America's 250th - Page 4 of 5

Draftsman of the Declaration

Independence Day is the annual anniversary of the Continental Congress approving the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. That fateful day not only sealed the future for those brave men who approved that document but that paper also established the principles by which America became the most successful nation of the past three centuries.

Of the fifty-six men who signed this document, the final to pass away was Charles Carroll, who died at the age of 95. Before his passing, New York City asked him to inscribe his final thoughts on a copy of the Declaration. On it he wrote that he was “Grateful to Almighty God for the blessings which, through Jesus Christ Our Lord, He has conferred on my beloved country in her emancipation.” ¹ Significantly, this Founding Father, in looking back over what had occurred as a result of the Declaration, wanted to specifically thank Jesus for what had happened with America.

The two signers of the Declaration to precede Charles Carroll in death were John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Both had been on the committee to draft the Declaration, and both died on the 50th anniversary of that document – on July 4, 1826. ²

Of the two, Thomas Jefferson is considered the penman of the Declaration, and many today do not know much about his beliefs or actions. Significantly, he was not only a strong advocate for political and national freedom but also for spiritual freedom.

In fact, throughout his life, he freely gave numerous financial contributions to Gospel ministers and missionaries and supported their work and office. ³ Perhaps this is not surprising, for as Governor of Virginia and a member of the Board of the College of William and Mary, he stipulated that the professors “appoint from time to time a missionary of approved veracity to the several tribes of Indians.” ⁴ When he became President of the United States, he signed a treaty that included a provision of $300 to “assist the said Kaskaskia tribe in the erection of a church” and to provide “annually for seven years one hundred dollars towards the support of a [Catholic] priest.” ⁵

He also signed three federal acts setting aside government lands for the sole use of religious groups so that Moravian missionaries might be assisted in “promoting Christianity.” ⁶ In 1804, he prepared a volume of the key teachings of Jesus to be distributed among the Indians. ⁷ Today’s secularist critics (and the uninformed) claim that Jefferson excluded the supernatural from this work, but that was definitely not the case, for it contained Jesus healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out demons, as well as Jesus’ teachings about heaven, hell, and the resurrection. ⁸

There is much to celebrate about our Declaration and those who produced it. As we honor the birthday of our nation, let’s remember President Jefferson’s wise declaration that:

No nation has ever existed or been governed without religion – nor can be. The Christian religion is the best religion that has been given to man and I, as Chief Magistrate of this nation, am bound to give it the sanction of my example. ⁹

Articles from WallBuilders:

Thomas Jefferson and Religion at the University of Virginia
The Founders And Public Religious Expressions
4th of July Article

Endnotes

¹ Charles Carroll, The Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1898), II:title page, “Copy of Declaration of Independence, New York City Library,” August 2, 1826. See also, Lewis A. Leonard, Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (New York: Moffit, Yard and Co., 1918), 256-257.
² “Declaration of Independence,” National Archives. See also, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, ed. Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co. 1850), I:222; Daniel Webster, Adams and Jefferson, ed. Albert F. Blaisdell (New York: Clark & Maynard Publishers, c. 1885), 8-9.
³ See for example, David Barton, The Jefferson Lies (Aledo, TX: WallBuilder Press, 2020), 193-200.
⁴ Thomas Jefferson, The Works of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Paul Leicester Ford (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904), II:434-435, “A Bill for Amending the Constitution of the College of William and Mary.”
⁵ The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, ed. Richard Peters (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846), VII:79, Article III, “A Treaty Between the United States and the Kaskaskia Tribe of Indians,” December 23, 1803. See also Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U. S. 38, at 103 (1985), Rehnquist, J. (dissenting).
⁶ For additional information, see David Barton, The Jefferson Lies (Aledo, TX: WallBuilder Press, 2020), xx-xxviii.
⁷ For additional information, see David Barton, The Jefferson Lies (Aledo, TX: WallBuilder Press, 2020), xxxviii-xl, 103-110.
⁸ See for example, Jefferson’s “Bible” The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, ed. Judd Patton (Grove City: American Book Distributors, 1996), xiv, summarizing the 1983 Dickinson W. Adams, Jefferson’s Extracts from the Gospels, which was a reconstruction of Jefferson’s Philosophy of Jesus; Charles B. Sanford, The Religious Life of Thomas Jefferson (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1984); Mark Beliles, Thomas Jefferson’s Abridgement of the Words of Jesus of Nazareth (Charlottesville: Mark Beliles, 1993).
⁹ James Hutson, Religion and the Founding of the American Republic (Washington: Library of Congress, 1998), 96, quoting from a handwritten history in possession of the Library of Congress, “Washington Parish, Washington City,” by Rev. Ethan Allen.

