Topics: Founding Fathers

Their Lives, Fortunes and Sacred Honor: Richard Stockton

The signers of the Declaration of Independence pledged their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” so that they and their posterity (us!) could enjoy both spiritual and civil liberties to a degree unknown in the world at that time. That pledge literally cost many of them their lives and fortunes. Some of the 56 signers who sacrificed much include John Hancock, Robert Morris, and John Hart. Richard Stockton was another who paid a great price.

Born October 1, 1730, near Princeton, New Jersey, 1 he attended what we now know as Princeton College and became one of their trustees, having been trained as an attorney. His commitment to advance and strengthen the College brought him to the British Isles before the Revolution, where he was consulted by many British leaders as to the condition of affairs in America. 2 He was also presented to King George III, who was very impressed with Stockton. 3 Upon his return to America, he became a leader in state government and then a justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court. 4 When the king’s assault on American liberties increased, Stockton sided with the Americans and was chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress, 5 where he signed the Declaration of Independence as a representative for New Jersey. 6

Stockton was kidnapped from his home by neighbors who were Loyalists (Americans who supported the King of England). 7 He was “dragged from his bed by night, stripped and plundered of his property” 8 and “treated with the utmost rigor and indignity.” 9 He was placed in a notoriously brutal prison in the middle of winter and was denied even the basic necessities, subjected to the most cruel treatment. 10

When the Continental Congress learned of his plight, they interceded on his behalf. 11He was eventually released but never regained his health. 12 While imprisoned, Stockton’s library, papers and other property was burned or destroyed, and his farm left desolate and inoperable. 13 As a result of his cruel treatment, Stockton died on February 28, 1781, 14 never getting to experience the national freedom for which he had sacrificed so much.

Richard Stockton left us a legacy of patriotism, bravery, and of unwavering devotion to the Christian faith. 15 In fact, in his last will and testament, he pointedly set forth for his children, who at that point were being deprived of their father as a result of the cruel British treatment, the central tenets of Christianity, strongly encouraging them to embrace and follow them.

Richard Stockton is one of the forgotten heroes of American history. To learn more about him and other Founding Fathers, be sure to check out the WallBuilders store for Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Endnotes

1 Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (Hartford: R.G.H. Huntington, 1842), 204-205. See also, Robert W. Lincoln, Lives of the Presidents of the United States; with Biographical Notices of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (New York: William W. Reed, 1833), 393.
2 Alexander Leitch, “Stockton, Richard,” Princeton Companion (1978). See also, 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), 68; John C. Glynn, Jr. and Kathryn Glynn “Richard Stockton,” The Society of the Descendents of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (2008); Goodrich, Lives of the Signers (1842), 205.
3 John Sanderson, Sanderson’s Biography of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence, ed. Robert T. Conrad (Philadelphia: Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co., 1846), 220.
4 Judson, Biography of the Signers (1839), 68. See also, Lincoln, Lives of the Presidents (1833), 393.
5 Goodrich, Lives of the Signers (1842), 207.
6 Sanderson, Sanderson’s Biography of the Signers, ed. Conrad (1846), 219-220.
7 Sanderson, Sanderson’s Biography of the Signers, ed. Conrad (1846), 222.
8 Sanderson, Sanderson’s Biography of the Signers, ed. Conrad (1846), 222.
9 Lincoln, Lives of the Presidents (1833), 393.
10 Goodrich, Lives of the Signers (1842), 207. See also, Judson, Biography of the Signers (1839), 69.
11 Sanderson, Sanderson’s Biography of the Signers , ed. Conrad (1846), 222-223. See also Judson, Biography of the Signers (1839), 69-70.
12 Lincoln, Lives of the Presidents of the United States (1833), 393.  See also Goodrich, Lives of the Signers (1842), 208.
13 Judson, Biography of the Signers (1839), 70.
14 Judson,  Biography of the Signers (1839), 70. See also, Sanderson, Sanderson’s Biography of the Signers, ed.Conrad (1846), 223; Lincoln, Lives of the Presidents (1833), 393; Goodrich, Lives of the Signers (1842), 208.
15 Judson, Biography of the Signers (1839), 70.

Who was known as “First in war, First in peace, First in the hearts of his countrymen”?

This month marks the 217th anniversary of George Washington’s famous Farewell Address ending his remarkable career of public service. To understand the impact of Washington’s unique leadership, it is worth reviewing a few incidents from his life.

George Washington began his military career as an officer over the Virginia militia and then later as an aide-de-camp to British General Edward Braddock during the French and Indian War.1

Washington’s military advice in that War was very wise, but was rejected by the British.2 During the famous Battle of the Monongahela outside of Pittsburgh, Washington repeatedly escaped death through what he later described as miraculous intervention by God. In fact, an Indian chief who fought against him in that battle3 later traveled a long distance to meet Washington, whom he described as one who “cannot die in battle”4 because he clearly was “under the protection of the Great Spirit.”5 (For the full story of God’s Divine intervention in this battle, be sure to get the audiobook Bulletproof George Washington, read by famous Disney legend Dean Jones.)

Washington’s strong religious faith was evident on numerous occasions throughout the French and Indian War, and early artists later made lithographs capturing some of those reported incidents. One was a lithograph showing George reading the Bible to his troops, and another was Washington fulfilling the role of chaplain at the death of British commander Edward Braddock.

His firm reliance on God was evident throughout all of his endeavors, including in his General Orders to his troops during the American Revolution. And just as had occurred during the French and Indian War, God’s protection of Washington’s life was also evident during the American War for Independence.6

Following the end of the Revolution and the writing and adoption of the Constitution, Washington was unanimously chosen as the nation’s first President — the only president to receive a unanimous electoral college vote.7 From his inauguration (which included seven distinctly religious activities) to his retirement from public service, George Washington repeatedly demonstrated his firm reliance on God, openly acknowledging Him in public prayer proclamations (such as those of 1789 and 1795), speeches 8 and messages. 9 So well established was Washington’s Christian character, that decades after his death, sermons were still being preached to honor his life.

Washington affirmed his strong religious beliefs in his final public message to Americans: his “Farewell Address” of September 17, 1796. That message is considered to be among the most significant political speeches ever delivered by any president,10 and subsequent presidents recommended to Americans that they read and study that Address.11 (We have it available in Documents of Freedom.)

