Founding Fathers Archives - Page 8 of 17

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.

The Finger of God on the Constitutional Convention

June 28th marks the annual anniversary of Founding Father Benjamin Franklin calling the Constitutional Convention to prayer after several weeks of difficult discussions and frequent impasses. The Founders well understood the need to seek God and the important part that God played both in establishing this nation and in the writing of the Constitution.

As Alexander Hamilton reported after its completion:

For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system which without the finger of God [Luke 11:20] never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests.¹

James Madison agreed, and reported:

It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it the finger of that Almighty Hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the Revolution.²

As far as these delegates were concerned, the finger of God – that is, His Divine power – had guided their writing of the Constitution. Benjamin Franklin also believed this to be the case, 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].³

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.⁴

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.⁵

(For more about the Founders’ views of the “finger of God” and what that meant historically, see the article on this in the Founders’ Bible, from Luke 11:20).

Let us remember that God truly has had His hand involved in the formation of our government and let us take time out, as George Washington recommended, “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”⁶ on America again.

Footnotes

¹ Alexander Hamilton to Mr. Childs, Wednesday, October 17, 1787, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison and Other Men of Their Time, 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.
² James Madison, Federalist #37, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, & James Madison, The Federalist (Philadelphia: Benjamin Warner, 1818), 194.
³ 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.
⁴ 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.
⁵ Benjamin Rush to Elias Boudinot on July 9, 1788, Letters of Benjamin Rush, ed. L. H. Butterfield (Princeton, New Jersey: American Philosophical Society, 1951), I:475.
⁶ Proclamation for a National Thanksgiving on October 3, 1789, Jared Sparks, The Life of George Washington (London: Henry Colburn, 1839), II:301.

On This Day in History: June 28, 1787

In June, 1787, The Constitutional Convention was in full swing in Philadelphia.

Do you know how many delegates attended the Constitutional Convention?
Do you know how many delegates signed the Constitution?
Who was the oldest delegate?
Who was the youngest delegate?

(Answers at the bottom)

The Constitutional Convention was called in an effort to seek solutions to problems the nation experienced under the Articles of Confederation. The gathering started with optimism, but after five weeks of frequent disagreements, they were almost at a full impasse. Addressing their frustration, on June 28, delegate Benjamin Franklin told the others:

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 understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Britain when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the Divine Protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. . . 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 . . . and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages. 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. ¹

The Convention then adjourned for three days. During that time, they gathered at the Calvinist Reformed Church in Philadelphia, where the Rev. William Rogers prayed a special prayer over the Constitutional Convention (WallBuilders has a 1787 newspaper that records this prayer), and according to George Washington, they also “hear[d] an oration on the anniversary of independence.” ²

Following those three days, the Convention reconvened and experienced unexpected success. Ten weeks later they had finished the U. S. Constitution (under which America has become the longest on-going constitutional republic in the world), and the Founders were quick to acknowledge God’s help in their endeavors.

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. ³

James Madison agreed:

It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it the finger of that Almighty Hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the Revolution. ⁴

[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

Others delegates declared the same, so as we remember the call to prayer that Franklin delivered on this day, let’s also follow George Washington’s advice “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.” ⁶

Do you know how many delegates attended the Constitutional Convention?
55 total delegates attended the Constitutional Convention.
Do you know how many delegates signed the Constitution?
39 men signed the Constitution.
Who was the oldest delegate?
At 81 years old, Benjamin Franklin was the oldest delegate.
Who was the youngest delegate?
At 26 years old, Jonathan Dayton from New Jersey was the youngest delegate.