Charles Thomson – the Life of the Cause of Liberty

America’s founding was blessed by the contributions of many individuals who are little, or even completely unknown to us today. Charles Thomson is one such unsung patriot.

In 1774 he was beginning to make a name for himself as a patriotic leader in Philadelphia. John Adams noted, “This Charles Thompson is the Sam Adams of Philadelphia — the Life of the Cause of Liberty, they say.”¹

Though never a member of that august body, as Secretary of the Continental Congress for over fifteen years, Thomson had a front-row seat to the birth of the nation and his fingerprints are all over America’s establishing documents. For example, the copy of the Declaration of Independence included with the official Journals of Congress were in Thomson’s handwriting, and he was one of only two people who actually signed it on July 4th.²

Thomson is also responsible for the Great Seal of the United States, which he prepared and Congress approved in 1782.³

As the First Congress took its place under the new government created by the Constitution, Thomson retired from that long-term post. His last official act was personally notifying George Washington that he had been unanimously selected the President of the United States.⁴

But Thomson was not only a great patriot and supporter of the American cause, he was also a champion of the Word of God. In fact, his name is associated with some of America’s earliest Bible editions.

For example, his name, as Secretary of Congress, is found in the introduction to “The Bible of the Revolution,” which was the first Bible printed in English in America. That Bible was printed by Robert Aitken, the official printer of the Continental Congress. Aitken described his Bible as “a neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools.”⁵ It was reviewed and approved by a committee of the Continental Congress, and published with the official congressional endorsement prominently in the front. (All of the original books pictured below that are associated with Charles Thomson are from our collection at WallBuilders.)

Thomson was also responsible for the first American translation of the Greek Septuagint (the full Greek Bible) into English in 1808 – a labor of love that consumed nearly two decades of his life.⁶ Called Thomson’s Bible, it is a four volume-set that is considered one of the most scholarly of American Bible translations.

Thomson also produced an eight-volume set in which every other page was blank, thus allowing readers space to write notes on the Scriptures as they studied them.
In 1815, Thomson published his famous Synopsis of the Four Evangelists, in which he took all the passages from the four Gospels and arranged them chronologically, producing something like one super long Gospel, with all Jesus’ words and acts arranged sequentially. Today, we call such a work a synoptic Gospel.

George Washington praised Thomson’s dedication, “Your Services have been important, as your patriotism was distinguished” He added his belief that “Posterity will find your Name so honorably connected…”⁷ Sadly, today, Charles Thomson has become a forgotten Founding Father, but his influence, both politically and spiritually, permanently shaped the course of America and blessed American life.

February 14, 2024 This post has been updated to correct information regarding Thomson’s American translation of the Bible.

Endnotes

¹ John Adams, diary entry from August 30, 1774, Adams Family Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, accessed November 1, 2023.
² John Hancock was the second and the other delegates signed weeks later. Journals of the Continental Congress 1774-1779, edited from the original records in the Library of Congress by Worthington Chauncey Ford, Chief, Division of Manuscripts, Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1905, The Avalon Project, Yale Law School, accessed November 1, 2023.
³ “Original Design of the Great Seal of the United States (1782),” Milestone Documents, National Archives, updated October 23, 2023.
⁴ Lewis R. Harley, Charles Thomson: Patriot and Scholar (Norristown, PA: Historical Society of Montgomery County, 1897), 28-29.
⁵ The Holy Bible as Printed by Robert Aitken and Approved & Recommended by the Congress of the United States of America in 1782, reprinted (New York: Arno Press, 1968), Introduction.
⁶ Harley, Charles Thomson: Patriot and Scholar (1897), 33-34.
⁷ George Washington to Charles Thomson, July 24, 1789, Founders Online, National Archives, accessed November 1, 2023.