Because of his significant influence, it is no surprise that Washington was lovingly titled by his contemporaries as the man who was “First in war, First in peace, First in the hearts of his countrymen.”12

Endnotes

1 David Ramsay, The Life of George Washington (Baltimore: Joseph Jewett and Cushing & Sons, 1832), 13; John S.C. Abbott, American Pioneers and Patriots. George Washington, or Life in America One Hundred Years Ago (New York: Dodd & Mead Publishers, 1875), 82, James K. Paulding, A Life of Washington (Alberdeen: George Clark and Son, 1848), 41-42.
2 Ramsay, Life of Washington (1832), 13-14; Abbott, American Pioneers (1875), 85-86; Paulding, Life of Washington (1848), 43-44.
3 Ramsay,Life of Washington (1832), 14-15; Abbott, American Pioneers (1875), 91-93, Paulding, Life of Washington (1848), 44-45.
4 George Washington Parke Custis, Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington by His Adopted Son (New York: Derby & Jackson, 1860), 375; Eugene Parsons, Great Americans of History George Washington: A Character Sketch (Milwaukee, WI: H.G. Campbell Publishing Company, 1898), 30-31, Washington Irving, Life of George Washington (New York: G. P. Putnam & Co., 1856), I:368.
5 Custis, Recollections (1860), 375; Irving, Life of Washington (1856), I:368; Parsons, Great Americans of History (1898), 31.
6 See for example, Jared Sparks, The Life of George Washington (Boston: Ferdinand Andrews, 1839) 205-217; Hon. J. T. Headley, The Illustrated Life of Washington (New York: G. & F. Bill, 1859) 214-216.
7 James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1889), 6, “Washington, George.”
8 See for example, George Washington, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, ed. James D. Richardson (New York: Bureau of National Literature, Inc., 1897), I:179, Reply of the President to an Address of the Senate, December 12, 1795.
9 See for example, George Washington, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, ed. Richardson (1897), I:44., First Inaugural Address in the City of New York, April 30, 1789.
10 “Washington’s Farewell Address,” Library of Congress: Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, (July 23, 2012); “February 22, 1862: Washington’s Farewell Address,” United States Senate.
11 See for example, James Madison, The Writings of James Madison, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, February 8, 1825.
12 Eulogies and Orations on the Life and Death of General George Washington, First President of the United States of America (Boston: Manning & Loring, 1800), 17, “Funeral Oration on the Death of General Washington. Delivered at the Request of Congress, Dec. 26, 1799. By Major-General Henry Lee.”

The Lesser Known Boudinot

WallBuilders mission is “presenting America’s forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our moral, religious, and constitutional heritage.” Two of our great heroes largely forgotten today include Dr. Benjamin Rush (signer of the Declaration, who John Adams considered as one of America’s three most notable Founders 1) and Elias Boudinot (pictured to the right; president of the Continental Congress and a framer of the Bill of Rights in the first federal Congress).

As an indication of the Christian connection between the two, we thought you might enjoy the content of a letter from Dr. Rush to Elisha Boudinot, brother of Elias. 2 This inspiring letter offers Elisha condolences on the loss of his wife, Catharine. It contains what can be considered as nothing less than strong evangelical and Biblical language from Dr. Rush.

Elisha was active in the patriot cause 3 and served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. 4 He was anti-slavery 5 and also worked to help prepare men for the Gospel ministry. 6 His wife was active in helping the poor and needy in their community. 7

The couple was so beloved by their neighbors that when their house burned, the neighbors not only turned out en masse to rebuild it 8 but also established the city’s first fire department to prevent similar future losses. 9

Founding Fathers such as Benjamin Rush and the Boudinots help reaffirm that America was built on strong religious and moral foundations by leaders of committed Biblical faith.

Endnotes

1 John Sanderson, Biography of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence (Philadelphia: R. W. Pomeroy, 1823), IV:283; L. H. Butterfield, “The Reputation of Benjamin Rush,” Pennsylvania History, January 1950, XVII:1:9, John Adams to Richard Rush on May 5, 1813.
2 J.J. Boudinot, The Life Public Services, Addresses, and Letters of Elias Boudinot, LL.D., President of Continental Congress (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1896), I:32; Frank John Urquhart, A History of the City of Newark, New Jersey (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913), 2:603.
3 Rev. W. Wallace Atterbury, Elias Boudinot: Reminiscences of the American Revolution (Read Before the Hugenot Society, February 15, 1894), 38; David Lawrence Pierson, Narratives of Newark, (Newark: N.J.: Pierson Publishing Co, 1917), 190;  Urquhart, History of the City of Newark (1913), 2:604.
4 Edward Hagaman Hall, The Sons of the American Revolution (New York: New York State Society, 1894), 57.
5 Urquhart, History of the City of Newark (1913), 2:606.
6 Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the United States (Philadelphia: William Bradford, 1822), 166-167.
7 Historic Newark: A Collection of Facts and Traditions (Newark, N.J.: Fidelity Union Trust Company, 1916), 24; Boudinot, Public Services…of Elias Boudinot (1896), I:39.
8 Historic Newark (1916), 24.
9 William H. Shaw, History of Essex and Hudson Counties, New Jersey (Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1884), 1:458.

Dr. Benjamin Rush

Take the Benjamin Rush Quiz!

  1. Which two former Presidents did Benjamin Rush help reconcile?
  2. What was the name of the society that Benjamin Rush helped form to start Sunday Schools?
  3. What other Founding Father helped Benjamin Rush found America’s first anti-slavery society?
  4. How many colleges and universities did Benjamin Rush help establish?
  5. What was the name of the colonial law requiring children to know how to read, and establishing public schools for that purpose?

 

Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was considered by John Adams to be one of America’s three most notable Founding Fathers, ranking alongside George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. 1 But his contributions to America were not purely political, even though those were very significant. 2

Rush is also known as the “Father of American Medicine.” 3 He was a founding member of America’s first Bible Society 4 and is credited with helping begin the American Sunday School movement. 5  He helped organize America’s first Anti-Slavery society 6 and was a leader in the national abolition movement. 7 He held multiple university professorships, 8 and is properly titled “The Father of Public Schools Under the Constitution,” being an advocate for free public schools for all youth. 9

As families across the nation send millions of children back to school 10 each year, it is a good time to review the intent behind America’s original educational system: for students to receive a sound academic education based on God’s Word. 11

In fact, in 1791, Dr. Rush wrote a lengthy piece providing a dozen or so reasons why America would continue teaching the Bible in our public schools.

 

How Did You Do?

