61] Charles Chauncy, Civil Magistrates Must Be Just, Ruling in the Fear of God. A Sermon Preached Before his Excellency, William Shirley, the Honorable His Majesty’s Council, and House of Representatives, of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, May 27, 1747 (Boston: Printed by Order of the Honorable House of Representatives, 1747). Evans #5919.

[62] Jonathan Mayhew, A Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers (Boston: D. Fowle, 1750). Evans # 6549.

[63] Samuel Davies, Religion and Patriotism, the Constituents of a Good Soldier. A Sermon Preached to Captain Overton’s Independent Company of Volunteers, Raised in Hanover County, Virginia, August 17, 1755 (Philadelphia, 1755). Evans #7403.

[64] Thaddeus MacCarty, The Advice of Joab to the Host of Israel Going Forth to War, Considered and Urged. In Two Discourses Delivered in Worchester, April 5, 1759. Being the Day of the Public Annual Fast (Boston: Thomas and John Fleet, 1759). Evans #8388.

[65] Charles Chauncy, A Discourse on “the Good News from a Far Country.” Delivered July 24^th. A Day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God, throughout the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay in New England, on Occasion of the Repeal off the Stamp Act (Boston: Kneeland and Adams, 1766). Evans #10255.

[66] John Allen, An Oration upon the Beauties of Liberty, or The Essential Rights of the Americans, Delivered at the Second Baptist Church in Boston. Upon the Last Annual Thanksgiving (Boston: Kneeland and Davis, 1773). Evans #13015.

[67] Samuel Sherwood, A Sermon Containing Scriptural Instructions to Civil Rulers and all Freeborn Subjects: In which the Principles of Sound Policy and Good Government are Established and Vindicated, and Some Doctrines Advances and Zealously Propagated by New England Tories are Considered and Refuted. Delivered on the Public Fast, August 31, 1774 (New Haven: T. and S. Green, 1774). Evans #13614.

[68] Peter Powers, Jesus Christ the True King and Head of Government. A Sermon Preached Before the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, on the Day of Their First Election, March 12, 1778, at Windsor (Newburyport: John Mycall, 1778). Evans #16019.

[69] This quote is a summary of a statement found in the records of Parliament in April 1774: “If you ask an American, ‘Who is his master?’ He will tell you he has none—nor any governor but Jesus Christ.” Hezekiah Niles, Principles and Acts of the Revolution in America (Baltimore: William Ogden Niles, 1822), p. 198.

[70] Alice M. Baldwin, The New England Clergy and the American Revolution (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1928), p. 170.

[71] Alice M. Baldwin, The New England Clergy and the American Revolution (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1928), p. 134.

[72] John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1850), Vol. II, p. 154, diary entry for December 18, 1765.

[73] John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1856), Vol. X, pp. 45-46, to Thomas Jefferson on June 28, 1813.

[74] Dictionary of American Biography, Dumas Malone, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1936), Vol. 20, p. 437, s.v. “Witherspoon, John.”

[75] See, for example, Robert A. Peterson, “John Witherspoon: Animated Son of Liberty,” Foundation for Economic Education, December 1, 1985 (at: https://fee.org/articles/john-witherspoon-animated-son-of-liberty/).

[76] Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker, Princeton: 1746-1896 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1946), p. 88; and Lawrence A. Cremin, American Education: The Colonial Experience, 1607-1783 (New York: Evanston, and London: Harper & Row, 1970), p. 301; and Nation Under God: A Religious-Patriotic Anthology, Frances Brentano, editor (Great Neck, NY: Channel Press, 1957), pp. 41-42; and Dr. John Eidsmoe, Christianity and The Constitution (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1987), p. 83; and Samuel Davies Alexander, Princeton College During the Eighteenth Century (New York: Anson D.F. Randolph & Company, 1872), pp. 121-185; and Mary-Elaine Swanson, The Education of James Madison, A Model for Today (Montgomery: The Hoffman Education Center for the Family, 1992), p. 53.

[77] See, for example, J.T. Headley, The Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution (Springfield, MA: G. & F. Bill, 1861); and Franklin Cole, They Preached Liberty (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1941); and Daniel Dorchester, Christianity in the United States from the First Settlement Down to the Present Time (New York: Phillips & Hunt, 1888); and Alice M. Baldwin, The New England Clergy and the American Revolution (New York: Frederick Ungar, 1958); and John Wingate Thornton, Pulpit of the American Revolution (Boston: Gould and Lincoln, 1860); Frank Moore, ThePatriot Preachers of the American Revolution (Printed for the Subscribers, 1860); and Paul Wallace, The Muhlenbergs of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1950).

[78] Daniel C. Wewers, Major Acts of Congress (The Gale Group, Inc., 2004), “Northwest Ordinance (1787)” (at: https://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Northwest_Ordinance.aspx#2).

[79] John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1987), p. 352, n15.

[80] See Alice M. Baldwin, The New England Clergy and the American Revolution (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1928), passim, for a partial list.

[81] George Bancroft, The History of the United States of America, from the Discovery of the Continent (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1853), Vol. I, p. 364.

[82] See Massachusetts election sermons “preached before His Excellency, John Hancock, Governor” in 1781, 1784, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1791, and 1792. (See these and many other election sermons from WallBuilders: https://wallbuilders.com/library-2/historical-sermons/.)

[83] See Massachusetts elections sermons “preached before…His Honor Samuel Adams, Lieutenant-Governor” from 1790, 1792, and 1794; and a Massachusetts election sermon “preached before His Excellency Samuel Adams, Governor” in 1796. (See these and many other election sermons from WallBuilders: https://wallbuilders.com/library-2/historical-sermons/.)

[84] Timothy Stone, A Sermon Preached Before His Excellency Samuel Huntington, Esq. L. L. D. Governor, and the Honorable the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, Convened at Hartford, on the Day of the Anniversary Election. May 10, 1792 (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1792). Evans #24820.

[85] Thomas Baldwin, A Sermon Delivered Before His Excellency Caleb Strong, Esq. Governor, the Honorable the Council, Senate, and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, May 26, 1802. Being the Day of General Election (Boston: Young & Minns, 1802). Shaw/Shoemaker #1798.

[86] John Marsh, A Sermon Preached before His Honor Oliver Wolcott, Esq. L. L. D. Lieutenant-Governor and Commander in Chief, and the Honorable the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut, Convened at Hartford, on the Day of the Anniversary Election, May 12th, 1796 (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1796). Evans #30738.

[87] See, for example, the 1788, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1794, 1796, and 1802 Massachusetts election sermons which acknowledged that they were printed by the “state printers” or the “printers to the Honorable General Court.”

[88] John Wingate Thornton, The Pulpit of the American Revolution: Or, the Political Sermons of the Period of 1776 (Boston: Gould and Lincoln, 1860), pp. xxii-xxiii, xxvi.

[89] Albert Bushnell Hart, Colonial Children (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1905), p. 153; and William Gordon, A Discourse Preached December 15^th, 1774, Being the Day Recommended by the Provincial Congress and Afterwards at the Boston Lecture (Boston: Thomas Leverett, 1775), editor’s note, Evans #14072; and Political Sermons of the American Founding Era: 1730-1805 (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1998), Vol. I, Foreword by Ellis Sandoz; R.W. Dale, Week-Day Sermons (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1845).

[90] Benjamin Trumbull, A Complete History of Connecticut, Civil and Ecclesiastical (New Haven: Maltby, Goldsmith and Co., 1818), Vol. I, p. 288.

[91] See, for example, Samuel Davies, Religion and Patriotism. The Constituents of a Good Soldier. A Sermon Preached to Captain Overton’s Independent Company of Volunteers, Raised in Hanover County, Virginia, August 17, 1755 (Philadelphia: James Chattin 1755). Evans #7403.

[92] See, for example, Simeon Howard, A Sermon Preached to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery-Company, in Boston, New England, June 7^th, 1773: Being the Anniversary of Their Election of Officers (Boston: John Boyles, 1773), Evans #12813.

[93] See, for example, Samuel Davies, Religion and Patriotism. The Constituents of a Good Soldier. A Sermon Preached to Captain Overton’s Independent Company of Volunteers, Raised in Hanover County, Virginia, August 17, 1755 (Philadelphia: James Chattin 1755). Evans #7403.

[94] See, for example, J.G. Palfrey, A Plea for the Militia System in a Discourse Delivered Before the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company on its 197^thAnniversary, June 1, 1835 (Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, 1835).

[95] William De Loss Love, The Fast and Thanksgiving Days of New England (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1895), pp. 464-514, “Calendar.”

[96] See, for example, Moses Baldwin, The Ungodly Condemned in Judgment. A Sermon Preached at Springfield, December 13^th, 1770, On Occasion of the Execution of William Shaw for Murder (Boston: Kneeland and Adams, 1771), Evans #11975; and Nathaniel Fisher, A Sermon Delivered at Salem, January 14, 1796 Occasioned by the Execution of Henry Blackburn, on That Day for the Murder of George Wilkinson (Boston: S. Hall, 1796), Evans #30424; and Nathan Strong, A Sermon Preached, Preached at Hartford, July 19^th, 1797 at the Execution of Richard Doane (Hartford: Elisha Babcock, 1797), Evans #32888; and Henry A. Rowland, The Murderer and His Fate. A Sermon Occasioned by the Execution of Harris Bell for the Murder of Mrs. Williams (Honesdale, PA: Barker & Lewis, 1848); and many others.

[97] Report of the Trial of Dominic Daley and James Halligan, for the Murder of Marcus Lyon, Before the Supreme Judicial Court, Begun and Holden at Northampton, Within and for the County of Hampshire, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, on the Fourth Tuesday of April 1806(Northampton: S. & E. Butler, 1806), pp. 86-87; and American State Trials, John D. Lawson, editor (St. Louis: F. H. Thomas Law Book Co., 1914), Vol. II, pp. 534-535, “The Trial of John Johnson for the Murder of James Murray, New York City, 1824”; and Trial of Professor John W. Webster, for the Murder of Doctor George Parkman (New York: Stinger & Townsend, 1850), pp. 75-76; and many others.

[98] For examples of these sermons, see WallBuilders’ Historical Sermons section: https://wallbuilders.com/library-2/historical-sermons/.

[99] The American Political Science Review(1984), Vol. 78, No. 1, p. 192, Donald S. Lutz, “The Relative Influence of European Writers on Late Eighteenth-Century American Political Thought.”

[100] James Tunstead Burtchaell, “The Decline and Fall of the Christian College I,” (First Things, May 1991), p. 24.

[101] Ellwood P. Cubberley, Public Education in the United States (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1919), p. 204.

[102] Wolcott B. Williams, Christian and Secular Education (Chicago: R.R. Donnelley & Sons, 1894), p. 17, President Angell’s 1890 report of religious life in Michigan’s state universities.

[103] Thomas Clap, A Brief History and Vindication of the Doctrines Received and Established in the Churches of New England with a Specimen of the New Scheme of Religion beginning to Prevail (New Haven: James Parker, 1755), pp. 9-10.

[104] See information about William Samuel Johnson, William Livingston, and Jared Ingersoll from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (at: https://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp); and “Noah Webster History,” Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society (at: https://noahwebsterhouse.org/noahwebsterhistory/) (accessed on October 23, 2018); and “Nathan Hale,” Encyclopedia Britannica (at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nathan-Hale) (accessed on October 23, 2018); and “Eli Whitney,” ConnecticutHistory.Org (at: https://connecticuthistory.org/people/eli-whitney/) (accessed on October 23, 2018); and “Samuel Morse’s Other Masterpiece,” Smithsonian, August 16, 2011 (at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/samuel-morses-other-masterpiece-52822904/).

[105] The Second Report of the Society for the Promotion of Collegiate and Theological Education at the West (New York: J.F. Trow & Co., 1845), p. 30, quoted by Rev. S.H. Cox.

[106] Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, William Nelson, editor (Paterson, NJ: Press Printing and Publishing Co., 1897), Vol. XIX, p. 252, quoting from The Pennsylvania Journal, April 26, 1753.

[107] See information about all from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (at: https://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp).

[108] “Laws Relating to the Moral Conduct and Orderly Behavior of the Students and Scholars of the University of Pennsylvania,” September 10, 1801, Shaw-Shoemaker #803.

[109] See information about all from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (at: https://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp).

[110] “Thomas McKean,” University of Pennsylvania (at: ) (accessed on October 23, 2018); “George Clymer,” University of Pennsylvania (at: https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/george-clymer) (accessed on October 23, 2018); “John Dickinson,” University of Pennsylvania (at: https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/john-dickinson) (accessed on October 23, 2018); “Thomas FitzSimons,” University of Pennsylvania (at: https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/thomas-fitzsimons) (accessed on October 23, 2018); “Robert Morris,” University of Pennsylvania (at: https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/robert-morris) (accessed on October 23, 2018); “Jared Ingersoll,” University of Pennsylvania (at: https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/jared-ingersoll) (accessed on October 23, 2018).

[111] “Benjamin Rush,” University of Pennsylvania (at: https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/benjamin-rush) (accessed on October 23, 2018); “James Wilson,” University of Pennsylvania (at: https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/james-wilson) (accessed on October 23, 2018).

[112] “Columbia University President Profiles,” Columbia University (at: https://library.columbia.edu/locations/cuarchives/presidents.html) (accessed on October 23, 2018).

[113] A History of Columbia University: 1754-1904 (New York: The Columbia University Press, 1904), p. 444, Advertisement by Samuel Johnson, May 31, 1754.

[114] For Robert Livingston, see “History,” Columbia University (at: https://www.columbia.edu/content/history) (accessed on October 23, 2018); see information about Alexander Hamilton and John Jay from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (at: https://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp).

[115] Donald S. Lutz, The Origins of American Constitutionalism (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988), pp. 142-144.

[116] John Locke, The Works of John Locke (London: 1812), Vol. IX, p. 148, “Some Thoughts Concerning Education,” 1693.

[117] Dictionary of American History, James Truslow Adams, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1940), s.v. “New-England Primer,” p. 100.

[118] Paul Leicester Ford, The New England Primer: A History of its Origin and Development (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co., 1897), pp. 16-19, 300.

[119] Four Letters: Being an Interesting Correspondence Between Those Eminently Distinguished Characters, John Adams, Late President of the United States, and Samuel Adams, Late Governor of Massachusetts, on the Important Subject of Government(Boston: 1801), pp. 9-10, letter from Samuel Adams to John Adams on October 4, 1790; pp. 25-27, letter from Samuel Adams to John Adams on November 20, 1790.

[120] Paul Leicester Ford, The New England Primer: A History of its Origin and Development (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co., 1897), plate xxiv, following p. 300.

[121] Paul Leicester Ford, The New England Primer: A History of its Origin and Development (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co., 1897), pp. 310, 313; Emily Ellsworth Fowler Ford, Notes on the Life of Noah Webster (New York: Privately Printed, 1912), Vol. II, p. 532.

[122] See, for example, Benjamin Franklin, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Leonard W. Labaree, editor (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1963), Vol. 7, pp. 100-101, letter from John Waring to Benjamin Franklin on January 24, 1757; p. 356, letter from Benjamin Franklin to John Waring on January 3, 1758; pp. 377-378, letter from Benjamin Franklin to John Waring on February 17, 1758; Vol. 9, pp. 12-13, letter from John Waring to Benjamin Franklin on January 4, 1760, also n1; pp. 20-21, “Minute of the Associates of the Late Dr. Bray” on January 17, 1760; Vol. 10, pp. 298-300, letter from Benjamin Franklin to John Waring on June 27, 1763; pp. 395-396, letter from Benjamin Franklin to John Waring on December 17, 1763; Vol. 13, p. 442, letter from Benjamin Franklin to Abbot Upcher on October 4, 1766; and others.

[123] Benjamin Franklin, Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1931 reprint of 1749), p. vii, from the Introduction.

[124] Benjamin Franklin, Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1931 reprint of 1749), p. 22.

[125] The New England Primer, Improved for the More Easy Attaining the True Reading of English, to which is Added the Assembly of Divines, and Mr. Cotton’s Catechism (Boston: Printed by Edward Draper, 1777, reprinted by WallBuilder Press, 1991).

FAQ: Inalienable Rights

Claimed in the Declaration of Independence as “unalienable rights,” inalienable rights are those that are not under the purview of the government – those rights that are inherent to each person.¹ They are also sometimes referred to as natural rights, because they could only be granted by God. America’s Founding Fathers emphasized inalienable rights throughout their writings since they were considered most valuable and to be closely guarded.

Liberties dearer to you than your lives, “which God gave to you and which no inferior power has a right to take away.” JOHN DICKINSON “Penman of the Revolution”²

The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature by the hand of the Divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power. ALEXANDER HAMILTON³

That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. VIRGINIA DECLARATION OF RIGHTS (1776)⁴

Some of the inalienable rights the Founders specifically mentioned included:⁵

Life
Liberty
Private Property
Conscience (specifically relating to worshipping God)
Self-Preservation or “Personal Security”
Happiness
Private Judgment or “Self-Direction”
Association
Right to Necessary Things (air, water, earth)

Additional Resources

Biblical Christianity: The Origin of the Right of Conscience

A God-Given Inalienable Right

The Founders on the Second Amendment

The Founders Bible

The Second Amendment

Endnotes

¹ Noah Webster, “inalienable,” An American Dictionary of the English Language (New York: S. Converse, 1828). Today there is a question of whether the correct term is “inalienable” (as now used in contemporary English) or “unalienable” (as it originally appeared in the Declaration). As seen in this definition by Noah Webster (a soldier in the American War for Independence, and a judge and legislator afterwards), “unalienable” is a synonym for “inalienable.”

²John Dickinson, letter to the Society of Fort St. David’s, 1768, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, ed. R. T. H. Halsey (New York: The Outlook Company, 1903), xlii.

³Alexander Hamilton, “The Farmer Refuted,” February 5, 1775,” The Works of Alexander Hamilton, ed. John C. Hamilton (New York: John F. Trow, 1850), II:80.

⁴The Virginia Declaration of Rights, adopted unanimously June 12, 1776, Virginia Convention of Delegates, drafted by George Mason, The Avalon Project, Yale Law School, accessed December 4, 2023, https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/virginia.asp.

5. See, for example: Samuel Adams, “The Rights of The Colonists, A List of Violations of Rights and a Letter of Correspondence, Adopted by the Town of Boston, November 20, 1772,” The Life and Public Service of Samuel Adams, ed. William V. Wells (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1865), I:502. Samuel Adams, An Oration Delivered at the State House, in Philadelphia, to a Very Numerous Audience; on Thursday the 1st of August, 1776 (London: J. Johnson, 1776), 4. The Massachusetts Constitution 1780, drafted by John Adams, “A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.” James Madison, “Property,” from the National Gazette, March 29, 1792, The Writings of James Madison, ed. Gaillard Hunt (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1906), VI:101-102. James Wilson, “Of Crimes Against the Right of Individuals to Personal Safety,” The Works of the Honourable James Wilson, ed. Bird Wilson (Philadelphia: Lorenzo Press, 1804), III:84-85. John Witherspoon, Lectures on Moral Philosophy; Lecture X, “Of Politics,” The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: Ogle & Aikman, 1805), VII:77-78.

Uniform Commercial Code

WallBuilders’ Pro-Family Legislative Network was recently alerted by legislators in multiple states to a very troubling section introduced into the newly proposed Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) now working its way through 22+ states this legislative session and likely to be introduced in all 50 states.

The UCC (first released in 1952) generally helps standardize existing commercial and business transactions across the nation. It traditionally smooths out what is already in practice, but in the new version of the UCC, the Commission has gone on the offensive in one particular area, introducing new untested practices for where the government apparently intends businesses should go in the future.