America’s Birthday Over the Centuries

Americans celebrate our national birthday each year on July 4th. Our country’s unprecedented freedom was the result of specific ideas, including those drawn directly from the Bible.

At the 150th anniversary celebration of the Declaration of Independence, President Calvin Coolidge affirmed:

No one can examine this record and escape the conclusion that in the great outline of its principles the Declaration was the result of the religious teachings of the preceding period. . . . They are found in the texts, the sermons, and the writings of the early colonial clergy who were earnestly undertaking to instruct their congregations in the great mystery of how to live. . . . Placing every man on a plane where he acknowledged no superiors, where no one possessed any right to rule over him, he must inevitably choose his own rulers through a system of self-government.¹

On the 200^th anniversary, President Gerald Ford also affirmed its Biblical roots:

Our Bicentennial is the happy birthday of all fifty States, a commonwealth, and self-governing territories. It is not just a celebration for the original Thirteen Colonies. . . . The earliest English settlers carried the Bible and Blackstone’s Commentary. . . . [and] American families in prairie schooners like these took with them on the overland trails the principles of equality and the God-given rights of the Declaration of Independence.²

Each year on July 4th, let’s make sure we preserve our memory of these unique governing principles. Here are three simple things you and your family can do:

Read the Declaration of Independence.³ Reading the Declaration is rewarding as it is a deep and rich document. The Declaration gives the twenty-seven reasons that America was birthed, and sets forth the immutable principles of American government. These principles were the ones on which the Founders later erected the Constitution of the United States.
There were fifty-six signers of the Declaration. Find one you don’t know – perhaps one you’ve never heard of before; look him up and read a short biography about him⁴. Or get a copy of Lives of the Signers, so that you can have biographies about each one of the signers. In short, rediscover a new Founder.
John Adams said that Independence Day “ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.”⁵ So enjoy the fireworks and parades and celebration – but also make sure to honor and thank God – make it a day celebrated “with solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”

May God continue to shed His grace on America!

Endnotes

¹ Calvin Coolidge, “Address at the Celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia,” July 5, 1926, The American Presidency Project.
² Gerald R. Ford, “Remarks in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania,” July 4, 1976, The American Presidency Project.
³ “Declaration of Independence: A Transcript,” National Archives, accessed December 14, 2023.
⁴ Online sources for biographies of the Declaration signers include: ushistory.org, and the National Park Service. A comprehensive collection of biographies for each signer was done by John Sanderson in the 1820s. You can also read about the signers wives in The Pioneer Mothers of America.
⁵ John Adams to Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776, Letters of John Adams Addressed to His Wife, ed. Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1861), I:128-129.

A Great Price Paid

Richard Stockton was one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was one of those who literally gave his life for American liberty. October 1, ¹ is the anniversary of his birthday in 1730.

Richard grew up and practiced law in New Jersey, ² and had a role in the state government while it was still a British Colony. ³ Although his life was fairly prosperous, he did not let considerations for his own comfort or security stand in the way of principle. He therefore signed the Declaration of Independence — an action that was considered an act of treason against the British king, carrying with it an automatic penalty of death. He understood the risk, and with the other Founders, announced to the world that “with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.”

It was not long before Richard began to suffer the consequences . Some three months after signing the Declaration, he was kidnapped one night by a band of British Loyalists. ⁴ . He was placed into a barbaric prison where he was abused and mistreated.⁵ Congress eventually learned of his imprisonment by the British and moved to secure his freedom, but his health was so destroyed that he never recovered. ⁶ He died on February 28, 1781,⁷ never having seen the end of the war, or the liberty that he had worked to secure for others.