  1. Which two former Presidents did Benjamin Rush help reconcile?
    John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (To see the story behind the reconciliation, read this article.)
  2. What was the name of the society that Benjamin Rush helped form to start Sunday Schools?
    First Day Schools
  3. What other Founding Father helped Benjamin Rush found America’s first anti-slavery society?
    Benjamin Franklin (To see what the Founding Fathers thought of slavery, see here.)
  4. How many colleges and universities did Benjamin Rush help establish?
    Five (The College of Philadelphia, the University of the State of Pennsylvania, the Young Ladies’ Academy of Philadelphia, Dickinson College, and Franklin College)
  5. What was the name of the colonial law requiring children to know how to read, and establishing public schools for that purpose?
    The Old Deluder Satan Act (For additional information, check out Four Centuries of American Education.)

Endnotes

1 John Adams to Richard Rush, May 5, 1813, National Archives. See also, John Sanderson, Biography of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence (Philadelphia: R. W. Pomeroy, 1823), IV:285; John Adams to Richard Rush, May 5, 1813, L. H. Butterfield, “The Reputation of Benjamin Rush,” Pennsylvania History, January 1950, XVII:1:9.
2 For example, Dr. Rush pushed for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, as well as adoption of the 1790 Pennsylvania State Constitution. He was appointed Treasurer of the U.S. Mint by President John Adams, a position which he held under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
3 Thomas D. Mitchell, The Character of Rush (Philadelphia: Published by the Class, John H. Gihon, Printer, 1848), 4.
4 The First Report of the Bible Society Established at Philadelphia; Read before the Society at their Annual Meeting, May 1, 1809 (Philadelphia: Printed by Order of the Society; Fry and Kammerer, Printers, 1809); “Rush, Benjamin,” Dictionary of American Biography.
5 Edwin Wilber Rice, The Sunday-School Movement and the American Sunday-School Union (Philadelphia: American Sunday School Union, 1917 ), 44-45.
6 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: Francis Bailey, 1788), 8; “Rush, Benjamin,” Dictionary of American Biography; Thomas Clarkson, Abolition of the African Slave-Trade, by the British Parliament (Augusta: P.A. Brinsmade, 1830), 1:66-69.
7 Centennial Anniversary of the Pennsylvania Society, for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, and for Improving the Condition of the African Race (Philadelphia: Grant, Faires, & Rodgers, 1875), 15.
8 “Benjamin Rush,” University of Pennsylvania, accessed October 26, 2023.
9 David Ramsay, An Eulogium upon Benjamin Rush, M. D. (Philadelphia: Bradford and Inskeep, 1813), 107; Benjamin Rush, “Of the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic,” Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas and Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), 6-20.
10 “Public and private elementary and secondary teachers, enrollment, and pupil/teacher ratios: Selected years, fall 1955 through fall 2021,” National Center for Education Statistics, accessed October 26, 2023.
11 Alexis de Tocqueville, The Republic of the United States of America and Its Political Institutions, Reviewed and Examined, trans., Henry Reeves (Garden City, NY: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1851), 41; Edward Kendall, Travels through the Northern Parts of the United States, in the Years 1807 and 1808 (New York: I. Riley, 1809), I:270-271.

Which President earned the nickname “Old Man Eloquent”?

If you answered John Quincy Adams (the earliest serving President to have a photograph taken of him), then you were right!

Born on July 11, 1767, to John Adams and Abigail Adams, 1 by the age of eight he had not only trained with the famous Massachusetts Minutemen 2 and watched the British attack Boston,3 but by the age of 11, he was serving as a secretary to his father, who was the U.S. diplomat to France; 4 at the age of 14, he was sent to be secretary and translator for Francis Dana, American diplomat in the Court of Queen Catherine the Great in Russia;5 and at the age of 15, he was an official secretary for the American delegation negotiating the final peace treaty to end the American War for Independence.6

This amazing youngster became a diplomat under President George Washington 7 (whom Washington described as “the most valuable public character we have abroad”), 8 and served in the same position under several other presidents. 9

He was also a U. S. Senator, a Secretary of State,10 was appointed to the U. S. Supreme Court (but declined the position), 11 and became the sixth President of the United States. 12

In fact, he was the only president in American history who served in the U. S. House of Representatives after finishing his term as president (he served for 17 years in that position!).13

Throughout his time in the House, he was known as the “Hell Hound of Abolition” for his relentless pursuit of that object, as well as “Old Man Eloquent” for his mastery of the spoken language 14 — not surprising since he had previously been a professor of oratory and rhetoric at Harvard. 15

But before serving in the House, while Ambassador to Russia under President James Madison in 1811, he wrote nine letters to his ten-year-old son, George Washington Adams (whom he had named after his friend and mentor, George Washington), instructing him on how to read through the Bible once each year. As he explained to his young son, his purpose for those letters was “the inculcation of a love and reverence for the Holy Scriptures, and a delight in their perusal and study.”16

In his first letter, he told young George:

I have myself, for many years, made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year. I have always endeavored to read it with the same spirit and temper of mind, which I now recommend to you: that is, with the intention and desire that it may contribute to my advancement in wisdom and virtue. 17

Shortly after John Quincy’s death on the floor of the House of Representatives in 1848, those nine letters were quickly printed as a book for all of America’s youth, 18 so that they, too, could learn how to read through the Bible once each year, and understand it. That work was so popular that it went through a number of reprints, and is still in print today (and it is worthwhile for all Americans to read today, regardless of their age).

Not only was John Quincy’s faith evident throughout his family letters but also in his published works — such as his poetry. Interestingly, Adams was one of only a handful of poet presidents, and his strong Biblical faith is repeatedly demonstrated in his poems. In fact, his 1848 work, Poems of Religion and Society includes poems on the Sabbath, the Goodness of God, and many more Christian topics.

Interestingly, when admirers — particularly young ones — wrote this famous American asking for his autograph, he would often sent them a piece of original poetry he had composed for them based on one of the Psalms from the Bible. In fact, WallBuilders recently posted one such handwritten Psalm transcribed by John Quincy Adams.