The troubling change relates to the definition of money and what constitutes electronic currency. Currently, electronic currency does not exist. The disturbing portion of the new Code anticipates a new digital currency, one can only assume it is referencing the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) now under development by the Federal Reserve. The push for a CBDC comes from President Biden’s Executive Order 14067 issued in March of 2022. Members of Congress are concerned over the role and function of a CBDC, for there are far too many unknowns about how electronic money will look and act.

The Uniform Commercial Code has traditionally been viewed by most legislatures as something perfunctory, so it typically receives little scrutiny. As a result, the new version containing the troubling provisions on digital currency has been introduced in two dozen states and has already passed the legislature chamber in states such as North Dakota, Colorado, Hawaii and South Dakota. Gov. Kristi Noem took bold leadership to do what was in the best interest of the citizens of her state and she vetoed the bill in South Dakota due to many of the reasons outlined in the letter below. You can read her veto here.

We encourage you to contact your state legislators and share this coalition letter with them. (You can also download the PDF version here.) Urge them not to pass your state’s Uniform Commercial Code and your governor not to sign this legislation into law if it makes it to his or her desk.

If you are an organization that would like to be included on this coalition letter, please contact us at the Pro-Family Legislative Network for consideration.

America: God Shed His Grace on Thee Tract

This tract contains a variety of quotes that exemplify the Founders’ regard for a Biblically based system of government. See the complete text below and download it for your personal use!

America God Shed His Grace on Thee

By David Barton

America is not only one of the greatest nations in the history of the world, it has also become its longest ongoing constitutional republic. Its original government has now endured well over two centuries. However, America’s longevity is only as stable and secure as its foundation, so what is the foundation of American government?

Political scientists now know that the greatest source of political inspiration for our founding fathers was the Bible, which was cited in 34% of the quotations from the founding era (1760-1805).¹

This discovery, while it might surprise many today, would have come as no surprise to the founders. It was John Adams who explained:

The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were….the general principles of Christianity.²

Founding father Noah Webster echoed the same message:

The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His Apostles….This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe our free constitutions of government.³

Founder after founder declared the same belief:

Whether this [new government] will prove a blessing or a curse will depend upon the use our people make of the blessings which a gracious God hath bestowed on us. If they are wise, they will be great and happy. If they are wise, they will be great and happy. If they are of a contrary character, they will be miserable. Righteousness alone can exalt them as a nation [Proverbs 14:34]. Reader! Whoever thou art, remember this, and in they sphere practice virtue thyself and encourage it in others.⁴ Patrick Henry

Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.⁵ Thomas Jefferson

Contrary to what is often asserted today, the founders never intended that God’s Word or His principles be separated from public life. They knew these principles were vital to the success of our new government. James Madison explained:

Before any man can be considered as a member of civil society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe.⁶

And to the same Divine Author of every good and perfect gift [James 1:17] we are indebted for all those privileges and advantages, religious as well as civil, which are so richly enjoyed in this favored land.⁷

Furthermore, the founders saw the Bible as inseparable from public education. Benjamin Rush, the first founder to call for free national public schools, explained:

Let the children…be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the most essential part of education.⁸

The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effectual means of extirpating [removing] Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools.⁹

The founders even viewed the principles of the Bible as inseparable from civil law. James Wilson, a signer of the Constitution and an original Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, explained:

Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is diving….Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other.¹⁰

These statements, despite the prominence of those who made them, are virtually unknown today. Instead, for the last four decades we have been taught that our founders were irreligious, desiring a complete separation between religious principles and public policy. However, the facts dispute the contention.

First, consider the actions of the founding fathers. The overwhelming majority of these men were so firmly committed to the principles of God’s Word that they went to great lengths to propagate those principles. For example, do you realize that many founders helped organize and lead several of the Christian societies which today are still spreading the gospel? Those men helped found the American Tract Society; the American Sunday School Union; over one hundred city, county, and state Bible societies, including the American Bible Society; the American Board of Foreign Missions; the Christian Constitutional Society; the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; the American Society for Educating Pious Youth for the Gospel Ministry; and many other similar groups. Are such organizations likely to be started by supposedly irreligious men who wanted God’s principles separate from society?

Second, consider their words––or their lack thereof. Today’s well-known phrase “separation of church and state” appears in no part of the Constitution. Furthermore, the discussions of the ninety founding fathers who framed the First Amendment (which the Courts now tell us means “separation of church and state”) are recorded in the Congressional Journal from June 7 to September 25, 1789. Interestingly, not once in those months of discussions did one of the founders ever mention that phrase. Doesn’t it seem logical that if they had intended today’s doctrine of “separation of church and state” that at least one of those ninety would have mentioned it? Ironically, today we no longer learn about what our founders did say in the Constitution; instead, we learn about something that they didn’t say!

The Bible reminds us that the most important part of any structure is its foundation: “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). It is time to remember our foundations, and to listen again to the words of those who were instrumental in making this country one of the world’s most powerful and respected nations. As George Washington reminded us:

No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United State….We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious [favorable] smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation which disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself ordained.¹¹

For America’s continuing survival and world leadership, we must recapture the founders’ vision of the importance of God’s Word and His gospel for this nation. America must again embrace the wisdom articulated so well by President John Adams:

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion….Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.¹²

Download the complete tract here!

Endnotes

¹ Origins of American Constitutionalism, 1987
² Letter to Thomas Jefferson, June 28, 1813
³ History of the United States, 1832
⁴ From Henry’s handwritten notes on the back of his copy of the Stamp Act resolutions, made public after his death
⁵ Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781
⁶ A Memorial and Remonstrance, 1785
⁷ Presidential Proclamation, 1815
⁸ A Plan for Free Schools, 1787
⁹ “A Defense of the Use of the Bible in Schools,” 1791
¹⁰ “Lectures on Law, Delivered in the College of Philadelphia,” 1790-1791
¹¹ “Inaugural Address,” April 30, 1789
¹² Letter of October 13, 1789.

Modern Thanksgiving Celebrations

The Pilgrims inaugural Thanksgiving in 1621 was followed by sporadic national Thanksgiving celebrations but more common celebrations at the state level. The switch to a standard Thanksgiving holiday at the federal level came about in the 1800s.

Lincoln’s 1863 Proclamation

Much of the credit for this adoption may be attributed to Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book (a popular magazine containing poetry, art work, and articles by America’s leading authors). She persistently campaigned for an established national Thanksgiving, such as in this 1852 editorial:

The American people have two peculiar festivals, each connected with their history, and therefore of great importance in giving power and distinctness to their nationality. The Fourth of July Is the exponent of independence and civil freedom. Thanksgiving Day is the national pledge of Christian faith in God, acknowledging him as the dispenser of blessings. These two festivals should be joyfully and universally observed throughout our whole country, and thus incorporated in our habits of thought as inseparable from American life.¹

For two decades, Hale promoted the idea of a national Thanksgiving Day,² writing president after president. Abraham Lincoln eventually responded to this persistence in 1863 by setting aside the last Thursday of that November. The Thanksgiving proclamation issued by Lincoln at that time was remarkable not only for its strong religious content but also for its timing. It was delivered in the midst of the darkest days of the Civil War, after the Union had lost multiple battles in the first three years of that conflict. Yet, despite those dark circumstances, Lincoln called Americans to give thanks that:

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the aggressions of foreign States, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict.³

In that proclamation, President Lincoln also noted that:

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the Source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God. . . . No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, Who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.⁴

Presidents After Lincoln

Over the seventy-five years following Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, presidents faithfully followed Lincoln’s precedent, annually declaring a national Thanksgiving Day. The date, however, of the celebrations varied widely from proclamation to proclamation.

Among the many Thanksgiving proclamations in the WallBuilders’ collection is an 1887 handwritten one issued by President Grover Cleveland in which he once again emphasized God’s hand:

The goodness and the mercy of God, which have followed the American people during all the days of the past year claim our grateful recognition and humble acknowledgment. By His omnipotent power He has protected us from war and pestilence and from every national calamity; by His gracious favor the earth has yielded a generous return to the labor of the husbandman, and every path of honest toil has led to comfort and contentment; by His loving kindness the hearts of our people have been replenished with fraternal sentiment and patriotic endeavor, and by His Fatherly guidance we have been directed in the way of national prosperity.⁵

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the precedent of celebrating Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of each November. And in 1941, Congress permanently established that day as the national Thanksgiving holiday.⁶

During World War II, (which would eventually claim the lives of over 400,000 Americans⁷), President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued a Thanksgiving proclamation for November 1944 asking Americans to be thankful . . .

For the preservation of our way of life from the threat of destruction; for the unity of spirit which has kept our Nation strong; for our abiding faith in freedom; and for the promise of an enduring peace.⁸

President George W. Bush summarized this history of Thanksgiving proclamations and celebrations in his 2007 Thanksgiving proclamation:

Our country was founded by men and women who realized their dependence on God and were humbled by His providence and grace. The early explorers and settlers who arrived in this land gave thanks for God’s protection and for the extraordinary natural abundance they found. Since the first National Day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed by President George Washington, Americans have come together to offer thanks for our many blessings.⁹

As Americans continue to “Be thankful in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT), our Thanksgiving celebrations should include reflections on all the reasons to be truly thankful to God for His many blessings. Perhaps the four items George Washington mentioned in America’s original federal Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789¹⁰ should be the basis for future Thanksgiving commemorations:

Acknowledge the providence of Almighty God;
Obey His will;
Be grateful for His benefits; and
Humbly implore His protection and favor.

For additional articles on Thanksgiving, see:

Tim Barton, “Give Thanks for America This Thanksgiving,” Epoch Times, https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/give-thanks-for-america-this-thanksgiving-4101383
Tim Barton, “Let’s Thank the Pilgrims for Defeating Socialism This Thanksgiving,” Todd Starnes,
https://www.toddstarnes.com/opinion/barton-pilgrims-defeating-socialism-thanksgiving/

See previous articles in this series on Thanksgiving: “The Pilgrims Thanksgiving,” https://wallbuilders.com/resource/the-pilgrims-thanksgiving/ and “The Founders Thanksgivings,” https://wallbuilders.com/resource/the-founders-thanksgivings/.

Endnotes

¹ “Editor’s Table,” Godey’s Lady’s Book (Philadelphia: October 1852), 388, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Godey_s_Lady_s_Book_and_Ladies_American/3Y9MAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA388&printsec=frontcover.
² Appleton’s Cyclopedia of American Biography, eds. James Grant Wilson & John Fiske (New York: D. Appleton & Co, 1888), III:35, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39076005094201&seq=55.
³ Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation for Thanksgiving, October 3, 1863, The Works of Abraham Lincoln, eds. John H. Clifford & Marion M. Miller (New York: University Society Inc, 1908), VI:160-161, https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Works_of_Abraham_Lincoln/v5B14zepO3MC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA160&printsec=frontcover; Abraham Lincoln, “Thanksgiving Proclamation,” October 3, 1863, WallBuilders, https://wallbuilders.com/resource/proclamation-thanksgiving-day-1863/.
⁴ Lincoln, Proclamation for Thanksgiving, October 3, 1863, Works of Lincoln, eds. Clifford & Miller (1908), VI:160-161, https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Works_of_Abraham_Lincoln/v5B14zepO3MC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA160&printsec=frontcover; Lincoln, “Thanksgiving Proclamation,” October 3, 1863, WallBuilders, https://wallbuilders.com/resource/proclamation-thanksgiving-day-1863/.
⁵ Grover Cleveland, “Thanksgiving Proclamation,” issued October 25, 1887, WallBuilders, https://wallbuilders.com/resource/proclamation-thanksgiving-day-1887/.
⁶ “Congress Establishes Thanksgiving,” The National Archives, accessed August 31, 2023, https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/thanksgiving/; “Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamations 1940-1949: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman,” Pilgrim Hall Museum, https://www.pilgrimhall.org/pdf/TG_Presidential_Thanksgiving_Proclamations_1940_1949.pdf, Proclamation 2571, November 11, 1942, referring to a “joint resolution of Congress approved December 26, 1941, which designates the fourth Thursday in November of each year as Thanksgiving Day.”
⁷ “WWII Memorial Registry,” accessed August 31, 2023, https://wwiiregistry.abmc.gov/.
⁸ Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Thanksgiving Proclamation,” issued November 1, 1944, WallBuilders, https://wallbuilders.com/resource/proclamation-thanksgiving-day-1944/.
⁹ George W. Bush, “Thanksgiving Day, 2007,” issued November 15, 2007, https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/11/20071115-5.html.
¹⁰ George Washington, Proclamation for a National Thanksgiving on October 3, 1789, Writings of George Washington, ed. Jared Sparks (Boston: Russell, Odiorne and Metcalf, 1838), XII:119; George Washington, “Thanksgiving Proclamation,” issued on October 3, 1789, WallBuilders, https://wallbuilders.com/resource/proclamation-thanksgiving-day-1789/.

The Founders Thanksgivings

Some of America’s Founding Fathers were direct descendants of the hearty Pilgrim settlers from which the tradition of our modern Thanksgiving originates. Included in this group are John Adams, John Trumbull, and Noah Webster.¹ These descendants openly maintained the faith of their forefathers and expressed continued thankfulness to God.

In fact, Noah Webster, “The Schoolmaster to America” and a descendant of Pilgrim Governor William Bradford, defined Thanksgiving as:

A public celebration of Divine goodness; also, a day set apart for religious services, specially to acknowledge the goodness of God, either in any remarkable deliverance from calamities or danger, or in the ordinary dispensation of His bounties. The practice of appointing an annual thanksgiving originated in New England.²

War for Independence

Following the Pilgrim’s example, Thanksgiving celebrations were common throughout New England. After the April 1775 battles of Lexington and Concord, a city in Massachusetts issued a Thanksgiving proclamation that November. It urged the people, even as war continued, to give thanks for all their blessings, including…

devoutly to offer up their unfeigned Praises to Almighty God…that the lives of our officers and soldiers have been so remarkably preserved, while our enemies have fell before them…that our unnatural enemies, instead of ravaging the country with uncontrolled sway, are confined within such narrow limits, to their own mortification and distress, environed by an American Army, brave and determined.³

Throughout the War for Independence, the Continental Congress called for official days of thanksgiving and prayer⁴ through eight separate Proclamations. (Congress also issued seven proclamations for times of fasting and prayer. Thus, the national governing body of which many Founders were a part, called for a total of 15 official times of prayer.⁵)

New Hampshire Speaker of the House John Langdon (later signer of the US Constitution and governor of New Hampshire) wrote a Thanksgiving proclamation in 1778 which is available in WallBuilders’ collection. Clearly acknowledged in this proclamation is a strong reliance on God:

The mercies which, notwithstanding our great unworthiness, we are constantly receiving at the hands of Almighty God, ought ever to remind us of our obligations to Him; and it becomes our especial duty at the close of a year, to unite together in rendering thanks to the Divine Disposer of all good for the bounties of His providence conferred on us in the course thereof.⁶

Early Federal Proclamations

America’s first national Thanksgiving occurred in 1789, after having won independence and adopting the US Constitution. According to the Congressional Record for September 25th of that year, the first act after the framing of the Bill of Rights was that:

Mr. [Elias] Boudinot said he could not think of letting the session pass without offering an opportunity to all the citizens of the United States of joining with one voice in returning to Almighty God their sincere thanks for the many blessings He had poured down upon them. With this view, therefore, he would move the following resolution:

Resolved, That a joint committee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the President of the United States to request that he would recommend to the people of the United States a Day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer. . . .

Mr. Roger Sherman justified the practice of thanksgiving on any single event not only as a laudable one in itself but also as warranted by a number of precedents in Holy Writ. . . . This example he thought worthy of a Christian imitation on the present occasion.⁷

That congressional resolution was delivered to President George Washington who subsequently issued the first federal Thanksgiving proclamation, declaring in part:

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor. . . . Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November [1789] . . . that we may all unite to render unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection.⁸

Following this 1789 initial proclamation, national Thanksgiving Proclamations occurred only sporadically. For example, another was issued by President Washington in 1795, John Adams issued proclamations in 1798 and 1799, and James Madison issued them in 1814 and 1815.⁹ Most official Thanksgiving observances during this time occurred at the state level.

Proclamation Examples

In fact, by 1815, the various state governments had issued at least 1,400 official prayer proclamations, almost half for times of thanksgiving and prayer and the other half for times of fasting and prayer.¹⁰

Below are representative examples of the scores of Thanksgiving proclamations penned by various Founding Fathers.

[Congress] recommended [a day of] . . . thanksgiving and praise [so] that . . . the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and . . . join . . . their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive [our sins] and . . . [to] enlarge [His] kingdom which consisteth in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.¹¹ Continental Congress, 1777 – written by SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION SAMUEL ADAMS AND RICHARD HENRY LEE

[I] appoint . . . a day of public Thanksgiving to Almighty God . . . to [ask] Him that He would . . . pour out His Holy Spirit on all ministers of the Gospel; that He would . . . spread the light of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth; . . . and that He would establish these United States upon the basis of religion and virtue.¹² GOVERNOR THOMAS JEFFERSON, 1779

[I] appoint . . . a day of public thanksgiving and praise . . . to render to God the tribute of praise for His unmerited goodness towards us . . . [by giving to] us . . . the Holy Scriptures which are able to enlighten and make us wise to eternal salvation. And [to] present our supplications…that He would forgive our manifold sins and . . . cause the benign religion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be known, understood, and practiced among all the inhabitants of the earth.¹³ GOVERNOR JOHN HANCOCK, 1790

As it hath pleased Almighty God to continue to the people of this Commonwealth great and unmerited Favors in the course of the year past; it is highly becoming, that after the example of our pious and renowned ancestors, a day should be set apart, at this season of the year, for the special purpose of rendering to the Father of all mercies the just tribute of gratitude and praise.¹⁴ GOVERNOR SAMUEL ADAMS, 1794

See additional Thanksgiving Proclamations and Sermons on our Resources page. Below are a few specific items of interest:

See Thanksgiving Proclamations issued by the Continental Congress in 1777,¹⁵ 1781,¹⁶ 1782,¹⁷ and many other historic proclamations.
Read the 1795 Thanksgiving Sermon by the Rev. Thomas Baldwin¹⁸ in response to George Washington’s call for a Day of Thanksgiving.