Richard maintained his Christian faith throughout his life — a fact that was apparent up to his dying days. In fact, knowing that he was dying as a result of his imprisonment, in his last will and testament, he left clear instructions for his six children he would leave behind:

And as my children will have frequent occasion of perusing this instrument, and may probably be particularly impressed with the last words of their father, I think it proper here not only to subscribe to the entire belief of the great and leading doctrines of the Christian religion, such as the Being of God…the Divinity of the person and the completeness of the redemption purchased by the blessed Savior…but also, in the bowels of a father’s affection, to exhort and charge them, 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.⁸

As a Washington DC newspaper in 1789 accurately noted about America’s Founding:

[Christianity] laid the foundation of this new and great Empire. . . . It is the professed religion of the greatest, wisest, and best men this world has produced.⁹

Learn more about Richard Stockton and other Signers in Lives of the Signers!
WallBuilders article for further reading: Their Lives, Fortunes and Sacred Honor: Richard Stockton

Endnotes

¹ Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (Hartford: R.G.H. Huntington, 1842), 204; Robert W. Lincoln, Lives of the Presidents of the Untied States; with Biographical Notices of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (New York: N. Watson & Co., 1836), 409.
² L. Carroll Judson, A Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, and of Washington and Patrick Henry (Philadelphia: J. Dobson, and Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co., 1839), 67; John Sanderson, Sanderson’s Biography of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence, ed. Robert T. Conrad (Philadelphia: Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co., 1848), 288.
³ Judson, Biography of the Signers (1839), 68; Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (Hartford: R.G.H. Huntington, 1842), 207.
⁴ Sanderson, Sanderson’s Biography of the Signers, ed. Conrad (1848), 292.
⁵ Sanderson, Sanderson’s Biography of the Signers, ed. Conrad (1848), 292.
⁶ Goodrich, Lives of the Signers (1842), 207.
⁷ Judson, Biography of the Signers (183), 70; Sanderson, Sanderson’s Biography of the Signers, ed. Conrad (1848), 293; Lincoln, Lives of the Presidents (New York: N. Watson & Co., 1836), 409; Goodrich, Lives of the Signers (1842), p. 208.
⁸ “Will of Richard Stockton,” WallBuilders.
⁹ The American Museum (Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1789), Vol. IV, p. 41, originally printed in The Gazette of the United States on May 9, 1789.

Women Heroes

Courageous Women During the American Revolution

The contributions of women to the American Revolution are often neglected today. Many women demonstrated exemplary courage during this time. Here are a few examples.

In April, 1777, a large British force arrived in Fairfield, Connecticut. Marching through nearby Danbury, they searched for American supplies and burned property owned by patriots.¹ A messenger from Danbury was sent to Col. Henry Ludington, the leader of a nearby militia, alerting him to what was happening and seeking his help. His militia was scattered throughout the countryside and someone was needed to alert them and round them up. The Danbury messenger was exhausted from his ride and also unfamiliar with the area, so Sybil Ludington, Col. Ludington’s 16 year-old daughter, carried the message, riding throughout the night, across 40 miles of dangerous country.² The militia gathered, and unable to save Danbury, were involved in the Battle of Ridgefield on April 27, 1777.

It was not just the men who signed the Declaration of Independence who risked death or imprisonment, or suffered personal tragedy, but their wives often did so as well — such as Elizabeth Lewis, wife of Declaration signer Francis Lewis.³ The Lewis’ home was in Long Island, and during the British occupation there, soldiers were dispatched to capture Elizabeth and destroy their property.⁴ As troops approached, a ship opened fire at the house (a cannonball even struck right beside where she stood) but Elizabeth refused to yield or retreat. The British captured her, holding her in dreary conditions with little food and no change of clothes. After several months, she was eventually freed through the efforts of George Washington and Congress but her health never recovered and she died in 1779.