¹ James Madison’s Notes on the Convention for June 28, 1787, Max Farrand, The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1911), I:451-452.
² 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.
³ Alexander Hamilton to Mr. Childs, Wednesday, October 17, 1787, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison and Other Men of Their Time, The Federalist and Other Contemporary Papers on the Constitution of the United States, ed. E.H. Scott (New York: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1894), 2:646, .
⁴ James Madison, Federalist #37, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, & James Madison, The Federalist (Philadelphia: Benjamin Warner, 1818), 194.
⁵ Benjamin Franklin, “A Comparison of the Conduct of the Ancient Jews and of the Anti-Federalists in the United States of America,” The Works of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Jared Sparks (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason, 1837), V:162.
⁶ George Washington, “Thanksgiving Proclamation,” The Providence Gazette and Country Journal (October 17, 1789).

It Happened in March

There are two specific March “firsts” from American history that center on presidential appointments.

On March 22, 1790, Thomas Jefferson began serving as America’s first Secretary of State under the Constitution. This appointment had been made by President George Washington and approved by the U. S. Senate in September of 1789.¹ As the Secretary of State, Jefferson’s primary job to be “the president’s chief foreign affairs adviser.”² He also took on other major responsibilities as well — such as laying out the grounds for the brand new federal capital that was to be build in Washington, DC.
On March 18, 1877, Frederick Douglass became the first African American confirmed by the U. S. Senate to serve in a presidential appointment.3 He had been selected by President Rutherford B. Hayes to be the Marshal of Washington, D.C — a position established to “support the federal courts.”4 His responsibilities included serving “the subpoenas, summonses, writs, warrants and other process issued by the courts, [making] all the arrests and [handling] all the prisoners.”⁵ Prior to this appointment, Douglass had held various positions under previous presidents, but none had required Senate confirmation. In all, Douglass served under four Republican presidents.⁶

Endnotes

¹ Thomas Jefferson Papers, “The Early Republic, 1784-1789,” Library of Congress, accessed on March 18, 2015; “Former Secretaries of State,” U.S. Department of State (accessed on March 18, 2015); Office of the Historian, “A Short History of the Department of State,” U.S. Department of State, accessed on March 18, 2015.
² “Duties of the Secretary of State,” U.S. Department of State, January 20, 2009.
³ “Frederick Douglass,” White House Historical Association, accessed on March 18, 2015.
⁴ “History – Broad Range of Authority,” U.S. Marshals Service, accessed on March 18, 2015.
⁵ “History – Broad Range of Authority,” U.S. Marshals Service, accessed on March 18, 2015.
⁶ “People: Frederick Douglass,” National Park Service, accessed on March 18, 2015.

John Quincy Adams – Abolitionist, President, & Father

Black History Month is a special time to focus on black history, which interestingly often involves not just Black Americans but also those of other races. As famous Black American minister Richard Allen reminded his brethren during the Founding Era, “Many of the white people have been instruments in the hands of God for our good [and] are now pleading our cause with earnestness and zeal.” [1]

John Quincy Adams was one of the many Americans who had a direct hand in shaping black history for the good. (By the way, to learn about many of America’s remarkable untold black heroes, check out our website section on Black History.)

Adams spent nearly seven decades in public service for America, including as a foreign diplomat, Secretary of State, U. S. Senator, President of the United States, and then as the only President to serve as a US Congressman after his Presidency. [2] He became famous for introducing anti-slavey petitions into what was at that time a pro-slavery Congress. In fact, his fellow Congressmen were so disgusted with these petitions that they enacted a “gag-rule” banning the introduction of any petition addressing the abolition of slavery. But Adams persisted and was so relentless in the pursuit of liberty and equality for Black Americans that he became known as “The Hellhound of Abolition.” [3]

Adams also led the legal defense of the African slaves in the famous Amistad case [4] llater made a Hollywood movie starring Anthony Hopkins). The Amistad was a Spanish ship carrying newly enslaved Africans, who revolted during the voyage, killed the captain, and took over the boat. The ship was brought to port in the United States, where the Spanish survivors charged the Africans with mutiny and murder. John Quincy Adams successfully defended them before the U. S. Supreme Court, which declared the Africans free. These Africans were later transported safely back to the freedom of their homes in Africa. [5]

John Quincy Adams’ firm position in behalf of the equality of all men, regardless of color, was drawn especially from Bible teachings. In fact, he specifically cited Jesus’ teaching in Luke 4 as an authority for his position against slavery. Not surprisingly, Adams openly stressed the importance of reading the Bible.