Continue reading about the history of Thanksgiving: https://wallbuilders.com/resource/modern-thanksgiving-celebrations/

Endnotes

¹ (Additionally, numerous Presidents can trace their lineage to the Mayflower Pilgrims, including John Quincy Adams, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George Bush, and George W. Bush. See for example “The Pilgrims of the Mayflower,” June 2015, Pilgrim Monument: Provincetown Museum, https://www.pilgrim-monument.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Pilgrims-Bio-Information-rev-6-20151.pdf; Gary Boyd Roberts, “#42 Royal Descents, Notable Kin, and Printed Sources: Yankee Ancestors, Mayflower Lines, and Royal Descents and Connections of Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr.,” American Ancestors, December 1, 1999.)
² “Thanksgiving,” Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (New York: S. Converse, 1828).
³ Watertown City Council, “Thanksgiving Proclamation,” issued November 4, 1775, WallBuilders, https://wallbuilders.com/proclamation-thanksgiving-day-1775-massachusetts/.
⁴ Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, “Religion and the Congress of the Confederation,” Library of Congress, accessed August 30, 2023, https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel04.html.
⁵ See the Journals of the Continental Congress (1905) for June 12, 1775; March 16, 1776; December 11, 1776; November 1, 1777; March 7, 1778; November 17, 1778; March 20, 1779; October 20, 1779; March 11, 1780; October 18, 1780; March 20, 1781; October 26, 1781; March 19, 1782; October 11, 1782; October 18, 1783.
⁶ Meshech Ware & John Langdon, “Thanksgiving Proclamation,” issued November 19, 1778, WallBuilders, https://wallbuilders.com/proclamation-thanksgiving-day-1778-new-hampshire/.
⁷ The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (Washington: Gales & Seaton, 1834), I:949-950.
⁸ George Washington, Proclamation for a National Thanksgiving on October 3, 1789, Writings of George Washington, ed. Jared Sparks (Boston: Russell, Odiorne and Metcalf, 1838), XII:119; George Washington, “Thanksgiving Proclamation,” issued on October 3, 1789, WallBuilders, https://wallbuilders.com/proclamation-thanksgiving-day-1789/.
⁹ See, for example, H. S. J. Sickel, Thanksgiving: Its Source, Philosophy and History With All National Proclamations (Philadelphia: International Printing Co, 1940), 154-155, “Thanksgiving Day- 1795” by George Washington; 156-157, “Thanksgiving Day – 1798” by John Adams; 158-159, “Thanksgiving Day – 1799” by John Adams; 160, “Thanksgiving Day – 1814” by James Madison; 161, “Thanksgiving Day – 1815” by James Madison; etc.
¹⁰ Deloss Love, in his work The Fast and Thanksgiving Days of New England, lists some 1,735 proclamations issued between 1620 and 1820, in a non-exclusive list. Of those, 284 were issued by churches and 1,451 by civil authorities. 1,028 of the civil proclamations were issued prior to July 4, 1776, and 413 from July 4, 1776 to 1820. 278 of the church proclamations were issued before July 4, 1776, and six afterwards. These, however, are only a portion of what were issued; for example, the author personally owns hundreds of additional proclamations not listed in Love’s work. While the exact number of government-issued prayer proclamations is unknown, it is certain that they certainly number in the thousands.
¹¹ Journals of the Continental Congress (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907), IX:855, November 1, 1777.
¹² Thomas Jefferson, Proclamation Appointing a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer, November 11, 1779, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1951), 3:178.
¹³ John Hancock, Proclamation for a Day of Public Thanksgiving (Boston, 1790), from an original broadside in possession of the author.
¹⁴ Samuel Adams, “Thanksgiving Proclamation,” issued October 15, 1794, WallBuilders, https://wallbuilders.com/proclamation-thanksgiving-day-1794-massachusetts/.
¹⁵ Continental Congress, “Thanksgiving Proclamation,” issued November 1, 1777, WallBuilders, https://wallbuilders.com/proclamation-thanksgiving-day-1777/.
¹⁶ Thomas McKean & Continental Congress, “Thanksgiving Proclamation,” issued October 26, 1781, WallBuilders, https://wallbuilders.com/proclamation-thanksgiving-day-1781/.
¹⁷ John Hanson & Continental Congress, “Thanksgiving Proclamation,” issued October 11, 1782, WallBuilders, https://wallbuilders.com/proclamation-thanksgiving-day-1782/.
¹⁸ Thomas Baldwin, “Thanksgiving Sermon,” February 19, 1795, WallBuilders, https://wallbuilders.com/sermon-thanksgiving-1795-massachusetts/.

The Pilgrims Thanksgiving

The tradition of Thanksgiving as a time to focus on God and His blessings was introduced by European Americans and dates back well over four centuries in America.

For example, such thanksgivings occurred in:

1541 at Palo Duro Canyon, Texas with Coronado and 1,500 of his men¹
1565 at St. Augustine, Florida with French Huguenot (Protestant) colonists²
1598 at El Paso, Texas with Juan de Oñate and his expedition³
1607 at Cape Henry, Virginia with the landing of the Jamestown settlers⁴
1619 at Berkeley Plantation, Virginia.⁵

But it is primarily from the Pilgrim’s Thanksgiving celebration of 1621 that we derive the current tradition of Thanksgiving Day.

The Pilgrims

The Pilgrims were known as Separatists.⁶ This set of Protestants believed they would be unable to reform the Church of England and therefore needed to separate and form their own church. (In contrast, the Puritans believed they could reform the Church of England.⁷ They were wrong and, following severe persecution, some 20,000⁸ followed the Pilgrims to America.)

They set sail in the Mayflower for America on September 6, 1620, and for two months braved the harsh elements of a storm-tossed sea. The Pilgrims had originally obtained a land grant for Virginia⁹, but after a rough ocean crossing, they landed some 200 miles north of Virginia¹⁰ in what became known as Massachusetts. On November 11, 1620, they finally dropped anchor and came ashore¹¹.

Upon disembarking at Plymouth Rock, they held a prayer service and then hastily began building shelters. However, they were unprepared for a harsh New England winter, and nearly half of them died before spring.¹² Emerging from that grueling winter, the Pilgrims were surprised when an Indian named Samoset approached them and greeted them in their own language, explaining to them that he had learned English from fishermen and traders. A week later, Samoset returned with a friend named Squanto¹³, who lived with the Pilgrims and accepted their Christian faith.

Squanto taught the Pilgrims much about how to survive in the New World, and he and Samoset helped forge a long-lasting peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians. Pilgrim Governor William Bradford described Squanto as “a special instrument sent of God for [our] good . . . and never left [us] till he died.”¹⁴

The 1621 Thanksgiving

That summer, the Pilgrims, still persevering in prayer and assisted by their Indian neighbors,¹⁵ reaped a bountiful harvest.¹⁶ The grateful Pilgrims therefore declared a three-day feast in December 1621 to thank God and to celebrate with their generous friends.¹⁷ This was America’s first Thanksgiving Festival.

Ninety Wampanoag Indians joined the fifty Pilgrims for these three days of feasting, play, and prayer. Pilgrim Edward Winslow (later governor of Plymouth), wrote about this time:

[O]ur harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might, after a special manner, rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king, Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted; and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want.¹⁸

Historian Benson Lossing later recounted:

[T]he Pilgrims at Plymouth rejoiced in an abundance of food in the autumn of 1621, the first year of their settlement. Thereby their hearts were filled with gratitude, and after the fruits of their labors had all been gathered, the governor sent out huntsmen to bring in supplies for a general and common thanksgiving. That was the first celebration of the great New England festival of Thanksgiving, now annually held in almost every State and Territory of the Union in the month of November. Great quantities of wild turkeys and deer were gathered at Plymouth, and for three days the Pilgrims indulged in rejoicing, firing of guns, and feasting – entertaining, at the same time, King Massasoit and ninety of his dusky followers, who contributed five deer to the banquets. Seven substantial houses had been built during the summer; the inhabitants were in good health; a few emigrants from England had come in a second ship, and there were happy homes in the wilderness the ensuing winter.¹⁹

After 1621

However, while the Pilgrims enjoyed times of prosperity for which they thanked God, they also suffered extreme hardships. In fact, in 1623 they experienced an extended and prolonged drought. Knowing that without a change in the weather there would be no harvest and the winter would be filled with death and starvation, Governor Bradford called the Pilgrims to a time of prayer and fasting to seek God’s direct intervention. Significantly, shortly after – and to the great amazement of the Indian who witnessed the scene – clouds appeared in the sky and a gentle and steady rain began to fall. As Governor Bradford explained:

It came without either wind or thunder or any violence, and by degrees in abundance, as that ye earth was thoroughly wet and soaked therewith, which did so apparently revive and quicken ye decayed corn and other fruits as was wonderful to see, and made ye Indians astonished to behold; and afterwards the Lord sent them such seasonable showers, with interchange of fair warm weather as, through His blessing, caused a fruitful and liberal harvest, to their no small comfort and rejoicing.²⁰

The drought had been broken; the fall therefore produced an abundant harvest; there was cause for another thanksgiving. The Pilgrim practice of designating an official time of Thanksgiving spread into neighboring colonies and became an annual tradition.²¹ And just as those neighboring colonies followed the Pilgrims’ example of calling for days of thanksgiving, so, too, did they adopt their practice of calling for a time of prayer and fasting. The New England Colonies therefore developed a practice of calling for a day of prayer and fasting in the spring, and a day of prayer and thanksgiving in the fall.

Continue reading about the history of Thanksgiving: https://wallbuilders.com/resource/the-founders-thanksgivings/

Endnotes

¹ “Lincoln and Thanksgiving,” May 12, 2021 National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/lincoln-and-thanksgiving.htm.
² “America’s Real First Thanksgiving,” The Jacksonville Historical Society, accessed August 30, 2023, https://www.jaxhistory.org/timucua_first_thanksgiving/.
³ “The First Thanksgiving?” Texas Almanac, accessed August 30, 2023, https://www.texasalmanac.com/articles/the-first-thanksgiving.
⁴ Benson Lossing, Our Country. A Household History of the United States (New York: James A. Bailey, 1895), 1:181-182; “The Reverend Robert Hunt: The First Chaplain at Jamestown,” National Park Service, accessed August 30, 2023, https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/the-reverend-robert-hunt-the-first-chaplain-at-jamestown.htm.
⁵ “Berkeley Plantation,” Berkeley Plantation, accessed August 30, 2023, http://berkeleyplantation.com/.
⁶ “Who Were the Pilgrims?” Plimoth Patuxet Museums, accessed August 30, 2023, https://plimoth.org/for-students/homework-help/who-were-the-pilgrims.
⁷ “Puritanism,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed August 30, 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Puritanism.
⁸ Lynn Betlock, “New England’s Great Migration,” New England Ancestors (2003), 2:22-24, https://www.americanancestors.org/new-englands-great-migration.
⁹ Peggy M. Baker, “The Plymouth Colony Patent,” 2007, Pilgrim Hall Museum, https://pilgrimhall.org/pdf/The_Plymouth_Colony_Patent.pdf.
¹⁰ Christa Case, “Step aboard the Mayflower,” November 16, 2014, Christian Science Monitor, https://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1116/p18s02-hfks.html/(page)/2.
¹¹ William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1854), 77, 80, https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Plymouth_Plantation/tYecOAN1cwwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PR1&printsec=frontcover.
¹² Bradford, History of Plymouth (1854), 91, https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Plymouth_Plantation/tYecOAN1cwwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PR1&printsec=frontcover.
¹³ Bradford, History of Plymouth (1854), 93-95, https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Plymouth_Plantation/tYecOAN1cwwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PR1&printsec=frontcover.
¹⁴ Bradford, History of Plymouth (1854), 95, https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Plymouth_Plantation/tYecOAN1cwwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PR1&printsec=frontcover.
¹⁵ Bradford, History of Plymouth (1854), 100, https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Plymouth_Plantation/tYecOAN1cwwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PR1&printsec=frontcover.
¹⁶ Bradford, History of Plymouth (1854), 105, https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Plymouth_Plantation/tYecOAN1cwwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PR1&printsec=frontcover.
¹⁷ Mourt’s Relation or Journal of the Plantation at Plymouth, ed. Henry Martyn Dexter (Boston: Jim Kimball Wiggin, 1865), 133, https://archive.org/details/mourtsrelationo00dextgoog/page/n192/mode/2up; Edward Winslow to George Morton, December 21, 1621, William S. Russell, Guide to Plymouth and Recollections of the Pilgrims (Boston: George Coolidge, 1846), 95, https://archive.org/details/guidetoplymouthr00russrich/page/94/mode/2up.
¹⁸ Mourt’s Relation, ed. Dexter (1865), 132-133, https://archive.org/details/mourtsrelationo00dextgoog/page/n192/mode/2up; Edward Winslow to George Morton, December 21, 1621, Russell, Guide to Plymouth (1846), 95, https://archive.org/details/guidetoplymouthr00russrich/page/94/mode/2up.
¹⁹ Benson Lossing, Our Country. A Household History of the United States (New York: Johnson, Wilson & Co., 1875), 372, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Our_Country/SdkGAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA372&printsec=frontcover. For another historican’s account of the Pilgrims Thanksgiving, see: Ashbel Steele, Chief of the Pilgrims: Or the Life and Time of William Brewster (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co, 1857), 269-270, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Chief_of_the_Pilgrim_Or_Life_and_Time_of/HsE8AAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA269&printsec=frontcover.
²⁰ Bradford, History of Plymouth (1854), 142, https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Plymouth_Plantation/tYecOAN1cwwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PR1&printsec=frontcover.
²¹ DeLoss Love, Jr, The Fast and Thanksgiving Days of New England (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co, 1895), 87-90, https://archive.org/details/fastthanksgiving00loverich/page/86/mode/2up.

Lesson 1: Discovery and Early Planting (1492-mid 1600s)

Discovery and Early Planting (1492-mid 1600s)

The recorded story of America begins with the European discovery of the New World in the late fifteenth-century by Christopher Columbus. Even though the Vikings had come inland in America as far as Minnesota hundreds of years earlier, it was the announcement of Columbus’ landing that opened up the Western Hemisphere to European interest and colonization.

Columbus eventually made four voyages from Europe to the new western lands, but few today know what inspired him to do so—a motivation he clearly revealed in a book he wrote in 1502 after his third voyage. That work, called his Book of Prophecies, contains his collection of scores of Scriptures addressing the propagation of the Christian Gospel in distant lands that he, Christopher (which means “the Christ bearer”), believed he was fulfilling.

Also included in his Prophecies is the letter he wrote to the King and Queen of Spain (Ferdinand and Isabella, who financed his voyage), in which he explained:

[I] have seen and put in study to look into all the Scriptures….Our Lord opened to my understanding (I could sense His hand upon me), so that it became clear that it was feasible to navigate from here to the Indies….All those who heard about my enterprise rejected it with laughter, scoffing at me….Who doubts that this illumination was from the Holy Spirit? I attest that He [the Spirit], with marvelous rays of light, consoled me through the holy and sacred Scriptures….No one should be afraid to take on any enterprise in the name of our Savior, if it is right and if the purpose is purely for His holy service.[1]

Not only do Columbus’ writings affirm his strong Christian faith, so do the choice of names for the new lands he visited. For example, the massive painting of the Landing of Columbus permanently on display in the Rotunda of the US Capitol shows him arriving at an island in October 1492 in what today is the Bahamas. After coming ashore, he knelt, kissed the ground, led the men in prayer to God for their safe arrival, and christened that new land “San Salvador,” meaning “Holy Savior.”[2] Another island he named “Trinidad” after the Christian Holy Trinity of God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.[3]

*Landing of Columbus displayed in the US Capitol.*

For almost five centuries, Columbus was celebrated as a hero, with over 600 monuments being erected to honor him.[4] In fact, the city of Washington, DC was named after him (DC stands for District of Columbia, or Columbus).[5] But in recent years, he has been portrayed as a villain because of his so-called atrocious “treatment” of Native Indians. But sadly, too many of today’s narratives fail to give the true factual story of his encounters and relationships with those peoples.

Columbus was involved with two principal Indian tribes. The first, the Taíno, was a very kind and gentle people, and Columbus repeatedly praised them as “the best people in the world.”[6] He wrote Spain, advocating for their full equality, citizenship, and civil rights. The second tribe, the Caribs, was the mortal enemy of the Taíno, raiding their villages, enslaving their people, and especially cannibalizing them. When Columbus arrived on his first journey, the Taíno told him about these atrocities, so on his second voyage Columbus journeyed to the Carib lands to see if the reports were true.[7]

Arriving there, he discovered slave camps where the Caribs housed Taino captive women who were raped for the purpose of producing children for the Caribs to eat. The stories of the barbaric cannibalism were confirmed by the abundance of human remains found boiling in the cooking pots as well as the gnawed bones throughout the camps.[8] Columbus liberated the enslaved women and proceeded to fight against the Caribs whenever they engaged him (and the Caribs had attacked and murdered dozens of his men).[9]

So Columbus was largely just and kind with the Taíno tribes but did indeed war against the horrific cannibal Caribs. Yet claims abound today that Columbus sought to destroy and pillage all Indians, without discussing who he fought or even why he was fighting them. Modern critics also fail to mention the good relations he had with many tribes.

Another modern claim is that Columbus enslaved Natives and forcibly carried them back with him. But nearly all those he forcibly brought to Spain were cannibalistic Carib murderers, captured in open war. Some of the friendly Indians had volunteered to travel back to Spain with Columbus, including an important local chieftain and his entire family, but Columbus urged him to stay in his own kingdom.[10] One Indian who chose to go with Columbus after his first voyage actually became a member of the royal Spanish court; another took Columbus’ last name and traveled with him as his interpreter for his various visits to native tribes. [11]

But returning to Columbus’ “discovery” of the New World, it is significant that while Columbus is credited with opening the western hemisphere to European colonization, neither he nor Spain (the nation for which he sailed) actually colonized what would eventually become the United States. This is fortunate, for at that time, civil and religious tyranny were common in Spain and numerous other nations of Europe.

This Spanish tyranny was not Columbus’ practice, however, for he was Italian, not Spanish. He sailed under the banner of Spain simply because they funded his voyages, not because he agreed with their people or practices. In fact, on numerous occasions, he openly denounced the atrocious behavior of many of the Spaniards who had been assigned to him as his crew.[12]

Fortunately, it was nearly a century after Columbus’ discovery of the new western lands before permanent colonists began arriving in America. Why the long wait? Nineteenth century historian B.F. Morris explained:

[G]od held this vast land [America] in reserve as the great field on which the experiment was to be made in favor of civil and religious liberty. He suffered not the foot of a Spaniard, or Portuguese, or Frenchman, or Englishman to come upon it until the changes had been wrought in Europe which would make it certain that it [America] would always be a land of [Biblical] freedom.[13]

Those “changes wrought in Europe” refer to what today is called the Reformation—a religious movement that birthed both civil and religious liberty in several nations. That movement began in the 1300s and for the next two centuries steadily spread across Europe and then into other parts of the world.

The movement began with several Catholic priests urging a return to the teachings of the Bible—teachings that had been largely ignored by both State and Church over the previous thousand years. This back-to-the-Bible movement (that is, the Reformation) began a reform of the Catholic Church and also birthed the Protestant Church.

One particularly strong emphasis of that movement was to make the Bible available to the average person in his own language. Over previous centuries, the Bible had been largely unavailable to the ordinary individual and was nearly always written in a foreign language that only a handful of the elite and most highly-educated could read. But with the Reformation, Bibles became available for all citizens in their own language; and when the people began to read and apply the Bible and its teachings, their personal lives and practices changed. This had a direct beneficial impact on both State and Church, for as Biblical principles of liberty became known and adopted, both civil and religious tyranny began decreasing.

With the gradual return to Biblical teachings, key theological ideas were recovered by the Church, including Sola Scriptura (“by Scripture alone”), Sola Fide (“by faith alone”), Sola Gratia (“by grace alone”), Solus Christus or Solo Christo (“Christ alone” or “through Christ alone”), and Soli Deo gloria (“glory to God alone”). Many new Christian denominations were built upon these ideas, and they impacted the society at large in a positive manner.

America, perhaps more than any other country at the time, was directly shaped by the Reformation, for the early colonists who settled here (including the Pilgrims, Puritans, and others) were a direct product of Reformation teachings. In fact, many of them had been driven from Europe simply because they sought to live out their faith according to Bible precepts, and in America they found the freedom to openly live their lives by its teachings on government, economics, law, family, education, and much else.

As a result, the Biblical concepts of religious freedom, representative government, individual enterprise, jurisdictional authority, limited government, and private property began to appear in many of the civil documents that came forth in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (such as the Mayflower Compact, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, the Massachusetts Body of Liberties, the Frame of Government of Pennsylvania, the Declaration of Independence, and the United States Constitution). Personal liberty as well as religious, civil, political, and economic liberty was the result of applying the Bible’s teachings to all areas of life.