Adams, who spent more than six decades of his life in public service, was known as a man “devoted to serving rather than pleasing his countrymen” 19 – that is, he was driven by principle, not by what others thought, understanding that his eternal destiny was more important than his momentary popularity. He maintained this principled position, even when it meant confronting his own family. For example, as his father, John Adams, was growing old, and late in life began to depart from the Christian orthodoxy that had characterized his earlier years, questioning even the Divinity of Christ and a belief in the Trinity, John Quincy pointedly told his father:

My hopes of a future life are all founded upon the Gospel of Christ and I cannot cavil or quibble away [evade or object to]. . . . the whole tenor of His conduct by which He sometimes positively asserted and at others countenances [permits] His disciples in asserting that He was God. 20

As we honor the birthday of one of America’s greatest statesmen, let us also rely on the same Hope in which he trusted and even model our life after John Quincy Adams’ personal life motto, described by nineteenth century historian Elbridge Brooks as:

Duty is ours, and the results are God’s 21

Endnotes

1 Francis S. Drake, Dictionary of American Biography (Boston: Houghton, Osgood & Company, 1879), p. 7, s.v. “John Quincy Adams.”See also, “John Quincy Adams Biography,” National Park Service (accessed July 17, 2013).
2 John Quincy Adams, Memoirs of John Quincy Adams, Comprising Portions of His Diary From 1795 to 1848, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1875), Vol. VII, p. 325.
3 John Quincy Adams, Memoirs of John Quincy Adams, Comprising Portions of His Diary From 1795 to 1848, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1874), Vol. I, pp. 4-6.
4 William H. Seward, The Life and Public Services of John Quincy Adams, Sixth President of the United States, with the Eulogy Delivered Before the Legislature of New York (Auburn: Derby, Miller, and Company, 1849), pp. 30-32. See also, Sketch of the Life of John Quincy Adams; Taken from the Port Folio of April, 1819 (1824), p. 4.
5 John Quincy Adams, Memoirs of John Quincy Adams, Comprising Portions of His Diary From 1795 to 1848, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1874), Vol. I, p. 12.
6 Memoirs of John Quincy Adams (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co, 1874), Vol. I, p. 13. See also, “Biographies of the Secretaries of State: John Quincy Adams,” U.S. Department of State: Office of the Historian (accessed on July 15, 2013).
7 “Adams, John Quincy,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (accessed on July 11, 2013).
8 George Washington, Correspondence Between the Honorable John Adams, Late President of the United States and the Late Wm. Cunningham, Esq. (Boston: E.Q. Cunningham, 1823), pp. 37-38, To John Adams February 20, 1797.
9 “Adams, John Quincy,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (accessed on July 11, 2013).
10 “Adams, John Quincy,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (accessed on July 11, 2013).
11 Dictionary of American Biography, Allen Johnson, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1928), Vol. I, p. 85.
12 “Adams, John Quincy,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (accessed on July 11, 2013).
13 “The Election of John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts,” United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives (accessed July 17, 2013). See also,“Adams, John Quincy,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (accessed on July 11, 2013).
14 Francis S. Drake, Dictionary of American Biography (Boston: Houghton, Osgood & Company, 1879), p. 8, s.v. “John Quincy Adams.”
15 Sketch of the Life of John Quincy Adams; Taken from the Port Folio of April, 1819 (1824), p. 10.
16 John Quincy Adams, Letters of John Quincy Adams to His Son on the Bible and its Teachings (Auburn, N.Y: Derby, Miller, & Co., 1848), pp. 6-7.
17 John Quincy Adams, Letters of John Quincy Adams to His Son on the Bible and its Teachings (Auburn, N.Y: Derby, Miller, & Co., 1848), pp. 10-11.
18John Quincy Adams, Letters of John Quincy Adams to His Son on the Bible and its Teachings (Auburn, N.Y: Derby, Miller, & Co., 1848), pp. 5-8.
19 John Quincy Adams, Letters of John Quincy Adams to His Son on the Bible and its Teachings (Auburn, N.Y: Derby, Miller, & Co., 1848), p. 6.
20 John Quincy Adams, The Writings of John Quincy Adams, Worthington Chauncey Ford, editor (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1916), Vol. VI, p. 135, Letter to John Adams, January 3, 1817.
21 Elbridge S. Brooks, Historic American: Sketches of the Lives and Characters of Certain Famous Americans Held Most in Reverence by the Boys and Girls of America, For Whom Their Stories Here Are Told (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. Publishers, 1899), pp. 208-209.

John Hart – Quiet Farmer. Selfless Patriot.

“Having put his hand to the plow, he would not turn back.”

When fifty-six men of varying backgrounds, temperaments, means, and abilities, mutually pledged “our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor,” the words were not mere platitudes. Each knowingly signed his name. Many, if not most of those men lost loved ones and homes. Many accumulated great financial debt resulting in bankruptcy or loss of their properties. None sacrificed his honor.

Such was John Hart, signer of the Declaration from New Jersey and one of the many noted Christians among the Founding Fathers. Unlike some other Founders, Hart left little by way of written testimony. But his Christian character was widely attested to by those who knew him best. WallBuilders’ museum features some legal documents signed by John Hart and in which he affirms the legal oaths, on “the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God” (i.e., the entirety of the Scriptures). Significantly, many colonial oaths were not merely taken on the Bible, but used this specific stronger language.1

Not much is known about John Hart’s younger years, including not even the exact year he was born (ca. 1711-1715). He learned bravery and patriotism from his father who helped raise a volunteer army, named “The Jersey Blues,” to assist in the French and Indian War.2

Also like his father, John became a gentleman farmer, acquiring a large property where he raised grains for his mill, a multitude of livestock, and reared his 13 children. He was a natural leader in his community and in his church. His reputation as “Honest John Hart” earned him the confidence and respect of those around him.3 Although he preferred to remain on his farm, he answered duty’s call to public service time and time again. Over the course of 29 years he held several local and state offices. He early became interested in the cause of freedom, even helping to select New Jersey’s delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765.4

John Hart was himself elected to the Continental Congress where, somewhere near the age of 60, he voted for the Declaration of Independence with “unusual zeal.”5 Since the British army was already ravaging New York at the time, he fully understood the eminent personal cost entailed by affixing his name to the Declaration of Independence. And it wasn’t long before he realized those consequences.

The British Army quickly swept into New Jersey. His property was pillaged by Hessian mercenaries. His two eldest sons were serving in the Continental Army and his remaining children had to flee their home. John was chased from his dying wife’s bedside and hunted by the enemy. He wandered about the countryside to avoid discovery by the British, rarely sleeping in the same place two nights in a row. In fact, he even had to sleep in the “resting place of a large dog” to avoid detection by a nearby British patrol.6  Several times, he was forced to flee as fast as he could to “save his neck” since he had been “marked for vengeance” by the British.7

John was never even tempted by the pardons offered by the British for “rebels” who would recant and declare their loyalty to the Crown.