In fact, when he had been a diplomat serving under President James Madison, Adams wrote a series of nine letters to his son instructing him on the importance of reading the Bible and how to get the most from his reading. A public demand for these letters led to their 1848 publication as a book for young Americans.

Endnotes

[1] Richard Allen, The Life Experience and Gospel Labors of the Right Rev. Richard Allen (New York: Abingdon Press, 1983), p. 73, from his “Address to the People of Color in the United States.
[2] Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1889), Vol. I, s.v. “John Quincy Adams.” See also, American President, “John Quincy Adams,” The Miller Center (accessed: February 5, 2015), “John Quincy Adams,” National Historic Park, (accessed: February 5, 2015).
[3] History, Art & Archives, “The House ‘Gag Rule’,” United States House of Representatives (accessed: February 5, 2015). See also, Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1889), Vol. I, s.v. “John Quincy Adams;” John Quincy Adams, The Diary of John Quincy Adams, Allan Nevins, editor (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1929), p. 525, June 11, 1841; James Schouler, History of the United States of America Under the Constitution (New York: Dodd, Meade, and Company, 1889), Vol. IV, pp. 423-424.
[4] “Teaching with Documents: The Amistad Case,” National Archives (accessed: February 5, 2015).
[5] “Teaching with Documents: The Amistad Case,” National Archives (accessed: February 5, 2015). See also, Office of the Historian, “Milestones 1830-1860: The Amistad Case, 1839,” U.S. Department of State (accessed: February 5, 2015).

Religious Freedom Sunday

January 16, 1786, was the day that the Virginia Assembly adopted the Act for Establishing Religious Freedom, finally ending the official state-established church in Virginia. It provided that (1) all individuals would be free from any punishment for not conforming to state-established religious mandates, and (2) one’s religious affiliation would no longer affect the civil privileges he could enjoy ¹. In short, in Virginia it legally secured religious toleration and protection for the right of religious conscience.

The Virginia Act, drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1777, originally failed to pass when brought before the State Assembly in 1779 ². James Madison later reintroduced the measure, and it was finally enacted in 1786. Jefferson considered it one of his three greatest achievements, ranking it along with penning the Declaration of Independence and establishing the University of Virginia.

This act was reflective of the attitude that had developed across much of America toward securing full religious liberty for all — an attitude later embodied in the federal Bill of Rights’ 1st Amendment to the Constitution.

Each year, in commemoration of religious freedom (one of the most important of our freedoms), the President proclaims January 16th to be Religious Freedom Day ³. Religious Freedom Sunday is commemorated the Sunday before Religious Freedom Day, and this year, Religious Freedom Sunday falls on January 11th.

Gateways to Better Education have teamed up to provide ways for Christians and churches to celebrate this important day and to participate in encouraging the free exercise of religion. But don’t stop with just celebrating Religious Freedom Day at your church, make sure the schools in your area also recognize this special holiday. (Gateways to Better Education has a guidebook to help you enlighten those in the education system about this important day.)

Happy Religious Freedom Sunday!

Endnotes

¹ https://www.virginiamemory.com/docs/ReligiousFree.pdf
² https://www.virginiamemory.com/online_classroom/shaping_the_constitution/doc/religious_freedom
³ https://religiousfreedomday.com/. See, for example, proclamations by George H.W. Bush in 1992 (https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/268664); William Clinton in 1996 (https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/222064); George W. Bush in 2003 (https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/212361); and Barack Obama in 2011 (https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/289040).

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.

The Constitution and a Duel – What do they have in Common?

September 17th is Constitution Day, the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution. Our Constitution secures our God-given freedoms that were set forth in the Declaration of Independence, and today we add yet another year to our unsurpassed record as the longest ongoing constitutional republic in the world.