In fact, the Bible became so influential in the birth, growth, and development of the United States that even modern publications such as Newsweek affirm that “historians are discovering that the Bible, perhaps even more than the Constitution, is our founding document.”[14] Without God and the Bible, there would be no free and prosperous America as we have come to know it today.

The Bible: The Rock of Our Republic

Interestingly, one group of American leaders that repeatedly affirmed the historic impact of Bible teachings in shaping America was US Presidents. For example:

In the formative days of the Republic, the directing influence the Bible exercised upon the fathers of the Nation is conspicuously evident….We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a Nation without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic.[15] I suggest a nationwide reading of the Holy Scriptures….for a renewed and strengthening contact with those eternal truths and majestic principles which have inspired such measure of true greatness as this Nation has achieved.[16] President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

[T]he teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally—I do not mean figuratively, I mean literally—impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teachings were removed. We would lose almost all the standards by which we now judge both public and private morals—all the standards toward which we, with more or less resolution, strive to raise ourselves. Almost every man who has by his life-work added to the sum of human achievement of which the [human] race is proud—of which our people are proud—almost every such man has based his life-work largely upon the teachings of the Bible.[17] President Teddy Roosevelt

Ronald Reagan

Of the many influences that have shaped the United States of America into a distinctive Nation and people, none may be said to be more fundamental and enduring than the Bible….The Bible and its teachings helped form the basis for the Founding Fathers’ abiding belief in the inalienable rights of the individual—rights which they found implicit in the Bible’s teachings of the inherent worth and dignity of each individual.[18] President Ronald Reagan

It was for the love of the truths of this great Book [the Bible] that our fathers abandoned their native shores for the wilderness. Animated by its lofty principles, they toiled and suffered till the desert blossomed as the rose [Isaiah 35:1].[19] The Bible is the best of books and I wish it were in the hands of everyone. It is indispensable to the safety and permanence of our institutions; a free government cannot exist without religion and morals, and there cannot be morals without religion, nor religion without the Bible. Especially should the Bible be placed in the hands of the young. It is the best school book in the world….I would that all of our people were brought up under the influence of that Holy Book.[20] President Zachary Taylor

Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet-anchor of your liberties. Write its precepts in your hearts, and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization, and to this we must look as our guide in the future.[21] President U.S. Grant

[The Bible] is the best gift God has given to men. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it, we could not know right from wrong.[22] President Abraham Lincoln

America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture.[23] President Woodrow Wilson

Harry S. Truman

The fundamental basis of this Nation’s law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don’t think we emphasize that enough these days.[24] President Harry Truman

But long before our Presidents stressed the importance of the Bible, our Founding Fathers (the early leaders largely responsible for the birth and establishment of America as an independent nation) had already done so. For example:

[T]he Bible is the best book in the world.[25] Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited…. What a Utopia—what a Paradise would this region be![26] John Adams, signer of the declaration of independence, president

[T]he Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world.[27] By renouncing the Bible, philosophers swing from their moorings upon all moral subjects….It is the only correct map of the human heart that ever has been published.[28] Benjamin Rush, signer of the declaration of independence[The Bible] is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed.[29] Patrick Henry

[N]o book in the world deserves to be so unceasingly studied and so profoundly meditated upon as the Bible.[30] The first and almost the only book deserving such universal recommendation is the Bible.[31] John Quincy Adams, president

[W]ere you to ask me to recommend the most valuable book in the world, I should fix on the Bible as the most instructive both to the wise and ignorant. Were you to ask me for one book affording the most rational and pleasing entertainment to the enquiring mind, I should repeat, it is the Bible. And should you renew the inquiry for the best philosophy, or the most interesting history, I should still urge you to look into your Bible. I would make it, in short, the alpha and omega of knowledge.[32] Elias Boudinot, president of the continental congress, framer of the bill of rights

The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the Word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.[33] John Jay, president of the continental congress, author of the federalist papers, original chief justice of the us supreme court

I believe the Bible to be the written Word of God and to contain in it the whole rule of faith and manners.[34] Robert Treat Paine, signer of the declaration of independence

[T]he Holy Scriptures….can alone secure to society order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability, and usefulness….Bibles are strong entrenchments [lines of defense]. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience.[35] James McHenry, signer of the constitution

All of the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from them despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.[36] Noah Webster, early educator, “schoolmaster to America”

There are similar declarations from countless other noted national leaders.

The Virginia Colony

Many of the early explorers who had been influential in the growth and development of America were inspired by a love of God and His word. One such example was Richard Hakluyt (1558-1603), a Gospel minister and the greatest English geographer of America’s early colonization period. For decades he advocated for America to become a safe haven for those being persecuted for their desire to live by God’s Word. As he explained in his 1584 Discourse on Western Planting:

We shall, by planting there [in America], enlarge the glory of the Gospel, and from England plant sincere religion and provide a safe and a sure place to receive people from all parts of the world that are forced to flee for the truth of God’s Word.[37]

The Rev. Hakluyt was a member of the governing body of Virginia–America’s first successful colony. And not surprisingly, the original charter of Virginia (1606) openly declared its Christian beliefs, affirming that the colony was being started to propagate the “Christian religion to such people as yet live in darkness and [unhappy] ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God.”[38]

Jamestown, 1607

The first Virginia settlers landed in America in April 1607. They erected a wooden cross at Cape Henry, where they came ashore. At the foot of this cross, the Rev. Hunt led the 149 men of the Virginia Company in prayer, thanking God for their safe journey and recommitting the group to God’s plan and purpose for the New World.

John Smith and Pocahontas

Those settlers sailed up a nearby river and chose a site for their new colony. They named the waterway up which they journeyed the “James River,” and their new settlement “Jamestown”—both in honor of King James of England.

The initial reaction of the neighboring Indians to this unexpected but friendly arrival was fear, suspicion, and outright hostility. In fact, only two weeks after their arrival, 200 Indians made a surprise attack on the settlement, killing two and wounding ten others. But this hostile beginning eventually changed, thanks in large part to Pocahontas, the young daughter of Powhatan, chief of the neighboring Indians.

*Carved relief in the US Capitol Rotunda showing Pocahontas saving John Smith’s life.*

Pocahontas befriended the colonists from the beginning, causing John Smith (who would later become governor of the Virginia Colony) to state that it was the “ordinance of God thus to make her His instrument.”[39] According to Smith, she was “next, under God,…the instrument to preserve this colony from death, famine, and utter confusion.”[40] His initial meeting with Pocahontas, however, was certainly unplanned.

Smith and a small group were exploring the region around their settlement when they were captured by a band of Indians and taken to Powhatan’s village. Those with him were tortured and killed, and Smith was held captive for weeks. Eventually, the Indians ordered him killed as well. They placed his head on a large stone, preparing, as Smith himself reported, “with their clubs, to beat out his brains.”[41] At that moment, Pocahontas intervened. She took Smith’s “head in her arms and laid her own [head] upon his to save him from death.”[42] She pleaded for his life, which her father granted.

Powhatan declared they were now friends and that Smith could go back to Jamestown. Smith did so, but fearfully, “still expecting, as [I] had done all this long time of [my] imprisonment, every hour to be put to one death or other….But Almighty God, by His Divine Providence, had mollified [softened] the hearts of those stern barbarians with compassion.”[43] Pocahontas saved Smith from death, and over the coming months she also saved many others of the Jamestown settlers as well.

*The painting of the Baptism of Pocahontas in the US Capitol Rotunda.*

For example, during their first winter, their food ran out; but Pocahontas was instrumental in getting Indians to bring them supplies. She brought food to the starving colonists at other times as well, and also helped them secure peace treaties with surrounding tribes. Early historian John Fiske writes of Pocahontas: “But for her friendly services on more than one occasion, the tiny settlement would probably have perished.”[44]

The colony survived and slowly began to grow, openly espousing Christian principles. For example, between 1609 and 1612, their code of civil laws (called their Lawes Divine, Morall, and Martiall, etc.) was penned, and it succinctly affirmed the intent of the colonists to live according to God’s commands.[45]

In 1619, civic elections were held in Jamestown, and the result was the first elected representative body of the New World. It opened with prayer, and then met in the choir loft of the church.[46] One of the early acts of this body was to encourage colonists to open their homes to Indian youth with the purpose of teaching them the precepts of the Bible.[47]

*The painting of the Embarkation of the Pilgrims shows them on the ship the Speedwell observing a time of fasting and prayer before leaving Holland to come to America.*

Significantly, many Native Americans became Christians, including Pocahontas, who was brought to a knowledge of Jesus Christ by the ministry of the Rev. Alexander Whitaker and others. In fact, a massive painting hanging in the US Capitol Rotunda (near that of Columbus’ landing) shows the baptism of Pocahontas by the Rev. Whitaker. After her baptism, Pocahontas adopted the Christian name Rebecca, by which she was called the remainder of her life.

Governor John Smith, like so many others in the Virginia Colony (including Rebecca) was an outspoken Christian. His personal faith was reflected in many open acknowledgments of God throughout his life, including his Last Will and Testament (1631):

[I] commend my soul into the hands of Almighty God, my Maker, hoping through the merit of Christ Jesus my Redeemer to receive full remission of all my sins and to inherit a place in the everlasting kingdom.[48]

The Pilgrims and the Plymouth Colony, 1620

Another of the massive paintings that hangs in the US Capitol Rotunda (each is 14 feet high and twenty feet wide) is the Embarkation of the Pilgrims at Delfts Haven, Holland, July 22nd, 1620, painted by Robert Weir and placed in the Capitol in 1843.[49]

*Painted on the sail is the phrase, “God with us,” which was the heart cry of the Pilgrims.*

This painting shows leading Pilgrims in prayer (including Pastor John Robinson, Governors John Carver and William Bradford, military leader Miles Standish, and others). In the center of the painting, Elder William Brewster has an open Bible upon his lap on which are written the words: “The New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” On the sail of the ship can be seen the phrase, “God with Us,” which accurately describes the lifestyle of these men and women.

*William Brewster is holding an open Geneva Bible with the words, “The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”*

The version of the Bible being held by Brewster (and the version used extensively by the Pilgrims) was known as the Geneva Bible. It was the primary Bible of the English Reformation and was the favorite Bible of the Dissenters—those who largely settled America. (They were called Dissenters because they objected to—that is, dissented from—the corrupt European practices of both State and Church).

The Geneva Bible was first published in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1560 by English reformers (and their followers) who had fled there to escape severe religious persecution at the hands of the state-established churches in their various home countries. That Bible went through 140 editions from 1560 to 1644.[50] It was the first Bible to add numbered verses to each chapter. It was also the first Bible to be taken to America, having been carried first by the Virginia colonists and then by the Pilgrims.

One factor that made the Geneva Bible distinctive from all other Bibles at the time was its unique marginal commentaries. Penned by prominent reformers, these commentaries regularly challenged the corrupt European culture of the day, especially criticizing practices that violated God’s Word, whether in government, judiciary, education, law, culture, or elsewhere.

The Dissenters, by their study of the Geneva Bible and its commentaries, saw how flawed the civil and religious system was at that time in most countries across Europe. When the Dissenters in England publicly pointed this out, they received vigorous persecution from the state-established national church. (This same pattern of ill-treatment by state-established churches was common across Europe.)

After years of enduring this government persecution, the Pilgrims (according to their governor and historian, William Bradford) finally “shook off this yoke of anti-Christian bondage, and as the Lord’s free people joined themselves (by a covenant of the Lord) into a church estate, in the fellowship of the Gospel, to walk in all His ways.”[51] They left England and went to Holland, where they finally found religious freedom.

But after twelve years in the secular culture of Holland, they became concerned for the faith of their children. They also preferred the overall English culture to that of the Dutch, so they decided to move to the new land of America, where they could (1) freely worship God, (2) raise Godly children, and (3) share the wonderful truths of the Christian Gospel with others. Concerning this third point, Bradford affirmed that the Pilgrims had: “a great hope and inward zeal…for the propagating and advancing the Gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world [i.e., America].”[52]

When they set sail for America in 1620 aboard the ship Mayflower, it bore 102 “Pilgrims and strangers” (which they called themselves—a quote from 1 Peter 2:11 in the Bible). But the ship also carried much more: it carried the Bible-based principles they had learned—principles that were to become the seeds of the greatest and freest nation the world has ever known.

After sixty-six days at sea, including sailing through some treacherous storms, the Mayflower finally reached America. The Pilgrims had intended to settle in the northern parts of the existing Virginia Colony and had tried diligently to reach that region, but despite their best efforts, fierce winds providentially blew them far north to a region completely outside Virginia’s jurisdiction. They finally put ashore at Cape Cod in the Massachusetts area, and after some searching they found an empty and uninhabited location in which to settle.

Significantly, had the Pilgrims arrived at that same place some years earlier, they would have been met by the fierce Patuxet Indian tribe, which likely would have attacked and killed them all. But in 1617, a plague had mysteriously wiped out all of the tribe except one man: Squanto. He had been in England at the time of the outbreak and returned to the area just before the Pilgrims arrived, finding his entire tribe gone. Due to the devastating nature of the epidemic, the neighboring tribes were afraid to come near the place; they believed that some great supernatural spirit had destroyed the people there and might also kill them as well. So the land was left abandoned and open—a perfect situation for the Pilgrims.

Having arrived in an area not under the authority of the Virginia Colony, the Pilgrims drew up their own governmental compact before leaving the Mayflower, which declared:

Having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith, and the honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents [that is, by this legal document and charter] solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic.[53]

That document, known as the Mayflower Compact, was the first civil governing document written in America and the New World. It placed the Pilgrim’s civil government on a firm Christian basis and was the beginning of American constitutional government.

When the Pilgrims came ashore, they fell to their knees and thanked God, reaffirming their continuing reliance upon Him. Squanto later met them and would become instrumental in their survival. (For more on this part of the story, see the article in the Appendix at the end of Lesson 1, “Why We Celebrate Thanksgiving”).

The Pilgrims’ Colony became known as Plymouth Plantation, or the Plymouth Colony. It was built on land purchased from the Indians—at the price set by the Indians.[54] In fact, the longest-lasting treaty in American history between Anglos and Native Americans was that of the Pilgrims. (For more on the relations between the Pilgrims and Indians, see “No, Revisionists, Thanksgiving is not a Day of Mourning,” also at the end of this Lesson).

In the beginning, life in that colony was very difficult. In fact, in the first winter alone, half the Pilgrims died. But despite that hardship, the next spring when the Mayflower returned to England, not one Pilgrim chose to go back. They all stayed, for they had come neither for personal convenience nor reward but rather that they might walk in religious and civil liberty and became what they called “stepping stones”[55] for others after them to follow and do the same. At the end of the first year, the Pilgrims celebrated the thanksgiving festival that has become the national holiday we still celebrate each year today in November.

The Laws of the Pilgrims

The Pilgrims believed the Bible was a complete guidebook for how to live all of life, and their code of laws clearly reflected this belief. Significantly, much of what they instituted (as early as 1623) became standard in America, including trial by jury and private property rights.[56] They also elected their civil leaders separately from their religious leaders[57]—a practice quite different from what had become customary for Europe.

*A 1676 broadside of a proclamation for a Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving, with the deal of Massachusetts Bay at the top and an Indian speaking the words, “Come Over and Help Us.”*

By 1636, the Pilgrims had compiled what historians describe as “the first comprehensive body of law in North America.”[58] That legal code served as a model for future American codes of laws, and while the original Laws of the Pilgrims were revised over subsequent years, they always remained rooted in the Bible. In fact, the preface to the 1658 Book of Laws specifically states that “laws…are so far good and wholesome as by how much they are derived from and agreeable to the ancient platform of God’s Law.”[59] Reflecting this, many of their individual laws directly cited specific Scriptures as their basis.

The Puritans and Massachusetts, 1630

Jamestown was the first English colony in America; and in 1620 the Pilgrims founded the second English colony, but the first one in the northern parts of America. Over the next decade, other settlers occasionally arrived in the area, but in 1630 came the “Great Puritan Exodus” that left England, resulting in the founding of America’s second northern colony, and its third overall.

Those Puritans in that Exodus had spent years attempting to purify the tyrannical Church of England (from which they received their name “Puritans”), but with little result. In fact, they were severely persecuted by the king for their attempts to clean up the corrupt church. Finally deciding they could not purify that Church, they came to America and set up their own model Church of England to be an example of a true uncorrupted Church.

The Puritans (like the Pilgrims before them) were committed to God and His Word, wanting to share the good news of the Christian faith with others. Their original charter (1629) affirmed their desire to be…

so religiously, peaceably, and civilly governed, as their good life and orderly conversation [that is, their Godly lifestyle] may win and incite the natives of country to the knowledge and obedience of the only true God and Savior of mankind, and the Christian faith, which…is the peaceful end of this plantation [colony].[60]

In the spring of 1630, some 1,000 Puritans (which was more than the total number of inhabitants living in the then ten-year old Pilgrim Plymouth Colony) left England and sailed to America, establishing the Massachusetts Bay Colony. (Their new colony adjoined the Pilgrims’ Plymouth Plantation Colony, and in 1691, the two merged to become Massachusetts.) During their voyage from England, the Puritans “constantly served God, morning and evening, by reading and expounding a chapter [in the Bible], singing, and prayer.”[61]

While at sea, their leader, John Winthrop (who for many years after their arrival served as their governor) penned “A Model of Christian Charity,” setting forth the Puritan’s reasons for starting the new colony. Winthrop affirmed their desire to be “as a city upon a hill” (quoting from Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:14), where all the people of the earth could see their uncorrupted colony as a model (which they called the “New” England) and would say, “The Lord make [us] likely that of New England.”[62] But Winthrop warned those with him that, “If we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword [an example of something very bad] through the world.”[63] (Interestingly, more than three centuries later, President Ronald Reagan also spoke of America as being a “city upon a hill” for the rest of the world to see and copy,[64] just as our Pilgrim and Puritan Fathers had long before envisioned.)

Massachusetts Body of Liberties

When the Puritans arrived, they, like the Pilgrims, lived on land purchased from the Indians, at the price set by the Indians.[65] They then began building their system of civil governance. Their legal code, known as the Massachusetts Body of Liberties, was written in 1641 by the Rev. Nathaniel Ward. The Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) was the basis for that legal code. In addition to listing specific Bible verses as the basis for many of its laws,[66] it further affirmed that “in case of the defect [lack] of a law” the general standard to be what was in “the Word of God.”[67]

Sharing the Gospel

*Title Page of John Eliot’s Algonquin Bible*

The official seal of the Massachusetts Bay colony was an Indian speaking the words, “Come Over And Help Us.”[68] (This was a quote from Acts 16:9, where the Apostle Paul saw a vision of the neighboring people asking him to come over and preach the Gospel to them.) By this official colony seal, these early settlers yet again openly affirmed their desire to bring the Gospel to those who had never heard it before, including Native Americans.

Typical of the Puritans’ efforts in this regard was the work of the Rev. John Eliot (known as the “Apostle to the Indians”) and Daniel Gookin, a civil magistrate. These two men worked over forty years to evangelize and civilize the Algonquin tribe of Massachusetts. Eliot constantly traveled to Indian villages to teach them the Bible. Many Native Americans converted to Christianity, and Eliot set up fourteen self-governing and self-supporting “Praying Towns” where these Christian Indians could live out their new life as believers. A number of these Indians became ministers in order to carry on the work of the Gospel among their own people.

Eliot believed that for the Indians to fully enjoy the complete benefits of the Bible, they needed it in their own language. He therefore learned the Algonquin, or Massachusetts Indian language and then created a written language for them since none existed at that time. He worked twelve years in translating the Bible into their language, while simultaneously continuing his pastoral duties in his own church. In 1658, he completed the new Indian-language Bible, and it was published in 1661-1663. This was the first Bible ever printed in America, and it was printed in the Algonquin, or Massachusetts language.