Several women worked actively as spies for the American cause, supplying the army with much needed intelligence. For example, Lydia Darrah, hosted a meeting of British officers in December, 1777. Listening in secret to their meeting, and learning of their plans to attack George Washington’s army at White Marsh, she alerted the Americans, who were able to prepare for the planned surprise attack.⁵ Another example is Jane Thomas. Her husband, Col. John Thomas, was a prisoner of the British for fourteen months.⁶ On a visit to him, she learned of plans to attack the Americans at Cedar Spring. Riding almost sixty miles, she alerted them to danger, giving them time to prepare their defense against the British.⁷

These and many additional examples show that women of the Revolution played key roles in America’s fight for independence and should be honored during Women’s History Month.

* Originally published: Dec. 31, 2016

Endnotes

¹ Richard Buel, “The Burning of Danbury,” ConnecticutHistory.org, accessed May 8, 2025.
² Martha J. Lamb & Mrs. Burton Harrison, History of the city of New York (New York: A.S. Barnes Company, 1896), II:159-160; Willis Fletcher Johnson, Colonel Henry Ludington: A Memoir (New York: 1907), 89-90; National Postal Museum, “Sybil Ludington,” Smithsonian, accessed May 8, 2025.
³ Benson Lossing, Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence (New York: George F. Cooledge & Brother, 1848), 71-73.
⁴ “Elizabeth Annesley Lewis,” The Pioneer Mothers of America (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1912), 3:119-126; L. Carroll Judson, A Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (Philadelphia: J. Dobson, 1839), 64-66.
⁵ Elizabeth F. Ellet, The Women of the American Revolution (New York: Baker and Scribner, 1848), 171-177
⁶ “Col. John and Jane Thomas,” The Historical Marker Database, accessed May 8, 2025.
⁷ Ellet, Women of the American Revolution (1848), 250-260.

Who Was Charles Carroll? Take the Quiz!

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Who in the world is Charles Carroll? Sadly, few Americans today know the answer to this question. Test your knowledge of this famous Founding Father by taking the following quiz!

True or False: Charles Carroll was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.
True or False: He was present for the vote on the Declaration of Independence.
True or False: He was involved with a bill for the abolition of slavery in Maryland.
True or False: He helped create a major railroad company in America.
How many children did Carroll have?
Charles Carroll was the only signer of the Declaration to be a member of what religious group?

Charles Carroll was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, helped draft the 1776 original constitution of Maryland, and was an original United States Senator where he helped frame the Bill of Rights.

At WallBuilders, we have a vast collection of historical documents, including several handwritten letters from Charles Carroll. In an interesting one from 1825 to Charles Wharton (an Episcopal clergyman), Carroll makes a very clear statement about his personal faith, declaring:

Too much of my time & attention have been misapplied on matters to which an impartial Judge, penetrating the secrets of hearts, before whom I shall soon appear, will ascribe merit deserving recompense. 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 [Ephesians 2:8-9].

How did you do? Check your answers below!

True: Charles Carroll died on November 14, 1832.
False: The actual vote for the Declaration of Independence took place on July 4, 1776, but Carroll was not present for the vote.
True: In December 1789, Charles Carroll was on the committee in the Maryland state senate who were instructed to confer on a bill for the “gradual abolition of slavery.” Carroll reported on behalf of the committee in favor of discussing this bill, but his recommendation was ignored and the bill did not pass.
True: Charles Carroll helped establish the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company in 1828.
Seven
Catholic

*Originally Posted: January 2, 2017

William Williams Letter

William Williams was a signer of the Declaration of Independence from Connecticut. This letter from 1774 deals with the Colony of Connecticut hiring and paying chaplains.

In the House of Representatives

May 1774

This House grants to the Rev. Meyrs Whitman & Strong, the sum of three pounds for their service as chaplains, to this House in this present session, & the taxpayers of this Colony is order to pay the sums accordingly.

Signed Wm Williams

William Williams and Oliver Wolcott Treasury Note

Both William Williams and Oliver Wolcott were signers of the Declaration of Independence from Connecticut. This treasury note from 1780 deals with the House of Representatives of Connecticut hiring and paying a chaplain.