A Founding Father who exerted great influence in our constitutional government was Alexander Hamilton. As a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and one of its thirty-nine signers, he played what would be considered a minor role in the debates of the Convention itself. However he (along with John Jay and James Madison) became one of the three men most responsible for the adoption and ratification of the Constitution through the writing and publication of a series of articles which became known as The Federalist Papers.

Hamilton’s career was distinguished, including his service not only as a military aide to General George Washington and his own rise to a military general under Washington, but also as America’s first Secretary of the Treasury under President Washington. But notwithstanding such achievements, he is perhaps best known today today for his duel with Aaron Burr.

In the election of 1800, Hamilton worked against the re-election of incumbent president John Adams. When Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson tied in the vote for president, as required by the Constitution, the contest was sent to the House of Representatives for them to choose a winner. Hamilton strongly supported Jefferson over his fellow-New-Yorker Burr. ¹

(By the way, during that election cycle in 1800, a number of ministers preached and published pulpit sermons against Jefferson, including Hamilton’s good friend, the Rev. John Mitchell Mason.)

In 1802, Hamilton urged the formation of a “Christian Constitutional Society” whose two-fold goal was “1st, the support of the Christian religion; 2nd, the support of the Constitution of the United States.”² The purpose of the society was to elect to office those who supported Christianity and the Constitution. Hamilton saw an intrinsic relation between Christianity, the Constitution, and a strong and safe America, and he never viewed the Constitution as a secular document. He openly declared:

For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system which without the finger of God [Luke 11:20] never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests.³

Hamilton’s dream for his Christian Constitutional Society never came to pass. In 1804, he was shot down by Burr in a duel spurred by Burr’s frustration of Hamilton having thwarted so many of his political ambitions.⁴ (Burr was an egotistic and ambitious man who actually tried to build an empire for himself in what is now Mexico ⁵). The Rev. Mason attended Hamilton in the hours after he was shot. After Hamilton’s death, he released a pamphlet that included Hamilton’s personal account of the duel as well as Hamilton’s repeated affirmation of his firm personal reliance on God for his salvation.⁶

As we celebrate our great Constitution, let us not forget those who helped shape it and secured to us the blessings we enjoy today — leaders such as Alexander Hamilton!

Endnotes

¹ Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography. 6 vols. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1889, s.v. “Hamilton, Alexander.” See also, Dictionary of American Biography. 21 vols. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1932, s.v. “Hamilton, Alexander.”
² Alexander Hamilton to James A. Bayard, April 16-21, 1802, National Archive, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-25-02-0321.
³ Alexander Hamilton to Mr. Childs, Wednesday, 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.
⁴ Dictionary of American Biography. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1932), s.v. “Hamilton, Alexander;” Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography. (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1889), s.v. “Hamilton, Alexander.”
⁵ “Aaron Burr (1801-1805),” Miller Center, accessed October 27, 2023, https://millercenter.org/president/jefferson/essays/burr-1801-vicepresident.
⁶ J. M. Mason, An Oration Commemorative of the Late Major General Alexr. Hamilton (London: R. Edwards, 1804).

Happy Easter!

Easter and America

Easter is celebrated across the world as one of the most significant Christian holy days. It is when Christians pause to remember the great sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as well as the ultimate triumph of His resurrection.
As Noah Webster, author in 1828 of America’s first English-language dictionary, affirmed:

A festival of the Christian church observed in commemoration of our Savior’s resurrection. It answers to the pascha or Passover of the Hebrews, and most nations still give it this name.

Across the centuries of American history, our leaders have regularly commented on the applicability of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus to various aspects of our daily life.

For example, signer of the Declaration of Independence Charles Carroll viewed Easter as the power for salvation, explaining:

The approaching festival of Easter, and the merits and mercies of our Redeemer copiosa assudeum redemptio have lead me into this chain of meditation and reasoning, and have inspired me with the hope of finding mercy before my Judge, and of being happy in the life to come — a happiness I wish you to participate with me by infusing into your heart a similar hope.