Another way the Puritans’ sought to reach Native Americans with the Gospel was the founding of Harvard in 1636—America’s first successful university (an earlier college had been started in Virginia, but it was wiped out in a surprise attack by a nearby Indian tribe). The Puritans started Harvard not only to train ministers but also to evangelize and educate Indians. Many other early American colleges had the same dual purpose.

*Roger Williams obtained land from the Narragansett Indians to start the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation.*

For example, the College of William and Mary (founded in Virginia through the efforts of the Rev. James Blair in 1693) was started so that “the Church of Virginia may be furnished with a seminary of ministers of the Gospel, and that…the Christian faith may be propagated among the western Indians to the glory of Almighty God.”[69] The college of Dartmouth in New Hampshire began in 1770 when Congregational pastor Eleazar Wheelock (1711-1779) secured a charter from the governor of New Hampshire to establish a college to train young men for missionary service among the Indians. Its Latin motto means: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness” (quoting from John 1:23 and Isaiah 40:3) and it became known as “the Indian College.”[70]

Rhode Island, 1636

In 1631, a brilliant young minister, Roger Williams, came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a refugee from the tyranny of England’s King Charles I and the corrupt British state-established church. For a time, Williams served as minister in Plymouth (home of the Pilgrims), and then by mutual agreement left to pastor in Salem (in the Puritans’ colony).

His outspoken manner and firm convictions regarding liberty of conscience brought him into conflict with the sometimes intolerant Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. After failing to comply with the edicts of those civil leaders, he was tried and banished from the Colony. In 1636, he purchased land from the Indians and founded the Providence Plantation Colony (later to become Rhode Island).[71]

Williams believed strongly that civil authorities should have no jurisdiction over the religious beliefs of any individual’s conscience and he incorporated this conviction into the laws of the new colony. With this official policy of religious tolerance, those who had been persecuted for their religious convictions began settling in Rhode Island.

Religious principles remained central to the colony—as affirmed by the 1663 Royal Charter of Rhode Island. It not only announced the colonists’ intentions both of “Godly edifying themselves, and one another, in the holy Christian faith and worship” but also of converting the Indians to Christianity.[72] It further declared that:

[The colonies are to pursue] with peaceable and loyal minds their sober, serious, and religious intentions…in holy Christian faith…[A] most flourishing civil state may stand and best be maintained…with a full liberty in religious concernments; and that true piety, rightly grounded upon Gospel principles, will give the best and greatest security to sovereignty and will lay in the hearts of men the strongest obligations to true loyalty.[73]

Maryland, 1633

In 1633, Cecil Calvert, a Catholic (known as Lord Baltimore), established the colony of Maryland. The Charter of Maryland describes him as “being animated with a laudable, and pious zeal for extending the Christian religion.”[74] In 1634, he established a policy of religious toleration that welcomed both Protestant and Catholic settlers. (At that time in world history, it was common that Catholics and Protestants alternately persecuted each other; but this colony welcomed any who were fleeing persecution, whether Catholic or Protestant—a policy very rare at that time.)

In 1649, the famous Maryland Toleration Act was passed, declaring that “No…persons… professing to believe in Jesus Christ shall [be] troubled, molested, or discountenanced for or in respect of his or her religion, nor in the free exercise thereof,”[75] thus further protecting both Catholic and Protestants. That Act provided the broadest protection of religious freedom that had been offered in the world in the 1600s.

Connecticut, 1636

In 1633, English minister Thomas Hooker, like the Pilgrims and Puritans before him, was driven from England by the corrupt state-established national church. He came to the Puritans’ Massachusetts Bay Colony and became pastor of the Church at Newtown (now Cambridge). After observing the workings of the colony, he noticed some intolerance among Puritans there and attempted to correct it. Having little success, he asked the Bay Colony leaders and was granted permission to migrate to the Connecticut Valley.

In June 1636, he and most of his Newtown congregation (about 100 people) settled in what would become the Connecticut Colony, on land they had purchased from the Indians, at the price set by the Indians.[76] Other settlers followed, and by May 1637, 800 people had moved into the valley. In May 1638, Hooker presented an influential sermon preached before the General Court (that is, the Connecticut legislature). Three of the key principles he laid out included:

The foundation of civil authority is based on the willing consent of the people;
The choice—that is, the public election—of civil officials belongs to the people by God’s own permission;
The people not only have power to appoint officers and magistrates but also to set the bounds and limitations of the government.[77]

*In 1636, Rev. Thomas Hooker led a company from his church in Massachusetts to settle in Connecticut.*

As a result of that sermon, in January 1639, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was penned and adopted as the colony’s first constitution. Significantly, it was the first constitution ever written in America. Early historian John Fiske wrote that “the government of the United States today is in lineal descent more nearly related to that of Connecticut than to that of any of the other thirteen colonies.”[78] (This is why Connecticut is known as “the Constitution State.”) The Christian basis of that constitution was readily apparent.

For example, it began with the inhabitants covenanting together under God “to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus, which we now profess.”[79] And the oath taken by civil officials required them “to administer justice according to the laws here established, and for want [lack] thereof, according to the rule of the Word of God.”[80] The oath taken by the governor (and the magistrates) ended with these words: “I…will further the execution of justice according to the rule of God’s Word, so help me God, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”[81] Some of the key principles found in that Bible-based constitution included the rule of law, popular elections, representative government, freedom of speech, local self-government, and taxes levied on the people—but only through representatives elected by the people, which certainly was not the general practice of Europe at that time.

More than a century later, Noah Webster (a soldier in the American War for Independence, and then a judge, legislator, and teacher afterwards) used Connecticut’s constitution as a model for his 1785 work Sketches of American Policy—one of the first works in America to call for a federal constitution.[82] Webster said that Connecticut’s early constitution was “the most perfect on earth” and that it provided an excellent example to the American nation of the proper balance of power between local and state governments.[83]

In 1637, the year after Rev. Hooker had founded Connecticut, Puritan minister John Davenport founded the New Haven Colony, which adjoined the Connecticut Colony. He, too, purchased the land from the Indians,[84] and his motivations for starting that Colony were similar to those of Hooker. The New Haven Colony rested its frame of government upon the idea that “the Scriptures do hold forth a perfect rule for the direction and government of all men in all duties…in families and commonwealths,”[85] thus making (as famous historian George Bancroft noted) “the Bible its statute-book.”[86] (In 1665, the New Haven Colony united with the Connecticut Colony to form Connecticut.[87])

The New England Confederation, 1643

In 1643, the four separate colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth Plantation, Connecticut, and New Haven agreed to form an association known as the New England Confederation. This was the first attempt to unite several colonies in mutual cooperation (such as later happened with the thirteen colonies during the American War for Independence). The governing document for that Confederation clearly states the Christian nature of the early settlements:

Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely, to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the liberties of the Gospel in purity and peace….The said United Colonies…[do] enter into a firm and perpetual league of friendship…for preserving and propagating the truth and liberties of the Gospel and for their own mutual safety and welfare.[88]

The New England Confederation lasted until 1684.

America’s First Schools

The colonists of all the early colonies believed that every child should be educated—a belief very different from that in England and Europe at the time. While many children in America were educated at home, the colonists also started public schools as well and then later added colleges to provide higher education for students. Significantly, the concept of education for every individual was developed first in Christian and Biblical civilization.

Early Massachusetts School Laws

*A colonial hornbook. The Lord’s Prayer was the first reading lesson.*

In 1642, the General Court of Massachusetts (that is, its legislature) enacted an education law requiring each town to see that children were taught “to read and understand the principles of religion and the capital laws of this country.”[89] Five years later, the laws of 1647 noted education and schools were necessary because it was the “one chief project of that old deluder, satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the Scripture”[90]—that is, Satan wanted to keep people from knowing the Bible, but Massachusetts was not going to let this happen: it would establish schools for every child so they would be able to know and read the Bible. (This law became known as “The Old Deluder Satan Act.”)

This Massachusetts law was America’s first public education law, and it was the direct result of the horrific persecutions experienced by so many of the early settlers who had arrived in America. Those colonists were acutely aware of the civil atrocities that had earlier occurred across Europe, such as the tortures during the Inquisition and other similar purges often wrongly perpetrated under the banner of Christianity. They knew of these atrocities because many of them had personally experienced harsh persecution simply for practicing their Biblical faith.

The colonists and their leaders were convinced that a widespread lack of Biblical knowledge lay at the root of these barbarities. If people had been literate and able to read the Scriptures and judge the accuracy of what the leaders of both State and Church were telling them, they would not have blindly believed and followed, thus abetting the commission of that savagery.

The American Witch Trials

On rare occasions, even these early Christians fell into the same bad behavior from which they had fled. One example of this is seen in the Witch Trials of 1691-1692 in which twenty-seven individuals died at the hands of the Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.[91]

While this behavior is indefensible, an appropriate question to ask is, “Why were only twenty-seven put to death in America?” After all, witch trials were also occurring across the world at that time, with 500,000 put to death in Europe,[92] including 30,000 in England, 75,000 in France, and 100,000 in Germany.[93]

Significantly, the American trials lasted eighteen months, while the European trials lasted for years and even decades.[94] The difference was that the American trials were brought to a close when Christian leaders such as the Reverend John Wise, the Reverend Increase Mather, and Thomas Brattle confronted civil leaders, pointing out that Biblical rules of evidence and due process were not being followed in the courts, thus convincing officials to end those trials.[95]

What are some of the Biblical rules of evidence? An answer comes from Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer—one of the most secular-minded justices in Supreme Court history. Yet even he openly acknowledges that “The right of an accused to meet his accusers face-to-face is mentioned in, among other things, the Bible.”[96] In proof of this, Breyer cites Federal Practices & Procedure, Federal Rules of Evidence, which devotes more than twenty pages to show the ways in which the Bible directly shaped numerous of the individual Due Process protections for citizens now found in the Fourth through the Eighth Amendments of the Bill of Rights.[97]

When Biblically-informed Christians pointed out these basic rights to Puritan leaders:

The trials were stopped by Governor Phipps in October, 1692, and five years later the Massachusetts Court publicly repented and set apart a special day of fasting and prayer, that prayers might be offered asking for forgiveness for the “late tragedy raised amongst us by Satan,” while the twelve jurors published a declaration of sorrow for accepting insufficient evidence against the accused; and Judge Sewall rose in his pew in the South Church and made public confession of his sense of guilt.[98]

Sadly, modern texts are quick to emphasize the twenty-seven deaths that occurred under the Puritans but ignore the hundreds of thousands committed in Europe. But as an early historian pointed out, a knowledge of the actual facts “should moderate our denunciations and charges of severity, brutality and narrow-mindedness against the colonial forefathers, who, it clearly appears, were much in advance of their times.”[99] And offering even more evidence to prove his point, he noted:

When the Mayflower left England [in 1620], thirty-one offenses were punishable with death in the mother country. By the middle of that century [the 1650s], the black list had enlarged to 223, of which 176 were without the benefit of the clergy [i.e., there were no exceptions]. How far in advance the New England colonies were is evident from the fact that not a single colony code [in New England] recognized more than fifteen capital crimes.[100]

It is undeniable that some missteps were made in early America; but because of the significant positive influence resulting from a widespread knowledge of the Bible, we had less atrocities and more that was positive than any other nation at that time.

Recognizing the positive difference a knowledge of the Bible could produce, those early settlers therefore passed America’s first education law, which required:

After the Lord hath increased [the settlement] to the number of fifty householders, [they] shall then forthwith appoint one within their town to teach all such children as shall resort to him, to write and read….And it is further ordered that where any town shall increase to the number of one hundred families or householders, they shall set up a grammar school…to instruct youths, so far as they may be fitted for the university. [101]

The fact that the purpose of public education was to equip students to know the Bible and thus better know the limits the Bible placed on governing authorities was confirmed by numerous foreign visitors to America. One such was Edward Kendall of Britain. While in Connecticut, he found the state’s illiteracy law of interest—particularly the opening declaration of that law:

This [legislature] observing that notwithstanding the former orders made for the education of children…there are many persons unable to read the English tongue, and thereby incapable of reading the Holy Word of God or the good laws of this [State]… [102]

Notice that the Connecticut legislature was concerned about illiteracy because if a child could not read, then he would not know the Word of God or the laws of the state, and thus might not prevent the passage of a bad law.

America’s First Colleges

Henricus College (1619)

In 1618, the Virginia Company obtained a charter from King James I for a college in Virginia. Its purpose was to train both the children of the settlers and the children of the Indians.[103] By 1622, a teaching staff had been chosen and construction at the college begun. But while it was being built, Native Americans led an unexpected surprise attack against the settlers (who had long been their neighbors) resulting in what is called the “Great Massacre.” This stopped further efforts for a college in Virginia until seventy years later, with the establishment of the College of William and Mary in 1693.

Harvard College (1636)

As noted earlier, Harvard (started in 1636 by the New England Puritans) was the first successful college in America. Some of its rules and precepts included:

Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well [that] the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life (John 17:3), and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.

>And seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom, let everyone seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of him (Prov. 2:3).

Everyone shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein…seeing the entrance of the Word giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple (Psalm 119:130).[104]

Harvard, with its motto “Christo et Eccleslae” (For Christ and the Church),[105] was typical of almost all of the early American colleges. In fact, over the next two centuries, some 246 colleges would be started, with 226 (ninety percent) of them directly founded on the Christian faith.[106]

— — — ⧫ ⧫ ⧫ — — —

So…

America was founded on the teachings of the Bible.
Our colonies were founded and populated largely by people who desired to freely worship the God of the Bible.
Our common schools were begun so that every young person would be able to read, study, and understand the Bible for themselves.
Our universities were founded to train civil and religious leaders who would be knowledgeable in the Scriptures.
Our civil laws and constitutions were routinely based on specific Biblical verses and ideas.

There is much additional historical documentation available from this early period of America’s history, and it affirms that America was founded on Christian principles and that the Bible was instrumental in shaping our institutions and securing our individual rights and liberties. The evidence overwhelmingly supports the conclusion reached by President Andrew Jackson that “ It [the Bible] is the rock on which our Republic rests.” [107]

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Lesson 1: Appendix A

Why We Celebrate Thanksgiving
(And a Lesson in Economics)

Innumerable blessings have been bestowed upon the United States of America. Concerning these, President Abraham Lincoln affirmed, “No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God.”[108] In 1863, he therefore set apart the last Thursday of November as “a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father, Who dwelleth in the heavens.”[109] President Lincoln thereby established America’s official Thanksgiving holiday; but it was the Pilgrims’ 1621 Thanksgiving celebration over two centuries earlier that originally started the tradition observed annually by the nation over succeeding years.

The Pilgrims had arrived in America in November 1620. As they gathered their harvest in autumn of 1621 and looked back over the preceding year, they knew they had so much for which to be thankful. It was a miracle they had not only survived their first year in the wilderness of New England but also that they had reaped a good harvest the following fall. And they had also found a home where they could freely worship God—a place for “propagating and advancing the Gospel of the kingdom of Christ.”[110] The Pilgrims were grateful for these blessings.

Their early days had been very difficult. Coming to America, they had spent sixty-six perilous days at sea; and the storms were so ferocious that their ship, the Mayflower, was blown literally hundreds of miles north of its intended destination. Their captain continued attempting to sail south to Virginia, but the weather didn’t permit, so the Pilgrims were forced to settle in New England.

Because of the long voyage, lack of provisions, and harsh conditions, numerous diseases afflicted the settlers when they reached land. Making the situation worse, the Pilgrims arrived in December, so winter had already set in, and they had no homes in which to take shelter. In their weakened physical condition, and in the unrelenting cold, they started to build houses to protect themselves. Under these extreme hardships, within only three months, half of the original 102 Pilgrims were dead.

During the height of the sickness, there were only six or seven persons strong enough to move about, but they worked hard on behalf of all the rest. As Governor Bradford affirmed, those few…

spared no pains night nor day, but with abundance of toil and hazard of their health, fetched them wood, made them fires, dressed them meat, made their beds, washed their loathsome clothes, clothed and unclothed them; in a word, did all the homely and necessary offices for them which dainty and queasy stomachs cannot endure to hear named; and all this willingly and cheerfully, without any grudging in the least, showing herein their true love unto their friends and brethren. A rare example and worthy to be remembered.[111]

With only half of them surviving that first winter, the prospects of the coming year were bleak. They were surrounded by Indians (some hostile), short of food and supplies, and knew little of how to live in the American wilderness. But to their astonishment, an English-speaking Indian named Squanto unexpectedly came among them (from where they knew not) and took them under his care, teaching them how to survive in the new land.

He showed them how to plant corn (assuring its growth by setting it with fish) and he taught them how to catch fish during the times when they could find the creeks well stocked with fish (in the four months before Squanto’s arrival, the Pilgrims had caught only one cod). He also taught them to stalk deer, plant pumpkins, find berries, and catch beaver (whose pelts proved to be their economic deliverance). Additionally, Squanto was helpful in securing a peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the neighboring Wampanoag tribe. (It became the longest-lasting treaty in American history between Anglos and Native Americans.) Pilgrim leader and governor William Bradford properly affirmed, “Squanto…was a special instrument sent of God for [our] good.”[112]

Squanto was indeed key to their survival, and he helped shape the story of America. But his own life story is amazing as well. In 1605, long before the arrival of the Pilgrims, he had been captured and taken to England. He remained there nine years, during which time he learned to speak English. In 1614, he came with Captain John Smith of Virginia back to New England, but shortly after Squanto’s return Captain Thomas Hunt took him and sold him into slavery in Spain. Thankfully, some local friars bought and rescued him.

*The Pilgrims “set a part a solemn day of humiliation to seek the Lord by humble and fervent prayer in this great distress. And He was pleased to give them gracious and speedy answer.”*

Being freed in Spain, he went to England, where he remained until 1619, when he obtained passage back to his home in New England. As Squanto went ashore at his former home (which eventually became Plymouth, the Pilgrims’ home), he found his entire tribe (the Patuxets) had been wiped out by a plague. He was the only survivor; and had he been there instead of in Spain and England, he, too, surely would have died. Joining himself to a nearby tribe, he remained there until the spring of 1621, when he took the remaining half of the Pilgrims under his tutelage, determined to see them survive at the place where his tribe had not.[113]

With Squanto’s help, the Pilgrims harvested sufficient food for their upcoming second winter. They had no surplus, but things definitely looked much better than they had the preceding winter when they arrived. With this definite improvement over the previous years’ situation, Pilgrim Governor William Bradford appointed a Day of Thanksgiving and invited the nearby Wampanoag Indians (Squanto’s adopted tribe) to celebrate with them and give thanks to God.

Chief Massasoit and ninety of his men came and feasted with the fifty-one Pilgrims. They ate deer, turkey, fish, lobster, eels, vegetables, corn bread, herbs, berries, and pies; the Indians even taught the Pilgrims how to make popcorn. The Pilgrims and Indians also engaged in athletic competition, including running, wrestling, and shooting. Chief Massasoit enjoyed himself so much that he and his men stayed for three days.[114]

Historically, there had been thanksgivings in America prior to the one by the Pilgrims, including in Texas in 1541,[115] El Paso in 1598,[116] St. Augustine, Florida in 1564,[117] Jamestown, Virginia in 1607,[118] and Berkley Plantation, Virginia in 1619,[119] but these were primarily times of prayer. The Pilgrim thanksgiving certainly included prayer, but it also added feasting and athletic events, thus birthing the tradition that has become our modern Thanksgiving holiday.