In the House of Representatives

This House grants to the Rev. Mr. Nathan Strong the sum of six pounds for his services as Chaplain to s’^d (said) House in their of Oct 1780. The treasurer is ordered to pay the same accordingly.

Signed Wm Williams
(Superimposed) Oliver Wolcott

4th of July Article

It’s been over two centuries since our Founding Fathers gave us our National Birth Certificate. We continue to be the longest on-going Constitutional Republic in the history of the world. Blessings such as these are not by chance or accidental. They are blessings of God.

On July 2, 1776, Congress voted to approve a complete separation from Great Britain. Two days afterwards – July 4th – the early draft of the Declaration of Independence was signed, albeit by only two individuals at that time: John Hancock, President of Congress, and Charles Thompson, Secretary of Congress. Four days later, on July 8, members of Congress took that document and read it aloud from the steps of Independence Hall, proclaiming it to the city of Philadelphia, after which the Liberty Bell was rung. The inscription around the top of that bell, Leviticus 25:10, was most appropriate for the occasion:

“Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof.”

To see the turmoil in other nations, their struggles and multiple revolutions, and yet to see the stability and blessings that we have here in America, we may ask how has this been achieved?

What was the basis of American Independence? John Adams said “The general principles on which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.” Perhaps the clearest identification of the spirit of the American Revolution was given by John Adams in a letter to Abigail the day after Congress approved the Declaration. He wrote her two letters on that day; the first was short and concise, jubilant that the Declaration had been approved. The second was much longer and more pensive, giving serious consideration to what had been done that day. Adams cautiously noted:

“This day will be the most memorable epic in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.”

It is amazing that on the very day they approved the Declaration, Adams was already foreseeing that their actions would be celebrated by future generations. Adams contemplated whether it would be proper to hold such celebrations, but then concluded that the day should be commemorated – but in a particular manner and with a specific spirit. As he told Abigail:

“It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”

John Adams believed that the Fourth of July should become a religious holiday – a day when we remembered God’s hand in deliverance and a day of religious activities when we committed ourselves to Him in “solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.” Such was the spirit of the American Revolution as seen through the eyes of those who led it, evidenced even further in the words of John Quincy Adams, one who was deeply involved in the activities of the Revolution.

In 1837, when he was 69 years old, he delivered a Fourth of July speech at Newburyport, Massachusetts. He began that address with a question:

“Why is it, friends and fellow citizens, that you are here assembled? Why is it that entering on the 62nd year of our national existence you have honored [me] with an invitation to address you. . . ?”

The answer was easy: they had asked him to address them because he was old enough to remember what went on; they wanted an eye-witness to tell them of it! He next asked them:

“Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]?”

An interesting question: why is it that in America the Fourth of July and Christmas were our two top holidays? Note his answer:

“Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?”

According to John Quincy Adams, Christmas and the Fourth of July were intrinsically connected. On the Fourth of July, the Founders simply took the precepts of Christ which came into the world through His birth (Christmas) and incorporated those principles into civil government.

Have you ever considered what it meant for those 56 men – an eclectic group of ministers, business men, teachers, university professors, sailors, captains, farmers – to sign the Declaration of Independence? This was a contract that began with the reasons for the separation from Great Britain and closed in the final paragraph stating “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

Dr. Benjamin Rush, the father of American Medicine and a signer, recorded that day in his diary. In 1781, he wrote to John Adams:

“Do you recollect the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the House when we were called up, one after another, to the table of the President of Congress to subscribe to what was believed by many at that time to be our death warrants? The silence and gloom of the morning was interrupted, I well recollect, only for a moment by Colonel Harrison of Virginia (a big guy) who said to Mr. Gerry (small in stature) 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.’ This speech procured a transient smile, but it was soon succeeded by the solemnity with which the whole business was conducted.”