Eventually, he was able to return to his destroyed home in 1777 and regather his scattered family. He began to restore his farm and property, but his health was permanently broken and he never fully recovered from the physical hardships of strain and exposure. His farm was later sold off to cover debts incurred during the war. He died before the end of the War, having yet witnessed the freedom for which he sacrificed so much.  We owe much to men such as John Hart who gave his all so that future generations might live in freedom and security.

To learn more about John Hart’s faith and character and that of his wife’s, read Lives of the Signers and Wives of the Signers (both reprinted by WallBuilders).

Endnotes

1. See, for example, Joseph Brevard, An Alphabetical Digest of the Public Statue Law of South Carolina (Charleston: John Hoff, 1814), II:86, “Oaths-Affirmations,” 1731; Oliver H. Prince, A Digest of the Laws of the State of Georgia (Milledgeville: Grantland & Orme, 1822), 3, “An Act for the case of Dissenting Protestants, within this province, who may be scrupulous of taking an oath, in respect to the manner and form of administering the same,” passed December 13, 1756; Samuel Nevill, The Acts of the General Province of New Jersey (Woodbridge, NJ: James Parker, 1761), 135, “An Act for the Raising and Maintaining One Hundred and Twenty Effective Men, for the Defense of the Frontiers of the Colony of New Jersey,” passed June 3, 1757; John Haywood, A Manual of the Laws of North Carolina (Raleigh: J. Gales, 1814), 34, “Oaths and Affirmations. 1777”.

2. John Sanderson, Biography of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence, (Philadelphia: TR.W. Pomeroy, 1827), 9:94; 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), 189.

3.  Sanderson, Biography of the Signers (1827), 9:99; Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (New York: Thomas Mather, 1836), 228.

4. Benson J. Lossing, Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence (New York: George F. Cooledge and Brother, 1848), 88.

5. Robert W. Lincoln, Lives of the Presidents of the United States; with Biographical Notices of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (New York: William W. Reed, 1833), 360.

6. Lincoln, Lives of the Presidents (1833), 360; Sanderson, Biography of the Signers (1827), 9:113.

7. Judson, A Biography of the Signers (1839), 191; Lossing, Biographical Sketches of the Signers (1848), 88.

Founding Fathers on Prayer

David Barton was interviewed about the National Day of Prayer in 2016. This interview provides useful historical information that you might be interested in sharing with your friends and neighbors. The four questions David was asked appears below, along with his answers.

Why is it important that we pray for our country and its peoples?

First, because God tells us to (1 Timothy 2:1-4), and it is important that we obey Him (John 14:15, Acts 5:32). Second, because God answers prayer (Matthew 21:22, John 14:13-14). Third, God honors prayer and turns His attention to those who pray. He takes note of people who pray and His ear remains open to them (such as in 2 Chronicles 7:14). Fourth, prayer not only gives God a vehicle by which He can respond and answer prayers but prayer also changes those who pray, for praying helps us to be God-conscious, and when we are God-conscious as individuals, our behavior is different than if we rarely think about God (Romans 1:28). I think that George Washington incorporated many of these elements when he explained why he called the nation’s first federal day of prayer. According to President Washington, “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.”1

Cite an example that stands out to you of how prayer changed the course of the United States or accomplished a monumental goal.

There are numerous moments, but I’ll choose the answered prayers attested to by Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. About five weeks into the Constitutional Convention of 1787 when they were attempting to draft the U. S. Constitution, their efforts were a signal failure. As things were beginning to break up and delegates return home to their states, Franklin challenged them and called them to prayer. He told them:

In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understanding? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the Divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. . . . And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance? I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, sir, in the Sacred Writings, that “except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. . . . I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business.2

Notice that Franklin openly acknowledged that their frequent prayers throughout the Revolution had been answered. Hence, America became an independent nation rather than remain a subjugated British colony. That is just one example of how answered prayer changed the course of the nation. But to return to the Constitutional Convention, Washington recorded that they went to church to hear an address.3 At the church, the Rev. William Rogers had a special prayer for the Constitutional Convention:

[W]e fervently recommend to thy fatherly notice . . . our federal convention. . . . [F]avor them, from day to day, with thy immediate presence; be Thou their wisdom and their strength! Enable them to devise such measures as may prove happily instrumental for healing all divisions and promoting the good of the great whole; . . . that the United States of America may furnish the world with one example of a free and permanent government. . . . May we . . . continue, under the influence of republican virtue, to partake of all the blessings of cultivated and civilized society.4

Franklin believed their prayers over the Convention had been answered. After five weeks of failure, following the recess and time of prayer, they reconvened and in only ten weeks produced the document that has become the longest on-going constitution in the history of the world. Franklin definitely saw a difference after the recess and prayer. While he was not willing to say that the finished Constitution was inspired in the same sense as the Bible, he nevertheless believed that it was the product of God’s direct intervention, explaining:

[I] beg I may not be understood to infer that our general Convention was Divinely inspired when it formed the new federal Constitution . . . [yet] I can hardly conceive a transaction of such momentous importance to the welfare of millions now existing (and to exist in the posterity of a great nation) should be suffered to pass without being in some degree influenced, guided, and governed by that omnipotent, omnipresent, and beneficent Ruler in Whom all inferior spirits “live and move and have their being” [Acts 17:28].5

Other delegates agreed. Alexander Hamilton is reported to have declared:

For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system which without the finger of God never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests.6

James Madison agreed, and reported:

It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty Hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the Revolution.7

As far as these delegates were concerned, the finger of God – that is, His Divine power – had guided their writing of the Constitution. George Washington (president of the Convention) similarly attested:

As to my sentiments with respect to the merits of the new Constitution, I will disclose them without reserve. . . . It appears to me then little short of a miracle that the delegates from so many different states . . . should unite in forming a system of national government.8

Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration from Philadelphia who closely monitored the proceedings, concurred, openly testifying:

I do not believe that the Constitution was the offspring of inspiration, but I am as perfectly satisfied that the Union of the States in its form and adoption is as much the work of a Divine Providence as any of the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testament were the effects of a Divine power.9

So, I would point to the independence of America and the creation of its unique Constitution and government as direct answers to prayer.

An excellent book recording other such moments of answered prayer is by Georgia State Senator Barry Loudermilk.10

In your estimation, what happens to a country when it drifts away from God?