Shortly after the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving celebration, thirty-five new settlers unexpectedly arrived. They were family and friends of the Pilgrims, who gladly welcomed them. The new group had brought no provisions with them, so the Pilgrims freely shared with them their own food, clothing, and homes. But with the new arrivals, their supplies were cut to half allowance for each person. Several died.

The following spring their provisions were almost completely exhausted when they spied a boat approaching on the horizon. The Pilgrims hoped that the English Company (which had sponsored their colonization of Plymouth) was sending them provisions, but the boat did not bring any food. To the contrary, it brought seven more hungry people to stay in Plymouth.

Early that summer, sixty more men, many of whom were sick, also showed up seeking help. The Pilgrims gladly took care of them all. The sixty men stayed nearly all summer and eventually left, expressing no gratitude for the help they had received; and their stay had further depleted the Pilgrim’s meager supplies. Yet the Pilgrims continued to put their trust in God. Significantly, no one starved to death, although, understandably, they had many days when, as Governor Bradford described it, they “had need to pray that God would give them their daily bread above all people in the world.”[120]

The following year (1623), the Pilgrims considered how to produce a larger harvest beyond what they predicted to be their immediate needs. After all, the previous year had presented to them many unexpected surprises that had depleted their scarce resources. So how could they produce enough to meet their own needs as well as others that might arise? Applying Biblical principles, the Pilgrims chose to replace the collective socialistic style of farming they had practiced in the two preceding years with an early free-market individual approach to farming, assigning to every family its own personal parcel of land.[121]

Of the new free-market system they began implementing, Pilgrim Governor Bradford reported:

This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other could use…and gave far better content. The women now went willingly into the field and took their little ones with them to set corn, which before would allege [fake, or pretend] weakness and inability.[122]

When the Pilgrims abandoned economic socialism and adopted the individual free-enterprise model, their productivity dramatically increased and abundance actually began to emerge among the people. In fact, because the Pilgrims’ were able to directly benefit from their own hard work and the fruit of their own labors, they planted about seven times more than they had only two years earlier.[123] The Pilgrims finally had great hopes for a large crop. But as is often the case in life, things did not go as planned, for according to Bradford:

[T]he Lord seemed to blast [plague] and take away the same, and to threaten further and more sore famine unto them by a great drought which continued from the third week in May till about the middle of July without any rain and with great heat (for the most part) insomuch as the corn began to wither away.[124]

In response to this unexpected spring drought, Bradford reported that:

[T]hey set a part a solemn day of humiliation to seek the Lord by humble and fervent prayer in this great distress. And He was pleased to give them a gracious and speedy answer both to their own and the Indians’ admiration that lived amongst them. For all the morning, and greatest part of the day, it was clear weather and very hot and not a cloud or any sign of rain to be seen, yet toward evening it began to overcast, and shortly after to rain with such sweet and gentle showers as gave them cause of rejoicing and blessing God. It came without either wind or thunder or any violence, and by degrees in that abundance as that the earth was thoroughly wet and soaked therewith, which did so apparently revive and quicken the decayed corn and other fruits as was wonderful to see, and made the Indians astonished to behold.[125]

An Indian named Hobamak who witnessed this event said to a Pilgrim:

Now I see that the Englishman’s God is a good God, for He hath heard you and sent you rain, and that without storms and tempests and thunder, which usually we have with our rain, which breaks down our corn; but yours stands whole and good still. Surely your God is a good God.[126]

The rains rejuvenated the dying crops and the harvest of 1623 brought plenty to each person, with the more industrious Pilgrims even having excess to sell to others. The Pilgrims once again set aside a time of Thanksgiving to God.

Significantly, from the time the Pilgrims adopted a Biblical economic system, no general want ever again existed among them.

This is the story of the Pilgrims’ thanksgivings that became the model for our modern national Thanksgiving celebrations.

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Lesson 1: Appendix B

No, Revisionists, Thanksgiving is not a
Day of Mourning

When a modern college professor presented to his students the traditional view of the Thanksgiving holiday as a time for gratefulness and thankfulness a student objected and sent him eleven articles she found on the internet purporting to show that the Pilgrims actually killed and oppressed the Indians, and that Thanksgiving Day was thus not to be celebrated or honored.[127]

Of those articles and their claims, some referred to an encounter with the Indians in 1623, some referenced the Indian war of 1637, and others King Philip’s War of 1675 (the three early conflicts between Indians and the Pilgrims). So what is the truth? Did the Pilgrims indeed kill and oppress Indians?

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Of the three major conflicts between the Pilgrims and the Indians, King Philip’s War of 1675 was by far the biggest and most serious. It finally broke the official 1621 peace between the Pilgrims and the Indians. No other treaty with Native Americans lasted longer than the 54 years of the Pilgrim treaty (1621–1675); and significantly, when the treaty was eventually broken during King Philip’s War, it was the Indians and not the Pilgrims who violated it.

Here is a brief overview of three conflicts, including the one that led to the breaking of the decades old treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags.

The Pilgrims, after arriving in the New World December 1620, survived a difficult beginning with the help of Indians who befriended them.[128] Intending to live in the area where they had landed, the Pilgrims approached the local tribe, seeking to purchase land. The price was set by the Indians, and written documentation of sale was received for those purchased lands.[129]

The policy of purchasing land from the Indians came to characterize the general practice of New England and portions of the mid-Atlantic regions, being mirrored not only by the Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony[130] but also by the Rev. Roger Williams with Rhode Island,[131] the Rev. Thomas Hooker with Connecticut,[132] and William Penn with Pennsylvania.[133] (On one occasion, Penn actually purchased some of the same tracts multiple times because at least three tribes claimed that specific land, having taken and retaken it from each other in conquest; so Penn secured it from each.[134]) The practice of purchasing land from the Indians was also followed[*] in New Hampshire,[135] New Jersey,[136] and New York.[137]

The Pilgrims and their Indian neighbors (the Wampanoag) had entered into a peace treaty in 1621. Two years later in 1623, Chief Massasoit informed his friends, the Pilgrims, of a treacherous surprise assault to be made against them by the Massachusetts tribe, which was gathering other chiefs for an unprovoked attack.[138] Facing potential extermination, Pilgrim Miles Standish led a preemptive strike against the Algonquin, thus saving the colonists. Without this, the Pilgrim story could have been as short-lived as that of the colonists in the failed colonies of Roanoke, Virginia, or Popham, Maine. But despite the conflict with some hostile tribes, good relations continued between the Pilgrims and Wampanoag. The next period of tensions between the Pilgrims and other tribes occurred in the 1637 Pequot War.

The Pequot tribe was warlike and aggressive, not only against colonists but also against their Indian neighbors on every side, including the Wampanoag (allies and friends of the Pilgrims), Narragansett, Algonquian, and Mohegan tribes. The warring Pequot tribes had established an exclusive trading monopoly with the Dutch, and they believed the arrival of English colonists threatened that monopoly. They therefore determined to strike and kill the English, completely ridding the area of them. After the Pequot murdered a number of English settlers, the colonists responded and organized strikes against the Pequot.[139] The war spread across much of Connecticut, and also threatened the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies. The conflict ended when Sassacus, the chief of the Pequot, was pursued and killed by the Mohegan and Mohawks tribes, against whom the Pequot also warred.[140]

One of the aforementioned articles provided by the student specifically claimed that it was during this war that Pilgrims killed Indians;[141] but this claim is wrong. The Pilgrims’ participation in this conflict was limited to a skirmish at Manisses Villages, where no Indians were killed.[142] Some of the other articles provided by the student claimed that the Thanksgiving of 1637 was to give thanks that Indians were killed,[143] but this was also wrong. It was called to give thanks for the end of the Pequot War and a restoration of peace to the region.[144]

The Pilgrims lived in harmony with the Wampanoags from the time of their 1621 treaty, through the 1623 and 1637 conflicts, and until the long-lasting peace finally collapsed in 1675 with King Philip’s War. Today, revisionist scholars such as James D. Drake, Daniel R. Mandell, and Jill Lepore claim that this conflict was the result of Indians pushing back against greedy land-grabbing colonists, with the Indians simply trying to regain territory that was rightfully theirs,[145] but such a portrayal is inaccurate.

In fact, at the outbreak of the war Pilgrim Governor Josiah Winslow avowed:

I think I can clearly say that before these present troubles broke out, the English did not possess one foot of land in this colony but what was fairly obtained by honest purchase of the Indian proprietors.[146]

So, if King Philip’s War was not retaliation for the unjust seizing of Indian land by colonists, then what was its cause? The answer is simple: Christian missionaries. Metacom—who took the English name King Philip, and was chief of the Wampanoag Indians and the grandson of Massasoit, the friend of the Pilgrims—recognized that missionaries were converting Indians to Christianity, which was changing some Indian behaviors and “traditions.”

For example, Indians often engaged in prolonged barbarous and sadistic torture of their captives,[147] but missionaries sought to end those horrific practices by converting Indians and teaching them Christian morals.[148] Such missionaries, including John Eliot, Thomas Mayhew, and Andrew White, worked extensively with various tribes and had great success in converting Indians to Christianity. By 1674, Eliot’s Christian villages of “praying Indians” in Massachusetts numbered as many as 3,600 converts.[149] It was in the following year (1675) that Metacom, fearing that Christianity would change “traditional” Indian “culture,”[150] launched ferocious surprise assaults against settlers throughout the region.[151] All English colonists in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts were to be exterminated—no exceptions.

Colonists were indeed murdered and their belongings burned or destroyed.[152] This included even the town of Providence, where Roger William’s own home was burned.[153] Significantly, Williams had always been on the best of terms with the Indians, not only having purchased his colony from them[154] but also having championed Indian rights and claims.[155] Yet, regardless of how well Christian settlers had previously treated Indians, all Christians were all to be exterminated; their very existence was perceived as a threat to Indian practices.

But King Philip’s War cannot be accurately characterized as Indians versus the English, for many of those who were attacked by the Indians were themselves Indians—but they were Christian Indians. They, too, were targeted, hurt, or killed by their unconverted brethren,[156] and many of the converted Christian Indians fought side-by-side with the colonists throughout the conflict.[157] In fact, the war eventually ended when Metacom was killed—by an Indian, not a settler.[158]

Returning to the objections raised by the student, it is true that in this war Pilgrims and Puritans killed Indians—but in the context of a just and defensive war. The war lasted about fifteen months, and early in the war more settlers died than Indians—largely because of the surprise attacks. (Of the ninety towns in Massachusetts and Plymouth Colony, twelve were totally destroyed and forty more attacked and partially destroyed.[159]) But eventually the colonists organized local militias and fought back, finally gaining the upper hand. By the conclusion of the war, 600 settlers and 3,000 Indians had been killed—the highest casualty rate by percentage of total population of any war in American history.[160]

This information about King Philip’s War is not to suggest that the amount of land owned by Indians was not decreasing; it was. But the diminishing land holdings in this region during this time was definitely not for the reason we are often told today. Indian land in this period, especially in New England, was routinely purchased by settlers, not stolen.[161] Early historian George Bancroft (1800-1891), known as “The Father of American History” for his systematic approach to documenting the story of America,[162] confirmed that Indian lands were shrinking because the Indians’ own “repeated sales of land has narrowed their domains” to the point where “they found themselves deprived of their broad acres, and by their own legal contracts driven, as it were, into the sea”[163] (emphasis added).

This is not to say that land was never stolen from Indians. Some definitely was. For instance, during the heyday of westward expansion that began in the early nineteenth century, the Indian removal policies of Andrew Jackson certainly violated private property rights,[164] and such policies became the rule rather than the exception, forcibly driving Indians from their lands in Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and elsewhere across the Southeast.[†] By 1845, the term “Manifest Destiny” was coined to describe the growing notion that it was America’s “destiny” to spread westward, and that nothing—including Indians—should be allowed to stand in the way. As a result, the Biblical view of purchasing private property from its owner was replaced with the anti-Biblical notion that “possession was nine-tenths of the law” and therefore whoever could take and hold the land was its “rightful” owner.[165]

But the 19th century deterioration in relations between Americans and Indians over unjust land seizures occurred most commonly two centuries after the Pilgrims. The original treaty the Pilgrims negotiated with the Indians lasted for 54 years—until the Indians broke it. In general, the Pilgrim and Puritan killings of Indians occurred first in their own self-defense against the perfidious unprovoked attacks from Metacom’s Indians, and then in ending the war he had started. There is no historical basis to support the claim that the Pilgrims oppressed the Indians. ■

___________
[*] WallBuilders (www.wallbuilders.com) owns one of the nation’s largest private collections of Founding Era materials, containing over 100,000 originals, or copies of original documents that predate 1812. Among these holdings are multiple original signed deeds in which Indians willingly and voluntarily sell their land to settlers. One example is an Indian deed dated February 9, 1769, and signed by four Indian leaders from the Aughquageys tribe, selling 300,000 acres—or nearly 470 square miles of land—to settlers in New York. The land-area sold by the Indians in just this one transaction was the equivalent of modern Los Angeles or San Antonio, was larger than modern New York City, and seven times larger than modern Washington DC. Another deed from March 12, 1664 transfers 1000 acres of land from eight Wappinger leaders to two English settlers in New York, in the area that is now the Bronx. There are hundreds of such deeds, legitimately transferring land by mutual agreement and purchase from various Indian tribes to colonists/settlers.

[†] Among the other original documents in the WallBuilders collection are land deeds from he state of Georgia selling parcels in Cherokee-held lands directly to settlers, seeking to drive the Cherokee from their homelands.

___________
[1] Kay Brigham, Christopher Columbus’s Book of Prophecies, Reproduction of the Original Manuscript with English Translation (/originally written 1501-1505; published Fort Lauderdale, Fl.: TSELF, Inc., 1992), pp. 178-183.

[2] Ferdinand Columbus (son of Christopher Columbus), The Life of the Admiral Christopher Columbus, Benjamin Keen, translator (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1992), p. 59.

[3] Ferdinand Columbus (son of Christopher Columbus), The Life of the Admiral Christopher Columbus, Benjamin Keen, translator (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1992), p. 180.

[4] “Columbus Monument Pages,”Peter van der Krogt (at: https://vanderkrogt.net/columbus/index.php) (accessed August 28, 2018).

[5] The Papers of George Washington. Presidential Series, Mark A Mastromarion, editor (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999), Vol. 8, pp. 506-508, from Thomas Jefferson, September 8, 1791.

[6] Christopher Columbus, The Journal of Christopher Columbus During His First Voyage, 1492-93, Clements Markham, translator (London: Hakluyt Society, 1883), entry dated December 16, 1492, p. 112.

[7] A.M. Fernandez De Ybarra, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections (Washington: Smithsonian Institutions, 1907), Vol. XLVIII, p. 436, letter of Dr. Diego Alvarez Chanca, 1494.

[8] A.M. Fernandez De Ybarra, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections (Washington: Smithsonian Institutions, 1907), Vol. XLVIII, p. 436, letter of Dr. Diego Alvarez Chanca, 1494.

[9] A.M. Fernandez De Ybarra, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections (Washington: Smithsonian Institutions, 1907), Vol. XLVIII, p. 439-440, letter of Dr. Diego Alvarez Chanca, 1494.

[10] Samuel Eliot Morison, Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus (New York: MJF Books, 1970), p. 476.

[11] Samuel Eliot Morison, Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus (New York: MJF Books, 1970), pp. 257, 360.

[12] See, for example, Christopher Columbus, The Journal of Christopher Columbus, Clements Markham, translator (London: Hakluyt Society, 1893), pp. 124-125, journal entry for December 21, 1492; pp. 127-128, journal entry for December 22, 1492; pp. 152-156, journal entries for January 8-10, 1493; Select Letters of Christopher Columbus, R. H. Major, translator & editor(London: Hakluyt Society, 1870), 155-156, 158, 162-163, 165, Christopher Columbus, “Letter of the Admiral to the (quondam) nurse of the Prince John, written near the end of the year 1500,”; Journals and Other Documents on the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, translator Samuel Morrison, (New York: Heritage Press, 1963), pp. 215, Michele de Cuneo, “Michele de Cuneo’s Letter on the Second Voyage, 28 October 1495.”

[13] B.F. Morris, Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 69, quoting The Protestant Quarterly Review, Benjamin J. Wallace, editor (Philadelphia: Presbyterian House, 1858), p. 393, No. XXIII, “Article II. The Settlement of Maryland,” December 1857.

[14] Kenneth Woodward and David Gates, “How the Bible Made America,” Newsweek, December 27, 1982, p. 44.

[15] Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Statement on the Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Printing of the English Bible,” American Presidency Project, October 6, 1935 (at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/209257).

[16] Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Proclamation–Thanksgiving Day, 1944,” American Presidency Project, November 1, 1944 (at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/210843).

[17] Bible Society Record (New York: The American Bible Society, 1901), Vol. 46, p. 99, Number 7, “Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt Addresses the Long Island Bible Society.”

[18] Ronald Reagan, “Proclamation 5018-Year of the Bible, 1983,” American Presidency Project, February 3, 1983 (at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/262128).

[19] The American Quarterly Register and Magazine (Philadelphia), February 23, 1849, Vol. II, No. 1, p. 239, “Quarterly Chronicle” (President Zachary Taylor).

[20] “The President and the Bible,” New York Semi Weekly Tribune, Wednesday, May 9, 1849, Vol. IV, No. 100, p. 1 (President Zachary Taylor).

[21] The New York Times,June 15, 1876, p. 4 (President Ulysses Grant).

[22] Abraham Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln Complete Works, John G. Nicolay and John Hay, editors (New York: The Century Co., 1894), Vol. II, p. 574, “Reply to Committee of Colored People of Baltimore Who Presented Him With a Bible,” September 7, 1864.

[23] Paul Pearson and Philip Hicks, Extemporaneous Speaking (New York City: Hinds, Noble & Eldredge, 1912), p. 177, Woodrow Wilson, “Addresses Delivered in Denver on the Occasion of the Tercentenary Celebrations of the Translation of the Bible into the English Language,” May 7, 1911.

[24] Harry S. Truman, “Address Before the Attorney General’s conference on Law Enforcement Problems,” American Presidency Project, February 15, 1950 (at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-before-the-attorney-generals-conference-law-enforcement-problems).

[25] John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1856), Vol. X, p. 85, to Thomas Jefferson on December 25, 1813.

[26] John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Charles Little & James Brow, 1850), Vol. II, pp. 6-7, diary entry for February 22, 1756.

[27] Benjamin Rush,Essays, Literary, Moral & Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas & Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), p. 93, “A Defence of the Use of the Bible as a School Book.”

[28] Benjamin Rush,Letters of Benjamin Rush, L. H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1951), p. 936, to John Adams on January 23, 1807.

[29] William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (Philadelphia: James Webster, 1818), p. 402.

[30] John Quincy Adams, Letters to His Son on the Bible and Its Teachings (New York: Derby, Miller, & Co., 1848), p. 119.

[31] B.B. Edwards and W. Cogswell, The American Quarterly Register (Boston: Perkins & Marvin, 1840), Vol. XII, p. 86, letter from John Quincy Adams to members of a literary society in Baltimore on June 22, 1838.

[32] Elias Boudinot, The Age of Revelation or The Age of Reason Shewn to be an Age of Infidelity (Philadelphia: Asbury Dickins, 1801), p. xv, “Dedication. To Mrs. Susan V. Bradford.”

[33] John Jay, John Jay: The Winning of the Peace. Unpublished Papers 1780-1784, Richard B. Morris, editor (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1980), Vol. II, p. 709, letter to Peter Augustus Jay on April 8, 1784.

[34] Robert Treat Paine, The Papers of Robert Treat Paine, Stephen T. Riley and Edward W. Hanson, editors (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1992), Vol. I, p. 49, “Confession of Faith,” 1749.