These men took this pledge seriously. Robert Morris of Pennsylvania is an example of the highest level of integrity. He was chosen as the financier of the American Revolution. What an honor, except that there was no bank willing to give any loans to help fund the revolution. It was three years and the Battle of Saratoga before America got any kind of funding at all. After winning that battle, foreign nations like France, Holland, and others decided maybe we weren’t such a bad risk and began loaning us money. So where did we get money for the first three years? Congress, at that time, could not have obtained a loan of one thousand dollars, yet Robert Morris effected loans upon his own credit, of tens of thousands. In 1781, George Washington conceived the expedition against Cornwallis, at Yorktown. He asked Judge Peters of Pennsylvania, “What can you do for me?” “With money, everything, without it, nothing,” he replied, at the same time turning with anxious look toward Mr. Morris. “Let me know the sum you desire,” said Mr. Morris; and before noon Washington’s plan and estimates were complete. Robert Morris promised him the amount, and he raised it upon his own responsibility. It has been justly remarked, that:

“If it were not demonstrable by official records, posterity would hardly be made to believe that the campaign of 1781, which resulted in the capture of Cornwallis, and virtually closed the Revolutionary War, was sustained wholly on the credit of an individual merchant.”

America couldn’t repay him because there was no money and yet Robert Morris never complained because he had given his word.

You see the same thing in the life of John Hart. He was a strong Christian gentleman and Speaker of the House of Representatives in New Jersey. He promised to help provide them with guidance and leadership. There were three things that were important in his life; his Savior, his family and his farm. Because of his signature on the Declaration, the British were seeking him (and the rest of the signers) to execute as traitors. John Hart fled his home after which his farm was ravaged, his timber destroyed, his cattle and stock butchered for the use of the British army. He did not dare to remain two nights in the same location. After Washington’s success at the battle of Trenton, he finally returned home to find that his wife had died and his children scattered. He lost almost everything that was important to him but kept his word.

John Hancock, a very wealthy individual lived in a mansion reflecting his princely fortune – one of the largest in the Province of Massachusetts. During the time the American army besieged Boston to rid it of the British, the American officers proposed the entire destruction of the city. “By the execution of such a plan, the whole fortune of Mr. Hancock would have been sacrificed. Yet he readily acceded to the measure, declaring his willingness to surrender his all, whenever the liberties of his country should require it.” A man of his word, he demonstrated his integrity.

The 16 Congressional proclamations for prayer and fasting throughout the Revolution were not bland (i.e., the acknowledgment of Jesus Christ, the quoting of Romans 14:17, etc.); however, this is not unusual considering the prominent role that many ministers played in the Revolution.

One such example is John Peter Muhlenburg. In a sermon delivered to his Virginia congregation on January 21, 1776, he preached verse by verse from Ecclesiastes 3 – the passage which speaks of a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. Arriving at verse 8, which declares that there is a time of war and a time of peace, Muhlenburg noted that this surely was not the time of peace; this was the time of war. Concluding with a prayer, and while standing in full view of the congregation, he removed his clerical robes to reveal that beneath them he was wearing the uniform of an officer in the Continental army! He marched to the back of the church; ordered the drum to beat for recruits and nearly three hundred men joined him, becoming the Eighth Virginia Brigade. John Peter Muhlenburg finished the Revolution as a Major-General, having been at Valley Forge and having participated in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Stonypoint, and Yorktown.

Another minister-leader in the Revolution was the Reverend James Caldwell. His actions during one battle inspired a painting showing him standing with a stack of hymn books in his arms while engaged in the midst of a fierce battle against the British outside a battered Presbyterian church. During the battle, the Americans had developed a serious problem: they had run out of wadding for their guns, which was just as serious as having no ammunition. Reverend Caldwell recognized the perfect solution; he ran inside the church and returned with a stack of Watts Hymnals – one of the strongest doctrinal hymnals of the Christian faith (Isaac Watts authored “O God Our Help In Ages Past,” “Joy to the World,” “Jesus Shall Reign,” and several other classic hymns). Distributing the Watts Hymnals among the soldiers served two purposes: first, its pages would provide the needed wadding; second, the use of the hymnal carried a symbolic message. Reverend Caldwell took that hymn book – the source of great doctrine and spiritual truth – raised it up in the air and shouted to the Americans, “Give ’em Watts, boys!”