When a country drifts away from God, God drifts away from that country. When God drifts away from the country, His blessings also leave. Founding Father Samuel Adams (“The Father of the American Revolution”) fully understood this and reminded citizens:

May every citizen in the army and in the country have a proper sense of the Deity upon his mind and an impression of that declaration recorded in the Bible: “Him that honoreth Me I will honor, but he that despiseth Me shall be lightly esteemed” [1 Samuel 2:30].11

Numerous other Founding Fathers understood this truth and clearly expressed it. In fact, political leaders for generations embraced this belief. For this reason, President Abraham Lincoln reminded the nation in the midst of the Civil War:

[I]t is the duty of nations as well . . . and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord [Psalm 33:12]. . . . But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace – too proud to pray to the God that made us.12

Jeremiah 8 elucidates the problems that come when a nation drifts from God:

Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have? Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners . . . They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious, saying “Peace, peace” when there is no peace . . . they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen . . . I will take away their harvest, there will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken away.

So, there is much consequence when a nation turns from God. After all, Psalms 9:17 warns, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” God expects individuals to remember and acknowledge Him, but He also expects nations to do the same. Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us that in all our ways (public as well as private) we are to acknowledge Him; Psalm 79:6 and Jeremiah 10:25 call for God’s wrath upon all nations that do not call upon His name; and the warranty of 1 Samuel 2:30 that “Those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be disdained” was delivered to the nation’s civil leaders, not religious ones.

If you could lead the entire country in prayer this National Day of Prayer, what would you pray for? What should our collective prayer be for this country?

I would definitely pray for our leaders and those in authority, as we are commanded to do (1 Timothy 2:1-4). However, I would probably pray even more for America’s Christians. Founding Father Samuel Adams reminds us that “While the people are virtuous, they cannot be subdued, but when once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.”13 Benjamin Franklin agreed, declaring “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”14 So why does this apply to Christians? Because George Barna, an eminent national pollster who especially surveys issues related to Biblical thinking and values, reports that of the thousands of surveys he has conducted over recent decades, “of more than 70 moral behaviors we study, when we compare Christians to non-Christians, we rarely find substantial differences.”15 So, there is almost no difference in the way that Christians and non-Christians behave in most moral areas. Barna further investigated how many American Christians actually hold a Biblical worldview – how many of them view the world around them through the filter of Biblical truth. Barna used a very simple standard for measuring the answer to that question:
For the purposes of the survey, a “Biblical worldview” was defined as believing [1] that absolute moral truth exists; [2] the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; [3] Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; [4] a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; [5] Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and [6] God is the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator of the world Who still rules the universe today. In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a Biblical worldview.16

So what percent of Christians agreed with these six fundamental, timeless doctrines of orthodox Biblical Christianity? Only 9 percent!17 – Significantly, nine out of every ten Christians did not believe these most elemental doctrines of the Bible. And among Born-Again Christians (again, those who are considered most serious about their faith), only 19% held a Biblical worldview on these six non-negotiables of Christianity.18

It was common among the Founding Fathers that many of them read through the Bible from cover to cover once every year. As John Quincy Adams affirmed, “I have myself for many years made it a practice to read the Bible once every year.”19 Yet this has become very rare among Christians today. We do not know our own guidebook; and too often it is read merely as a devotional book rather than as a book to affect and regulate every aspect of our thinking and behavior. Our modern understanding of the Bible is so shallow that we cannot point to the verses that historically were used to form the basis of the free-enterprise system, the republican form of government, the common school movement, the civil rights movement, the impetus for written governing documents and limited government, including Bills of Rights. Yet, all of these institutions and movements came from the Bible. In fact, notice how many presidents (not ministers of the Gospel, which is who we would expect to say these things today, but rather it was political leaders who) recognized this truth:

“The experiment is made and has completely succeeded – it can no longer be called in question whether authority in magistrates [civil leaders] and obedience of citizens can be grounded on reason, morality, and the Christian religion.”20 “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were. . . . the general principles of Christianity.”21 President John Adams

“[The Bible] is the rock on which our Republic rests.”22 President Andrew Jackson

“It was for the love of the truths of this great Book [the Bible] that our fathers abandoned their native shores for the wilderness. . . . The same truths sustained them in their resolutions to become a free nation; and guided by the wisdom of this Book, they founded a government under which we have grown from three millions, . . . and from being but a stock on the borders of this continent we have spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific.”23 “The Bible. . . . is indispensable to the safety and permanence of our institutions.”24 President Zachary Taylor

“[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.”25 President Abraham Lincoln

“No candid observer will deny that whatever of good there may be in our American civilization is the product of Christianity. Still less can he deny that the grand motives which are working for the elevation and purification of our society are strictly Christian. . . . A belief in Jesus Christ is the very fountainhead of everything that is desirable and praiseworthy in our civilization, and this civilization is the flower of time.”26 “[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.”27
President Teddy Roosevelt

“America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture.”28 President Woodrow Wilson

“American life is builded, and can alone survive, upon . . . [the] fundamental philosophy announced by the Savior nineteen centuries ago.”29 President Herbert Hoover

“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.”30 “I suggest a nationwide reading of the Holy Scriptures during the period from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas. . . . [G]o to . . . the 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.”31 President Franklin D. Roosevelt

“In this great country of ours has been demonstrated the fundamental unity of Christianity and democracy.”32 “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.”33 President Harry Truman

“[R]eligious faith is the foundation of free government.”34 “[T]his relationship between a spiritual faith – a religious faith – and our form of government is so clearly defined and so obvious that we should really not need to identify a man as unusual because he recognizes it.”35 President Dwight D. Eisenhower

“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. Deep religious beliefs stemming from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible inspired many of the early settlers of our country . . . [and] laid the foundation for the spirit of nationhood that was to develop in later decades. 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. This same sense of man patterned . . . the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.”36 President Ronald Reagan

There are many others as well.

Most Christians today no longer know, recognize, or even agree with what our political leaders (much less our ministers) used to openly declare about the Bible and its influence. So, while I would pray for our leaders, I would especially pray for Christian citizens — that they would again begin to read, study, know, and understand the Bible. American can be no stronger than its citizens, and whether the citizens will be strong (and virtuous) depends on whether they know the Bible (cf. Matthew 22:29).