[35] Bernard C. Steiner, One Hundred and Ten Years of Bible Society Work in Maryland, 1810-1920 (Maryland Bible Society, 1921), p. 14 (James McHenry).

[36] Noah Webster, The History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1832), p. 339, ¶ 53.

[37] Richard Hakluyt, A Discourse Concerning Western Planting. Written in the Year 1584, Charles Deane, editor (Cambridge: John Wilson and Son, 1877), p. 158, “A brief collection of certain reasons to induce her Majesty and the state to take in hand the western voyage and the planting there.”

[38] Howard W. Preston, Documents Illustrative of American History: 1606-1863 (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1886), p. 3, “First Virginia Charter—1606.”

[39] John Smith, The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles: with the Names of the Adventurers, Planters, and Governours from their First Beginning An 1584 to This Present 1626 (London: I.D. and I.H: 1632), p. 122.

[40] John Smith, The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles: with the Names of the Adventurers, Planters, and Governours from their First Beginning An 1584 to This Present 1626 (London: I.D. and I.H: 1632), p. 122.

[41] John Smith, The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles: with the Names of the Adventurers, Planters, and Governours from their First Beginning An 1584 to This Present 1626 (London: I.D. and I.H: 1632), p. 49.

[42] John Smith, The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles: with the Names of the Adventurers, Planters, and Governours from their First Beginning An 1584 to This Present 1626 (London: I.D. and I.H: 1632), p. 49.

[43] John Smith, The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles: with the Names of the Adventurers, Planters, and Governours from their First Beginning An 1584 to This Present 1626 (London: I.D. and I.H: 1632), p. 49.

[44] John Fiske, Old Virginia and Her Neighbors (New York, Houghton, Mifflin, and Co., 1897), Vol. I, p. 111.

[45] For the Colony in Virginia Britannia. Laws Divine, Moral, and Martial & c. (London: Walter Burree, 1612), pp. 9-12, “Articles, Lawes, and Orders, Divine, Politque, and Martiall for the Colony in Virginea,” 1610 & 1611.

[46] Narratives of Early Virginia: 1606-1625, Lyon Gardiner Tyler, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1907; reprinted 1946 & 1959), p. 251, “Proceedings of the Virginia Assembly,” July 30, 1619.

[47] Narratives of Early Virginia: 1606-1625, Lyon Gardiner Tyler, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1907; reprinted 1946 & 1959), p. 264, “Proceedings of the Virginia Assembly: Instructions Given by His Majesty’s Council of Virginia in England,” August 2, 1619.

[48] John Smith, The Last Will and Testament of Captain John Smith (Cambridge: John Wilson and Son, 1867), p. 2.

[49] “Embarkation of the Pilgrims,” Architect of the Capitol (at: https://www.aoc.gov/art/historic-rotunda-paintings/embarkation-pilgrims) (accessed on September 18, 2018).

[50] The Encyclopedia Britannica (New York: Encyclopedia Britannica Company, 1910), Vol. III, p. 901, s.v. “Bible, English”.

[51] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), p. 9.

[52] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), p. 24.

[53] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), p. 90.

[54] James Thacher, History of the Town of Plymouth, from its First Settlement in 1620 to the Present Time (Boston: Marsh, Capen & Lyon, 1832), p. 145.

[55] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), p. 24.

[56] For trial by jury, see: The Compact with the Charter and Laws of the Colony of New Plymouth, William Brigham, compiler (Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, 1836), p. 28, “Laws of the Colony of New Plymouth, 1623.” For private property rights, see: William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1856), pp. 134-136.

[57] See, for example, “Leadership in Plymouth Colony,” Pilgrim Hall Museum (at: https://www.pilgrimhallmuseum.org/ap_leadership_plymouth_colony.htm) (accessed on September 19, 2018).

[58] John D. Cushing, The Laws of the Pilgrims, A Facsimile Edition of The Book of the General Laws of the Inhabitants of the Jurisdiction of New Plimouth, 1672 & 1685 (Wilmington, DE: M. Glazier, 1977), p. xiv.

[59] Francis Baylies, An Historical Memoir of the Colony of New Plymouth (Boston: Wiggin & Lunt, 1866), Vol. I, Part Two, p. 75, excerpt from “The Book of the General Laws and Liberties of the Inhabitants of the Jurisdiction of New Plymouth,” 1658.

[60] William T. Davis, History of the Judiciary of Massachusetts (Boston Book Company, 1900), p. 379, “Charter of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay.”

[61] Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Life of Francis Higginson (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1891), p. 65, “A true relation of the last voyage to New England,” by Francis Higginson, 1629.

[62] Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1838), Third Series, Vol. III, p. 47, “A Modell of Christian Charity. Written on Board the Arbella, on the Atlantic Ocean,” by John Winthrop, 1630.

[63] Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1838), Third Series, Vol. III, p. 47, “A Modell of Christian Charity. Written on Board the Arbella, on the Atlantic Ocean,” by John Winthrop, 1630.

[64] President Reagan used this phrase several times in his addresses. See, for example, Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at the Annual Convention of the National Religious Broadcasters,” The American Presidency Project, January 31, 1983 (at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/262161); Ronald Reagan, “Remarks at the Opening Ceremonies of the Statue of Liberty Centennial Celebration in New York, New York,” The American Presidency Project, July 3, 1986 (at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/259193); Ronald Reagan, “Farewell Address to the Nation,” The American Presidency Project,January 11, 1989 (at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/251303).

[65] George Bancroft, History of the United States (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1848), Vol. I, pp. 350-351.

[66] The Colonial Laws of Massachusetts. Reprinted from the Edition of 1660, with the Supplements to 1672. Containing Also the Body of Liberties of 1641, William H. Whitmore, supervisor (Boston: 1889), pp. 6-8, “Introduction” by William H. Whitmore, and pp. 32-61, “The Body of Liberties. 1641.”

[67] The Colonial Laws of Massachusetts. Reprinted from the Edition of 1660, with the Supplements to 1672. Containing Also the Body of Liberties of 1641, William H. Whitmore, supervisor (Boston: 1889), p. 33, “The Body of Liberties. 1641.”

[68] George Bancroft, History of the United States (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1853), Vol. I, pp. 346-347.

[69] Abiel Holmes, The Annals of America, From the Discovery by Columbus in the Year 1492 to the Year 1826 (Cambridge: Hilliard and Brown, 1829), Vol. I, p. 443, quoting from the preamble of the 1693 charter of the College of William and Mary.

[70] See, for example, “Dartmouth at a Glance,” Dartmouth (at: https://home.dartmouth.edu/dartmouth-glance) (accessed on September 20, 2018); Memorials of Judges Recently Deceased, Graduates of Dartmouth College (Concord: Republican Press Association, 1881), p. 5.

[71] See, for example, Anne B. Wagner, “Highlights in Portsmouth, RI, History: 1638-2013,” Portsmouth Historical Society (at: https://www.portsmouthri375.com/uploads/5/6/9/3/5693083/a_brief_history_of_portsmouth3.pdf) (accessed on September 20, 2018).

[72] “Charter of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,” The Avalon Project, July 15, 1663 (at: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/ri04.asp).

[73] “Charter of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,” The Avalon Project, July 15, 1663 (at: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/ri04.asp).

[74] “The Charter of Maryland,” The Avalon Project, 1632 (at: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/ma01.asp).

[75] “Maryland Toleration Act,” The Avalon Project, September 21, 1649 (at: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/maryland_toleration.asp).

[76] G.H. Hollister, The History of Connecticut, From the First Settlement of the Colony to the Adoption of the Present Constitution (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1855), Vol. I, pp. 18-19, 96.

[77] John Fiske, The Beginnings of New England (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1902), pp. 154-155.

[78] John Fiske, The Beginnings of New England (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1902), p. 155.

[79] The Code of 1650, Being a Compilation of the Earliest Laws and Orders of the General Court of Connecticut (Hartford: Silas Andrus, 1825), pp. 11-12.

[80] The Code of 1650, Being a Compilation of the Earliest Laws and Orders of the General Court of Connecticut (Hartford: Silas Andrus, 1825), p. 12.

[81] The True-Blue Laws of Connecticut and New Haven, J. Hammond Trumbull, editor (Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1876), p. 58.

[82] See, for example, “Sketches of American Policy,” Lawbook Exchange (at: https://www.lawbookexchange.com/pages/books/52124/noah-webster-john-vile-new-intro-notes/sketches-of-american-policy-under-the-following-heads-i-theory) (accessed on September 21, 2018); “Noah Webster’s Story,” Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society (at: https://noahwebsterhouse.org/noah-websters-story/) (accessed on September 21, 2018).

[83] Noah Webster, Sketches of American Policy (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1785), pp. 33-35.

[84] Papers of the New Haven Colony Historical Society (New Haven: 1865), Vol. I, p. 29, “The New Haven Colony” by Henry White; and Edward E. Atwater, History of the Colony of New Haven (New Haven: 1881), pp. 67, 73.

[85] Benjamin Trumbull, A Complete History of Connecticut, Civil and Ecclesiastical (New Haven: Maltby, Goldsmith and Co. & Samuel Wadsworth, 1818), Vol. I, p. 503, “The fundamental articles, or original constitution of the colony of New-Haven, June 4^th, 1639.”

[86] George Bancroft, History of the United States (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1853), Vol. I, p. 404.

[87] See, for example, “Timeline: Settlement of the Colony of Connecticut,” ConnecticutHistory.org (at: https://connecticuthistory.org/timeline-settlement-of-the-colony-of-connecticut/) (accessed on September 21, 2018); “Colony of Connecticut: A Brief history,” CelebrateBoston (at: http://www.celebrateboston.com/history/connecticut.htm) (accessed on September 21, 2018).

[88] The Federal and State Constitution, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies Now or Heretofore Forming the United States of America (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1909), Vol. I, p. 77, “The Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England—1643-1684.”

[89] Public Documents of Maine: 1902, Being the Annual Reports of the Various Departments and Institutions for the Year 1901 (August: Kennebec Journal, 1902), pp. 29-30, “History of Education and the Evolution of the Present School System in Maine.”

[90] The Code of 1650, Being a Compilation of the Earliest Laws and Orders of the General Court of Connecticut (Hartford: Silas Andrus, 1825), p. 90.

[91] Of the 27, 14 women and 5 men were tried, found guilty and hanged; another man was tortured to death by crushing because he refused to cooperate with the court by not answering their questions. To persuade him to talk they took him to a field and put a board on him with rocks, they increased the number of rocks until he would cooperate but he continued to refuse and was crushed to death. He was therefore never convicted but is considered the 20th victim as he was on trial for being a wizard. And 7 individuals died in prison awaiting trial; one was a baby in prison with her mother, who was awaiting trial as a witch. “The Salem Witch Trials of 1692,” Salem Witch Museum, January 13, 2011 per the museum’s Department of Education.

[92] William Warren Sweet, The Story of Religion in America (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1950), p. 61.

[93] Charles B. Galloway, Christianity and the American Commonwealth (Nashville: Publishing House Methodist Episcopal Church, 1898), p. 110. Lower numbers are calculated by Brian P. Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (New York: Longmans, 1987), pp. 20-28, but still surpass 100,000. See also Ann Llewellyn Barstow, Witchcraze: A New History of the European Witch Hunts (San Francisco: Pandora, 1994), pp. 179-181.

[94] Charles B. Galloway, Christianity and the American Commonwealth, p. 110.

[95] Dictionary of American Biography, Allen Johnson, editor (New York: Charles Scribber’s Sons, 1929), s.v. “John Wise,” “Increase Mather,” and “Thomas Brattle.” See also Mark Gribbean, “Salem Witch Trials: Reason Returns,” Court TV: Crime Library (accessed on February 28, 2013); David D. Hall, Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth-Century New England (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1991), pp. 350, 354 fn25; and Jonathan Kirsch, The Grand Inquisitor’s Manual (New York: Harper One, 2008), p. 245.

[96] See, for example, Lilly v. Virginia, 527 U. S. 116, 141 (1999), Breyer, J., (concurring).

[97] Charles Alan Wright, et al., Federal Practices & Procedure Federal Rules of Evidence (New York: West Publishing Co., 2010), Vol. 30, sec. 6342, pp. 200-207, 212-214, 234-246.

[98] William Warren Sweet, The Story of Religion in America (New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1950), p. 62.

[99] Daniel Dorchester, Christianity in the United States from the First Settlement Down to the Present Time (New York: Phillips & Hunt, 1889), p. 124.

[100] Daniel Dorchester, Christianity in the United States from the First Settlement Down to the Present Time (New York: Phillips & Hunt, 1889), p. 122.

[101] The Code of 1650, Being a Compilation of the Earliest Laws and Orders of the General Court of Connecticut (Hartford: Silas Andrus, 1825), pp. 91-92.

[102] Edward Augustus Kendall, Travels Through the Northern Parts of the United States, in the Years 1807 and 1808 (New York: I Riley, 1809), Vol. I, pp. 270-271.

[103] The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography (Richmond, VA: Virginia Historical Society, 1895), Vol. II, pp. 158-159, “The treasurer and company of adventurers and planters of the first colony in Virginia. To Captain Yeardley, Elect Governor of Virginia, and to the council of state therein being or to be greeting,” November 18, 1618.

[104] New England’s First Fruits (London: R.O. and G.D., 1643; reprinted New York: Joseph Sabin, 1865), p. 26, “Rules and Precepts that are observed in the College,” 1642.

[105] Alexander Young, The Life and Character of John Thornton Kirkland, and of Nathaniel Bowditch (Boston, Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1840), p. 11; and Josiah Quincy, The History of Harvard University (Cambridge: John Owen, 1840), p. 49.

[106] Ellwood P. Cubberley, Public Education in the United States (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1919), p. 204.

[107] Ronald Reagan, “Proclamation 5018-`Year of the Bible, 1983,” American Presidency Project, February 3, 1983 (at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/262128). See also George H.W. Bush, “International Year of Bible Reading,” American Presidency Project, February 22, 1990 (at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-6100-international-year-bible-reading-1990); The American Missionary (New York: American Missionary Association, 1876), Vol. XX, No. 8, p. 183, Rev. Addison P. Foster, “America’s Experiment with Republican Institutions.”

[108] Abraham Lincoln, “Proclamation 106—Thanksgiving Day, 1863,” The American Presidency Project, October 3, 1863 (at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-106-thanksgiving-day-1863).

[109] Abraham Lincoln, “Proclamation 106—Thanksgiving Day, 1863,” The American Presidency Project, October 3, 1863 (at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-106-thanksgiving-day-1863).

[110] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), p. 24.

[111] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), p. 91.

[112] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), pp. 94-95.

[113] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), pp. 94-97; and Mourt’s Relation, or Journal of the Plantation at Plymouth (Boston: John Kimball Wiggin, 1865), pp. 90-91; and Nathaniel Morton, New England’s Memorial (Boston: Crocker and Brewster, 1826), pp. 55-56.

[114] Ashbel Steele,Chief of the Pilgrims: Or the Life and Time of William Brewster (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott and Co., 1857), pp. 269-270; and Mourt’s Relation, or Journal of the Plantation at Plymouth (Boston: John Kimball Wiggin, 1865), pp. 132-133; and Benson Lossing, Our Country. A Household History of the United States (New York: James A. Bailey, 1895), Vol. 1, p. 372.

[115] “Thanksgiving Timeline, 1541-2001,” Library of Congress (at: https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/thanksgiving/timeline/1541.html) (accessed on October 26, 2018).

[116] “The First Thanksgiving?” Texas Almanac (at: https://texasalmanac.com/topics/history/timeline/first-thanksgiving) (accessed on October 26, 2018).

[117] “Thanksgiving Timeline, 1541-2001,” Library of Congress (at https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/thanksgiving/timeline/1564.html) (accessed on October 26, 2018).

[118] Benson Lossing, Our Country. A Household History of the United States (New York: James A. Bailey, 1895), Vol. 1, pp. 181-182; see also “The Reverend Robert Hunt: The First Chaplain at Jamestown,” National Park Service (at https://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/the-reverend-robert-hunt-the-first-chaplain-at-jamestown.htm) (accessed on October 26, 2018).

[119] “Berkeley Plantation,” Berkeley Plantation (at: http://www.berkeleyplantation.com/) (accessed on October 26, 2018).

[120] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), p. 136.

[121] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), p. 134.

[122] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), pp. 134-135.

[123] Dr. Judd W. Patton, “The Pilgrim Story: Vital Insights and Lessons for Today,” Bellevue University (at: http://jpatton.bellevue.edu/biblical_economics/pilgrimstory.html) (accessed on September 6, 2018).

[124] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), pp. 141-142n.

[125] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), p. 142n.

[126] Nathaniel Morton, New England’s Memorial (Cambridge: S.G. & M.J., 1669; reprinted, 1855), pp. 64-65; and Cotton Mather, Magnalia Christi Americana: Or, the Ecclesiastical History of New England (London: 1702), p. 11.

[127] Email received by WallBuilders on November 26, 2016, which listed:

Thanksgiving, a day of mourning for Native Americans: https://www.salon.com/2016/11/23/thanksgiving-a-day-of-mourning-for-native-americans/
American Indian Perspective on Thanksgiving: https://americanindian.si.edu/sites/1/files/pdf/education/thanksgiving_poster.pdf
Do American Indians Celebrate Thanksgiving?: https://americanindian.si.edu/sites/1/files/pdf/education/thanksgiving_poster.pdf
For Me, Thanksgiving Is A “Day Of Mourning”: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2016/11/130572/day-of-mourning-thanksgiving-protest-native-americans
First Thanksgiving: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/history/first-thanksgiving/
The REAL Story of Thanksgiving Introduction for Teachers The Plymouth Thanksgiving Story: https://www.manataka.org/page269.html
For National Day of Mourning, Native Americans highlight their struggles: https://www.metro.us/boston/for-national-day-of-mourning-american-indians-highlight-their-struggles/zsJpkv—Q2Rg789wZSCBU
National Day of Mourning Reflects on Thanksgiving’s Horrific, Bloody History: https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2014/11/26/national-day-of-mourning-reflects-on-thanksgivings-horrific-bloody-history
Why these Native Americans are spending Thanksgiving marching and mourning, not celebrating: https://splinternews.com/why-these-native-americans-are-spending-thanksgiving-ma-1793863916
National Day of Mourning: http://www.uaine.org/
Local Native Americans consider the history of Thanksgiving: https://pilotonline.com/life/article_982d6590-fe10-57c8-b0b3-170e4d743490.html

[128] For example, Samaset and Squanto are both mentioned in William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), pp. 93-95; Squanto is called Tisquantum in Mourt’s Relation, or Journal of the Planation at Plymouth (Boston: John Kimball Wiggin, 1865), pp. 102, 106. Mourt’s Relation also mentions Hobamak (also known as Hobbamock), p. 123.

[129] James Thacher,History of the Town of Plymouth, from its First Settlement in 1620 to the Present Time (Boston: Marsh, Capen & Lyon, 1835), p. 138.

[130] George Bancroft, History of the United States (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1848), Vol. I, pp. 350-351.

[131] William Gammell, Makers of American History: Roger Williams (New York: The University Society, 1904), pp. 61-62.

[132] G.H. Hollister, The History of Connecticut, From the First Settlement of the Colony to the Adoption of the Present Constitution (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1855), pp. 18-19, 96.

[133] Samuel M. Janney, The Life of William Penn: With Selections from His Correspondence and Autobiography (Philadelphia: Hogan, Perkins & Co., 1852), pp. 114-115, 427-428; and George Bancroft, History of the Colonization of the United States (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1844), Vol. II, pp. 381-382.