The spiritual emphasis manifested so often by the Americans during the Revolution caused one Crown-appointed British governor to write to Great Britain complaining that:

If you ask an American who is his master, he’ll tell you he has none. And he has no governor but Jesus Christ.

Letters like this, and sermons like those preached by the Reverend Peter Powers titled “Jesus Christ the King,” gave rise to a sentiment that has been described as a motto of the American Revolution. Most Americans are unaware that the Revolution might have had mottoes, but many wars do (e.g., in the Texas’ war for independence, it was “Remember the Alamo”; in the Union side in the Civil War, it was “In God We Trust”; in World War I, it was “Remember the Lusitania”; in World War II, it was “Remember Pearl Harbor”; etc.). One of the mottos of the American War for Independence directed against the tyrant King George III and the theologically discredited doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings (which asserted that when the king spoke, it was the voice of God speaking directly to the people) is based on a quote from Reverend Power’s sermon: “We own no other prince or sovereign but the Prince of Heaven, the great Sovereign of the Universe.” Another motto (first suggested by Benjamin Franklin and often repeated during the Revolution) was similar in tone: “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.”

Preserving American liberty depends first upon our understanding the foundations on which this great country was built and then preserving the principles on which it was founded. Let’s not let the purpose for which we were established be forgotten. The Founding Fathers have passed us a torch; let’s not let it go out.

To learn more about the quest for our freedom, read WallBuilder resources such as the Lives of the Signers and Wives of the Signers reprints, and the booklet, The Spirit of the American Revolution. These, and many more, are available from our online store.

* This article concerns a historical issue and may not have updated information.

Benjamin Rush Personal Bible Study

Founding Father Benjamin Rush’s handwritten personal Bible study booklet entitled “References to Texts of Scriptures Related to Each Other Upon Particular Subjects.” In it he listed scriptures under various topics and wrote his own notes on those scriptures. We have included excerpts of the booklet below.

Booklet Cover

Rush recorded three pages of scriptures and notes regarding
“Atonement”

“Universal Salvation”

Rush cataloged scriptures such as Exodus 32:11-12; Romans
5:3-4; Isaiah 49:6,8-9; Matthew 15:13; etc. under the title “Universal Salvation”

“Objects of Prayer” & “Influences
of Religion on Family Prosperity”

Rush’s notes on scripture passages related to prayer and
God’s blessings (Note: nail used in book seam)

“Kindness to Strangers”

Rush lists Leviticus 19:33, Exodus 12:49, Deuteronomy 23:7
and other verses under the heading “Kindness to Strangers”

“Efficacy of Prayer”

Rush’s scriptures on the effectiveness of prayer include
Genesis chapter 18 and 21:17 & 21.

Benjamin Rush

(1745-1813) Rush was a physician, educator, philanthropist, and statesman. He graduated from Princeton (1760) and then studied medicine in Philadelphia, Edinburgh, London, and Paris. He served in the Continental Congress (1776-77) and signed the Declaration of Independence (1776). Rush also: suggested to Thomas Paine that he write Common Sense (1776) and supplied the title for it as well as helped publish it; was Surgeon-General of the Continental Army (1777-78); and was one of the founders of Dickinson College (1783). He was an influential delegate to the State ratification convention for the federal Constitution (1787), and along with James Wilson, one of the principal coauthors of the Pennsylvania constitution (1789-90). Rush served as Treasurer of the U. S. Mint under Presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison (1797-1813). He mediated a reconciliation between long time political rivals John Adams and Thomas Jefferson; was a founder of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery (1774) and its president; founder and Vice-president of the Philadelphia Bible Society (1808-13); member of the First Day Society of Philadelphia (1790); and a member of the Abolition Society (1794-97). Benjamin Rush is called the “Father of American Medicine” for his numerous medical discoveries.

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