Endnotes

1 George Washington proclamation for a National Thanksgiving, October 3, 1789, Jared Sparks, The Life of George Washington (London: Henry Colburn, 1839), II:302.
2 James Madison’s Notes on the Convention, June 28, 1787, Max Farrand, The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1911), I:450-452
3 George Washington, diary entry for July 4, 1787, The Writings of George Washington, ed. Worthington Chauncey Ford (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1891), XI:148: “And (the Convention having adjourned for the purpose) went to hear an Oration on the anniversary of Independence…”
4 The Massachusetts Centinel (August 15, 1787), 1.
5 Benjamin Franklin, “A Comparison of the Conduct of the Ancient Jews and of the Anti-Federalists in the United States of America,” no date, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Jared Sparks (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason, 1837), V:162.
6 Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison and Other Men of Their Time, Alexander Hamilton to Mr. Childs, October 17, 1787 The Federalist and Other Contemporary Papers on the Constitution of the United States, ed. E.H. Scott (New York: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1894), 646.
7 James Madison, Federalist #37, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, & James Madison, The Federalist (Philadelphia: Benjamin Warner, 1818), 194.
8 George Washington to Marquis de Lafayette, February 7, 1788, The Writings of George Washington, ed. Jared Sparks (Boston: Russell, Odiorne, and Metcalf, 1835), IX:317.
9 Benjamin Rush to Elias Boudinot, July 9, 1788, Letters of Benjamin Rush, ed. L. H. Butterfield (Princeton, New Jersey: American Philosophical Society, 1951), I:475.
10 Barry Loudermilk, And Then They Prayed. Moments in American History Impacted by Prayer (Campbell, CA: FastPencil, 2011).
11 Samuel Adams, article signed “Vindex” originally published in the Boston Gazette, June 12, 1780, The Writings of Samuel Adams, ed. Harry Alonzo Cushing (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1908), IV:189.
12 Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day, March 30, 1863, Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln, eds. John G. Nicolay & John Hay (New York: Tandy-Thomas Company, 1894), VIII:235-236.
13 Samuel Adams to James Warren, February 12, 1779, Writings of Samuel Adams, ed. Cushing (1905), IV:124.
14 Benjamin Franklin, April 17, 1787, The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Jared Sparks (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore and Mason, 1840), X:297.
15 Christine Wicker, “Dumbfounded by divorce. Survey inspires debate over why faith isn’t a bigger factor in marriage,” Dallas Morning News, 2000.
16 “Barna Survey Examines Changes in Worldview Among Christians over the Past 13 Years,” The Barna Group, March 6, 2009.
17 “Barna Survey Examines Changes in Worldview Among Christians over the Past 13 Years,”The Barna Group, March 6, 2009.
18 “Barna Survey Examines Changes in Worldview Among Christians over the Past 13 Years,” The Barna Group March 6, 2009.
19 John Quincy Adams, Letters of John Quincy Adams to His Son on the Bible and Its Teachings (Auburn, NY: Derby, Miller, & Co., 1848), 10-11.
20 John Adams, “A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America: Preface,” Works of John Adams, ed. Adams (1850), IV:293.
21 John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, June 28, 1813, Works of John Adams, ed. Adams (1850), X:45-46.
22 Ronald Reagan, “Proclamation 5018 – Year of the Bible, 1983,” February 3rd, 1983, The American Presidency Project. See the same quote in a proclamation from President George H. W. Bush on February 22, 1990, “International Year of Bible Reading,” Code of Federal Regulations (Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1991), 21.
23 Inaugural Address, March 5, 1849, Zachary Taylor 1784-1850 Millard Fillmore 1800-1874: Chronology Documents, Bibliographical Aids, ed. John J. Farrell (Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications, Inc., 1971), 27; Stephen Abbott Northrop, A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland: American Heritage Ministries, 1987, reprinted from the 1894 work), 447-448.
24 “The President and the Bible,” New York Semi-Weekly Tribune (Wednesday, May 9, 1849) IV:100:1.
25 Abraham Lincoln, “Reply to Committee of Colored People of Baltimore Who Presented Him with a Bible,” Complete Works, eds. Nicolay & Hay (1894), Two:574.
26 “Our Nation, A Product of Christianity,” Springfield Republican (1884), editorial.
27 Theodore Roosevelt, “On Reading the Bible: Delivered before the Members of the Bible Society, 1901,” Modern Eloquence, ed. Thomas B. Reed (Philadelphia: John D. Morris and Company, 1903), XV:1770-1776.
28 Woodrow Wilson, An Address in Denver on the Bible, May 7, 1911, The Papers of Woodrow Wilson, ed. Arthur S. Link (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1977), 23:20.
29 Herbert Hoover, “Radio Address to the Nation on Unemployment Relief,” October 18, 1931, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1976), 490.
30 Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Statement on the Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Printing of the English Bible,” October 6th, 1935, The American Presidency Project.
31 Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Proclamation – Thanksgiving Day, 1944,” November 1, 1944, The American Presidency Project.
32 Harry S. Truman, “Address at Lighting of the National Community Christmas Tree on the White House Grounds,” December 24, 1946, The American Presidency Project.
33 Harry S. Truman, “Address Before the Attorney General’s Conference on Law Enforcement Problems,” February 15, 1950, The American Presidency Project.
34 Dwight Eisenhower, “Remarks Upon Lighting the National Community Christmas Tree,” December 24, 1953, The American Presidency Project.
35 Dwight Eisenhower, “Remarks to the First National Conference on the Spiritual Foundations of American Democracy,” November 9, 1954, The American Presidency Project.
36 Ronald Reagan, “Proclamation 5018 – Year of the Bible, 1983,” February 3, 1983, The American Presidency Project.

* Originally published: January 4, 2017.

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

Duel Hamilton and Burr 1894 Book

The Founders on the Second Amendment

The Second Amendment to the Constitution has become a target for Progressives and Liberals, who are determined to dismantle it. The Founders recognized the “right to keep and bear arms” as an inalienable right of self-defense to be protected by government rather than infringed or abridged by it. As Constitution signer John Dickinson affirmed, inalienable rights such as self-defense were rights “which God gave to you and which no inferior power has a right to take away.” [1]

Significantly, the Second Amendment did not grant or bestow any right on the people; instead, it simply recognized and provided what Constitution signer James Wilson called “a new security” for the right of self-defense that God had already bestowed on every individual. [2]

Numerous Founders affirmed the God-given right to self-defense and personal safety:

[T]he said Constitution [should] be never construed . . . to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms. Samuel Adams, Signer of the Declaration, “Father of the American Revolution” [3]

The right . . . of bearing arms . . . is declared to be inherent in the people. Fisher Ames, A Framer of the Second Amendment in the First Congress [4]

[T]he advantage of being armed [is an advantage which] the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation. . . . [I]n the several kingdoms of Europe . . . the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. James Madison, U.S. President, Signer of the Constitution, a Framer of the Second Amendment in the first congress [5]

[T]o preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them. Richard Henry Lee, Signer of the Declaration, A Framer of the Second Amendment in the First Congress [6]

To learn the history of this historic Amendment and the Founders’ clear views on it, see our short book The Second Amendment. Also, The Founders’ Bible shows not only the Founders’ position on self-defense and the Second Amendment but it also gives the Biblical basis for that right — as in Exodus 22, which helps explain the “Castle Doctrine.”