[134] Samuel M. Janney, The Life of William Penn: With Selections from His Correspondence and Autobiography (Philadelphia: Hogan, Perkins & Co., 1852), pp. 427-428.

[135] Jeremy Belknap, The History of New Hampshire (Dover, NH: J. Mann & JK Remick, 1812), pp. 16-17.

[136] John Warner Barber, The History and Antiquities of New England, New York, and New Jersey (Worcester: Dorr & Howland & Co, 1841), p. 66.

[137] W.H. Carpenter and T.S. Arthur, History of New Jersey (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., 1853), pp. 25, 27-28.

[138] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), p. 131.

[139] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), pp. 351-352, 356-357.

[140] William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), pp. 349-361; and John Winthrop, The History of New England from 1630 to 1649, James Savage, editor (Boston: Phelps and Farnham, 1825), Vol. I, pp. 222-226.

[141] See, for example, Dennis W. Zotigh, “Do American Indians Celebrate Thanksgiving?” Huffington Post, November 19, 2012 (at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dennis-w-zotigh/do-american-indians-celebrate-thanksgiving_b_2160786.html).

[142] For an account of the non-involvement of the Pilgrims in the 1837 Pequot War, see: William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation (Boston: 1856), pp. 355-356; and John Winthrop, The History of New England from 1630 to 1649, James Savage, editor (Boston: Phelps and Farnham, 1825), Vol. I, p. 226.

[143] See, for example, Alli Joseph, “Thanksgiving, a day of mourning for Native Americans,” Salon, November 23, 2016 (at: https://www.salon.com/2016/11/23/thanksgiving-a-day-of-mourning-for-native-americans/); Susan Bates, “The REAL Story of Thanksgiving,” Manataka American Indian Council (at: https://www.manataka.org/page269.html) (accessed on September 5, 2018); Matt Juul, “National Day of Mourning Reflects on Thanksgiving’s Horrific, Bloody History,” boston.com, November 26, 2014 (at: https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2014/11/26/national-day-of-mourning-reflects-on-thanksgivings-horrific-bloody-history); and others.

[144] John Winthrop,The History of New England from 1630 to 1649, James Savage, editor (Boston: Phelps and Farnham, 1825), Vol. I, p. 226, entry for March 15, 1637.

[145] James D. Drake, King Philip’s War: Civil War in New England 1675-1676 (MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1999), pp. 1, 30-31; and Daniel R. Mandell, King Philip’s War: Colonial Expansion, Native Resistance, and the End of Indian Sovereignty (MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010), pp. 27, 30; and Jill Lepore, The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity (Random House, 2009), “What’s in a Name?” More reputable writers have made similar claims. See, for example, Francis Jennings, The Invasion of America; Indians, Colonialism, and the Cant of Conquest (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1975), pp. 128, 144-145; and New England Encounters: Indians and Euroamericans ca. 1600-1850. Essays Drawn from The New England Quarterly, Alden T. Vaughan, editor (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1999), pp. 61-64, David Bushnell, “The Treatment of the Indians in Plymouth Colony”; and Karen Ordahal Kupperman, Indians and English: Facing Off in Early America (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2000), p. 239.

[146] James Thacher,History of the Town of Plymouth, from its First Settlement in 1620 to the Present Time (Boston: Marsh, Capen & Lyon, 1835), p. 138; and Abiel Holmes, The Annals of America from the Discovery by Columbus in the Year 1492, to the Year 1826 (Cambridge: Hilliard & Brown, 1829), p. 383.

[147] See, for example, accounts such as:

Franklin B. Hough, A Narrative of the Causes which Led to Philip’s Indian War, of 1675 and 1676, by John Easton of Rhode Island (Albany, NY: J. Munsell, 1863), pp. 143-144, an eyewitness account dated February 25, 1675: “Thomas Warner one of the two that came down from Albany and had been prisoner with the Indians who arrived here this morn, being examined, faith, that he was one of the persons that begin sent out from Hatfield where the English Army lay, to discover the enemy, but a party of Indians waylaid them, and shot down 5 of their company, and took 3 of which he and his comrade are two, the 3^rdthey put to death, the 9^thwas an Indian that came with them and escaped away. That the Indians lay still two days after they were taken, and then a party of about 30 with whom he was marched to a river to the north-east from thence about 80 miles called Oasuck, where about a fortnight after the rest of the army came to them, having in the mean time burnt two towns: they killed one of the prisoners presently after they had taken him, cutting a hole below his breast out of which they pulled his guts, and then cut off his head. That they put him so to death in the presence of him and his comrade, and threated them also with the like. That they burnt his nails, and put his feet to scald them against the fire, and drove a stake through one of his feet to pin him to the ground. The stake about the bigness of his finger, this was about 2 days after he was taken.”
John S. C. Abbott, The History of King Philip (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1857), pp. 317-318, where Abbott, using the words of Cotton Mather, describes Indian tortures: “They stripped these unhappy prisoners, and caused them to run the gauntlet, and whipped them after a cruel and bloody manner. They then threw hot ashes upon them, and, cutting off collops of their flesh, they put fire into their wounds, and so, with exquisite, leisurely, horrible torments, roasted them out of the world.”
Richard Markham, A Narrative History of King Philip’s War and the Indian Troubles in New England (New York: Dodd, Mean & Company, 1883), pp. 241-242, describing an event at the beginning of King Philip’s War: “A little after the middle of April [1676] Sudbury was attacked…Captain Wadsworth with fifty men had been dispatched from Boston that day to strengthen the garrison at Marlborough. After his company reached Marlborough, more than a score of miles from Boston, they learned that the savages were on their way against Sudbury…A small party of Indians encountered them when about a mile from their destination, and withstood them for a short time, but yielding to their superior numbers retreated into the forest. Wadsworth and his men followed, but when they were well into the woods suddenly found themselves the centre of five hundred yelling demons, who attacked them on all sides. They made their way to the top of a hill close at hand, and for four hours fought resolutely, losing but five men, for the savages had suffered severely in the first hand-to-hand attack, and feared to come to close quarters. As night came on the enemy set fire to the woods to the windward of their position. The leaves were dry as tinder, and a strong wind was blowing. The flames and smoke rolled up upon the devoted band, threatening their instant destruction. Stifled and scorched, they were forced to leave the hill in disorder. The Indians came upon them so like so many tigers, and outnumbering them ten to one in the confusion slew nearly all. Wadsworth himself was slain. Some few were taken prisoners, and that night were made to run the gauntlet, and after that were put to death by torture.”

[148] See, for example, J.W. Barber, United States Book; Or, Interesting Events in the History of the United States (New Haven: L.H. Young, 1834), p. 53; and Methodist Quarterly Review: 1858, D.D. Whedon, editor (New York: Carlton & Porter, 1858), Vol. XL, pp. 244-245.

[149] Gustav Warneck, Outline of a History of Protestant Mission from the Reformation to the Present Time (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1903), p. 165.

[150] J.W. Barber, United States Book; Or, Interesting Events in the History of the United States (New Haven: L.H. Young, 1834), p. 53n; and John S. C. Abbott, History of King Philip (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1857), pp. 171-172.

[151] J.W. Barber, United States Book; Or, Interesting Events in the History of the United States (New Haven: L.H. Young, 1834), pp. 53-54; and Richard Markham, A Narrative History of King Philip’s War and the Indian Troubles in New England (New York: Dodd, Mean & Company, 1883), pp. 109-110.

[152] Franklin B. Hough, A Narrative of the Causes which Led to Philip’s Indian War, of 1675 and 1676, by John Easton of Rhode Island (Albany, NY: J. Munsell, 1863), p. 42, a letter dated June 29, 1675, pp. 176-177, “Record of a Court Martial, Held at Newport, R.I. in August, 1676, for the Trial of Indians charged with begin engaged in Philip’s Designs”; and William Hubbard, A Narrative of the Indian Wars in New-England from the First Planting Thereof, in the Year 1607, to the Year 1677 (Danbury: Stiles Nichols, 1803), p. 64, notes from a meeting of the commissioners of the united colonies held at Boston, Sept. 9, 1675, pp. 77-78.

[153] National Park Service, “Frequently Asked Questions,” Roger Williams National Memorial Rhode Island (at: https://www.nps.gov/rowi/faqs.htm) (accessed on October 26, 2018). See also Welcome Arnold Greene, The Providence Plantations for Two Hundred and Fifty Years. An Historical Review of the Foundation, Rise, and Progress of the City of Providence (Providence, RI: J.A & R.A. Reid, 1886), p. 42.

[154] William Gammell, Makers of American History: Roger Williams (New York: The University Society, 1904), pp. 61-62.

[155] Romeo Elton, Life of Roger Williams (New York: G.P. Putnam, 1852), pp. 21, 33-34, 39-41, 44-45.

[156] Methodist Quarterly Review: 1858, D.D. Whedon, editor (New York: Carlton & Porter, 1858), Vol. XL, pp. 244-245; and John S.C. Abbott, The History of King Philip (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857), pp. 187-190, 216. Some specific accounts recorded by the Rev. John Holmes (Historical Sketches of the Missions of the United Brethren, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857), include p. 210, “With a view to execute their horrid purpose, the young Indians got together, chose the most ferocious to be their leaders, deposed all the old Chiefs, and guarded the whole Indian assembly, as if they were prisoners of war, especially the aged of both sexes. The venerable old Chief Tettepachsit was the first whom they accused of possession poison, and having destroyed many Indians by his art. When the poor old man would not confess, they fastened with cords to two posts and began to roast him at a slow fire.”; pp. 210-211, “During this torture, he [Chief Tettepachsit] said, that he kept poison in the house of our Indian brother Joshua. Nothing was more welcome to the savages than this accusation, for they wished to deprive us of the assistance of this man, who was the only Christian Indian residing with us at that time….We knew nothing of these horrible events, until the evening of the 16^th, when a message was brought that the savages had burned an old woman to death, who had been baptized by the Brethren in former times, and also that our poor Joshua was kept close prisoner.”; p. 139, “Their external troubles, however, did not yet terminate. They had not only a kind of tax imposed upon them to show their dependence on the Iroquois , but the following very singular message was sent them: “The great head, i.e., the Council in Onondago, speak the truth and lie not: they rejoice that some of the believing Indians have moved to Wayomik, but now they lift up the remaining Mahikans and Delawares, and set them down also in Wayomik; for there a fire is kindled for them, and there they may plant and think on God: but if they will not hear, the great head will come and clean their ears with a red-hot iron (meaning they would set their houses on fire) and shoot them through the head with musquet-balls.”

[157] Increase Mather, The History of King Philip’s War (Albany: J. Munsell, 1862), pp. 49-50, 127-128, 184; and Henry William Elson, History of the United States of America (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1904), p. 122; and George Madison Bodge, Soldiers in King Philip’s War (Boston: 1906), pp. 34, 37, 104.

[158] John S.C. Abbott, The History of King Philip (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857), p. 361.

[159] John Fiske, The Beginnings of New England (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1890), p. 240.

[160] James David Drake, King Philip’s War: Civil War in New England, 1675-1676 (Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1999), pp. 1–15.

[161] See, for example, George Bancroft, History of the United States (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1848), Vol. II, p. 99.

[162] See, for example, “George Bancroft,” Encyclopedia Britannica (at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Bancroft-American-historian) (accessed on October 26, 2018).

[163] George Bancroft, History of the United States (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1848), Vol. II, p. 99.

[164] William Garrott Brown, Andrew Jackson (New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1900), pp. 130-131; and William Graham Sumner, American Statesmen: Andrew Jackson (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1899), pp. 224-229.

[165] See, for example, the Cherokee nation in Georgia, the Sioux nation in the Dakotas, and the Apaches in the southwest. Georgia wanted land so passed laws dividing Cherokee land up in various counties and put those lands in control of the state. Andrew Jackson, the president at that time, did not interfere with the Georgia laws and would not enforce or support the Supreme Court’s decision that declared this Georgia law unconstitutional. (See William Garrott Brown, Andrew Jackson (New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1900), pp. 130-131.) The federal government promised to remain off Sioux land in the Dakota territory but when gold was found on those lands, they reversed this position; the land dispute is still ongoing. (See “Sioux Treaty of 1868,” National Archives, September 23, 2016 (at: https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/sioux-treaty); and “History of the Black Hills,” National Park Service, February 16, 2018). The Yavapai and Tonto Apaches were forced to march over 150 miles to another location because settlers wanted their land for development. (See “Yavapai and Tonto Apaches,” National Park Service, August 25, 2017 (at: https://www.nps.gov/tont/learn/historyculture/yavapai_and_apache.htm).)

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FAQ: Founders & Slavery

The issue of slavery in America’s Founding Era was complex. Initially, many people saw slavery as a normal part of life; this perspective is acknowledged by Chief Justice John Jay, who stated that, before the War for Independence, very few “doubted the propriety and rectitude of it.”¹

However, the changing attitude towards slavery was evident even before the War for Independence when several colonies passed anti-slavery laws.² (Each of these were overturned by King George III.³) Notably, a section of the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson criticized the king for maintaining slavery and the slave trade.⁴

After the Declaration of Independence, states such as Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and New Jersey abolished slavery.⁵ Additionally, Virginia, in 1778, outlawed the further importation of slaves.⁶

Among the Founders themselves, some slave-owners, such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, openly spoke against slavery.⁷ Conversely, others were demonstrably pro-slavery.⁸ There were also Founders involved in abolition movements. For example, Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush helped establish the first abolition society in 1774.⁹ Furthermore, John Jay served as president of the New York abolition society.¹⁰

Again, this was a complicated issue for Americans during the Founding Era, but the actions of many demonstrate that this reprehensible practice had much opposition among the Founders. For more information on this topic, please see these additional resources.

Endnotes

¹ John Jay, The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, ed. Henry P. Johnston (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1891), 3:342, to the English Anti-Slavery Society, June 1788.

² W.O. Blake, The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade (Columbus: J. & H. Miller, 1858), 386; George M. Stroud, A Sketch of the Laws Relating to Slavery in the Several States of the United States of America (Philadelphia: Kimber and Sharpless, 1827), 137; Thomas F. Gordon, The History of Pennsylvania from its Discovery by Europeans to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 (Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Carey, 1829), 554-555.

³ Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Jared Sparks (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason, 1839), 8:42, to Dean Woodward on April 10, 1773; Benson J. Lossing, Harpers’ Popular Cyclopaedia of United States History (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1892), 1299.

⁴ Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Albert Ellery Bergh (Washington DC: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1903), 1:34, from Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration of Independence. This section was removed on the objection of two states: Thomas Jefferson, Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, ed. Thomas Jefferson Randolph (London: Colburn and Bentley, 1829), 1:16, from his Autobiography.

⁵ A Constitution or Frame of Government Agreed Upon by the Delegates of the People of the State of Massachusetts-Bay (Boston: Benjamin Edes and Sons, 1780), 7; An Abridgement of the Laws of Pennsylvania, ed. Collinson Read, (Philadelphia: 1801), 264-266; The Public Statute Laws of the State of Connecticut (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1808), Book I, 623-625; Rhode Island Session Laws (Providence: Wheeler, 1784), 7-8; The Constitutions of the Sixteen States (Boston: Manning and Loring, 1797), 50, New Hampshire, 1792; The Federal and State Constitutions Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies Now or Heretofore Forming The United States of America, ed. Francis Newton Thorpe (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1909), 6:3762, Vermont, 1793; Laws of the State of New York, Passed at the Twenty-Second Session, Second Meeting of the Legislature (Albany: Loring Andrew, 1798), 721-723; Laws of the State of New Jersey Compiled and Published Under the Authority of the Legislature, ed. Joseph Bloomfield (Trenton: James J. Wilson, 1811), 103-105.

⁶ The Statues at Large; Being A Collection of all the Laws of Virginia From the First Session of the Legislature in the Year 1619, ed. William Waller Henning (Richmond: J & G Cochran, 1821), IX:471-472, “An act for preventing the farther importation of Slaves,” October, 1778.

⁷ Paul Leland Haworth, George Washington: Farmer (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1915), 192; Mary V. Thompson, “The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret,” Mount Vernon, 1999; The Works of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Paul Leicester Ford (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1905), 11:417, to Edward Coles on August 25, 1814; Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. H.A. Washington (New York: Riker, Thorne, & Co., 1855), 6:378, to Thomas Cooper on September 10, 1814; Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1794), 236-238, “Query XVIII.”

⁸ See, for example, Jeffrey Crow, “Liberty to Slaves: The Black Response,” Anchor, accessed August 23, 2023; James Madison, The Writings of James Madison, ed. Gaillard Hunt (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1903), 4:267-268, “Journal of the Constitutional Convention,” August 22, 1787; The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, ed. Joseph Gales (Washington DC: Gales and Seaton, 1834), 1:1242-1243, February 12, 1790.

⁹ Constitution of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and the Relief of Free Negroes, Unlawfully Held in Bondage. Begun in the Year 1774, and Enlarged on the 23rd of April, 1787 (Philadelphia: Joseph James, 1787), 8.

¹⁰ “Race and Antebellum New York City: The New York Manumission Society,” New York Historical Society, accessed August 23, 2023; The Works of Samuel Hopkins (Boston: Doctrinal Tract and Book Society, 1854), 2:548, Advertisement page for “A Dialogue Concerning the Slavery of the Africans.”

Explore

Engage

Initiatives

Lesson 3: American War for Independence (1765-1785)

America’s Liberty and Independence: Founded on the Christian Faith

The Committees of Correspondence

The Boston Tea Party

Boston Port Bill

The First Continental Congress

The Colonists Begin to Think and Feel Together

The Battle of Lexington

The Declaration of Independence

Faith of the Signers

The Cost They Paid

Celebrating Independence

Congressional Actions Affirming America’s Religious Faith

God’s Hand Visible

Trenton and the Crossing of the Delaware (December 1776)

Battle of Saratoga (October 1777)

Benedict Arnold’s Treason (September 1780)

The Battle of Yorktown (October 1781)

Ending the War for Independence

Lesson 3: Appendix A

Public Prayer Proclamations

Lesson 2: Colonial Period (mid 1600s – 1765)

Pennsylvania, 1682

Georgia

Other Early Colonies

Pastors in Public Affairs in the 1600s

The Role of the Church and the Clergy in the Cultivation of Liberty

The Rev. John Wise

The First Great Awakening

The Rev. Elisha Williams

The Rev. Samuel Davies

Jonathan Mayhew, “Father of Civil Liberty”

Some Great Awakening Sermon Titles

Founding Fathers Who Were Ministers

Other Ministers

Other Significant Clergy-Statesmen

Teaching the Principles of Liberty

Higher Education

Yale University, 1701

Princeton, 1746

University of Pennsylvania, 1751

Columbia, 1754

Others

Early Textbooks of American Common Education

The New England Primer

Conclusion

Additional Resources

Endnotes

America God Shed His Grace on Thee

Endnotes

Lincoln’s 1863 Proclamation

Presidents After Lincoln

Endnotes

War for Independence

Early Federal Proclamations

Proclamation Examples

Endnotes

The Pilgrims

The 1621 Thanksgiving

After 1621

Endnotes

Discovery and Early Planting (1492-mid 1600s)

The Bible: The Rock of Our Republic

The Virginia Colony

Jamestown, 1607

John Smith and Pocahontas

The Pilgrims and the Plymouth Colony, 1620

The Laws of the Pilgrims

The Puritans and Massachusetts, 1630

Massachusetts Body of Liberties

Sharing the Gospel

Rhode Island, 1636

Maryland, 1633

Connecticut, 1636

The New England Confederation, 1643

America’s First Schools

Early Massachusetts School Laws

Why We Celebrate Thanksgiving
(And a Lesson in Economics)

No, Revisionists, Thanksgiving is not a
Day of Mourning