Endnotes

[1] John Dickinson, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, R. T. H. Halsey, editor (New York: The Outlook Company, 1903), p. xlii, letter to the Society of Fort St. David’s, 1768; see also John Quincy Adams, An Oration Delivered Before the Cincinnati Astronomical Society on the Occasion of Laying the Cornerstone of an Astronomical Observatory on the 10th of November, 1843 (Cincinnati: Shepard & Co., 1843), pp. 13-14.
[2] James Wilson, The Works of the Honorable James Wilson, Bird Wilson, editor (Philadelphia: Bronson and Chauncey, 1804), Vol. II, p. 454.
[3] Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Held in the Year 1788 (Boston: William White, 1856), pp. 86, 266, February 6, 1788; see also William V. Wells, The Life and Public Service of Samuel Adams (Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1865), Vol. III, p. 267.
[4] Fisher Ames, Works of Fisher Ames, Seth Ames, editor (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1854), Vol. I, p. 54, to George Richards Minot on June 12, 1789.
[5] Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, The Federalist on the New Constitution (Philadelphia: Benjamin Warner, 1818), p. 259, Federalist No. 46 by James Madison.
[6] Richard Henry Lee, An Additional Number Of Letters From The Federal Farmer To The Republican (New York: 1788), p.170, Letter XVIII, January, 25, 1788.

Daniel Webster: The Defender of the U.S. Constitution

Daniel Webster, an ardent and outspoken Christian known as “the Defender of the US Constitution,” 1 was born on January 18, 1782. In fact, his ability to recite and memorize Scripture as a child was so well known that “it was customary for the teamsters to remark, as they pulled up their horses before the Webster tavern, ‘Come, let’s go in and hear a Psalm from Dan Webster!‘” 2

In fact, his early school teacher, Mr. Tappan, later recalled, “Daniel was always the brightest boy in the school.”  3 This became quite evident as Mr. Tappan recounted the following story:

He [Daniel] would learn more in five minutes than another boy in five hours. One Saturday, I remember, I held up a handsome new jack-knife to the scholars, and said, the boy who would commit to memory the greatest number of verses in the Bible by Monday morning should have it. Many of the boys did well; but when it came to Daniel’s turn to recite, I found that he had committed so much that, after hearing him repeat some sixty or seventy verses, I was obliged to give up, he telling me that there were several more chapters yet that he had learned. Daniel got that jack-knife. 4

This love and reverence of God’s Word carried over into adulthood. Daniel made it a practice to read through the Bible once a year. 5 His love and reverence for the Scripture is conveyed in this simple story:

This morning, when Mr. and Mrs. Webster, with their guests and servants, had assembled in the library for family prayers, Mr. Webster looked so weak and feeble, that Mrs. Webster asked him if I should not read the chapter. He preferred reading himself, and selected that beautiful chapter of St. Luke, the sixth, which contains a part of the Sermon on the Mount. His reading of the Scriptures is grand, slow, distinct, impressive, giving new force to every sentence. When he came to those verses which follow the twenty-sixth, it seemed as though they were the expression of his own inmost feelings. After each clause of these verses which he read—‘But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you’—he passed, as if he were asking himself the question, if he read those words in the spirit of Him who first uttered them, and exhibited in his own life and example their practical application. There was an almost triumphant tone as he finished the verses, as though he had heartily forgiven those who had spoken ill of him, and who had despitefully used him. 6

Additionally, WallBuilders posted from our massive collection of original documents a letter that Daniel wrote in an attempt to help provide Bibles to the people of South America.7 For all of his accomplishments in life, however, it was not his works that he wanted remembered. As explained by the Rev. Otis Skinner in a sermon delivered after Webster death:

“Let those regard it as a mark of greatness to doubt, remember the faith of Webster! Great as he was, he asked to have engraved upon his tombstone, this simple sentence, He was a believer in Jesus.”8

As we honor the faith and character of Daniel Webster, let us remember the words of Rev. Henry Augustus Boardman:

Those who value our Constitution and who desire the perpetuity of the Union, have great reason to bless God that Daniel Webster loved and studied the Bible.”9

1 Charles F. Richardson, Daniel Webster for Young Americans (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1903); Edwin Erle Sparks, The Men Who Made the Nation: An Outline of United States History from 1760 to 1865 (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1901), 318.
2 Charles Lanman, The Private Life of Daniel Webster (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1852), 22; Rev. Joseph Banvard, Daniel Webster: His Life and Public Services (Boston: D, Lothrop and Company, 1875) 37.
3 Lanman, Private Life of Daniel Webster (1853), 16; Banvard, Daniel Webster: His Life  (1875), 30, quoting Master Tappan.
4 Lanman, Private Life of Daniel Webster (1853), 15-16; Banvard, Daniel Webster: His Life  (1875), 30-31.
5 Lanman, Private Life of Daniel Webster (1853), 104.
6 G.J. Abbott to a friend, September 12, 1852, George Ticknor Curtis, Life of Daniel Webster (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1870), II:666.
7 Daniel Webster handwritten letter, undated, WallBuilders.
8 Otis A. Skinner, The Death of Daniel Webster. A Sermon, Delivered in the Warren Street Church, Sunday, November 14, 1852 (Boston: A. Tompkins, 1852), 34.
9 H.A. Boardman, D.D., A Discourse on the Life and Character of Daniel Webster (Philadelphia, Joseph M. Wilson, 1852), 57.

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

secretary-of-the-continental-congress-charles-thomson-2Though 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

secretary-of-the-continental-congress-charles-thomson-3 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.)

secretary-of-the-continental-congress-charles-thomson-5 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.

secretary-of-the-continental-congress-charles-thomson-7 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.
secretary-of-the-continental-congress-charles-thomson-6 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.