Benjamin Rush, another signer of the Declaration, pointed out how that Jesus’ resurrection not only redeemed man to God but also to each other. He noted:

He forgave the crime of murder on His cross; and after His resurrection, He commanded His disciples to preach the gospel of forgiveness, first at Jerusalem, where He well knew His murderers still resided. These striking facts are recorded for our imitation and seem intended to show that the Son of God died, not only to reconcile God to man but to reconcile men to each other.

President Franklin Roosevelt saw in Easter a clear message for youth. Addressing a group of young people in 1936, he told them:

Yesterday, Christendom celebrated Easter—the anniversary of the Resurrection of Our Lord Who, at the beginning of His ministry was thirty years of age and at His death was only thirty-three. Christianity began with youth, and through the last two thousand years, the spirit of youth repeatedly has revitalized it.

And President Ronald Reagan reminded the nation of the hope that came to Christians through Easter:

Beginning today and culminating on Sunday morning, Christians will celebrate with their families the resurrection of Christ, His victory over death. We will remember that He gave His body and His blood—washing clean the faults and the shortcomings of the world. In our rejoicing we will renew the hope that is ours through the risen Lord.

Easter is indeed a special day! So, from all of us at WallBuilders, Happy Easter

(As you celebrate this day, you may want to take a little time to read this historical Easter sermon from WallBuilders’ collection.)

Test Your Knowledge: John Quincy Adams

How much do you know about John Quincy Adams?
Take the following quiz to find out!

(Answers at the bottom.)

1. How old was John Quincy Adams when he accompanied his father John Adams (who had been appointed as ambassador) to France, where he became his secretary?

2. Who told John Quincy Adams “[I] would much rather you should have found your grave in the ocean you have crossed, or that any untimely death crop you in your infant years, than see you an immoral, profligate, or graceless child…”?

3. True or False: John Quincy Adams was 18 years old when he received a congressional appointment as secretary to Francis Dana, the American ambassador to Russia.

4. True or False: John Quincy Adams was one of three individuals who served in the U.S. House of Representatives after being President of the United States.

5. True or False: The House of Representatives passed a gag rule to keep John Quincy Adams from introducing petitions calling for the abolition of slavery.

6. What famous Supreme Court case did Adams argue on behalf of a group of captured Africans who had revolted and regained their freedom while on board a ship transporting them into slavery?

Evacuation Day

March 17 is annually celebrated in Boston as “Evacuation Day,” commemorating the departure of the British from the city after an eleven month occupation at the start of the American Revolution.¹ April 19, 1775 through March 17, 1776 was the Siege of Boston. This time encompasses some of the early events of the American Revolution, including the Battles of Lexington and Concord,² the Battle of Bunker Hill,³ and George Washington taking command of the American army.⁴

John Quincy Adams, whose family lived near Boston, personally watched the Battle of Bunker Hill at the age of 8.⁵ Just a few months before, he had performed military drills with the local militia and Minutemen — an event that John Quincy remembered in detail over 50 years later!⁶

John Quincy Adams spent 68 years of his life in public service for America. Today, on Evacuation Day, his is truly a life worth honoring.

How did you do?

1. He was 10 years old. John Adams went to France in February, 1778 (in his diary, he even talks about a battle his vessel had in early March during the ocean crossing⁷). John Quincy Adams, born on July 11, 1767, would have been several months shy of his 11th birthday when he accompanied his father.

2. Abigail Adams. See the complete letter from Abigail to John Quincy.⁸

3. False. John Quincy Adams was 14 years old when he was appointed as Francis Dana’s secretary and translator.⁹

4. False. Nineteen Presidents have served in the House of Representatives,¹⁰ but John Quincy Adams is the only one who was elected to Congress after being president.¹¹

5. True. The “gag rule” was passed by each Congress from 1836-1844, and John Quincy Adams was the leader in the effort that eventually repealed this rule.¹²

6. United States v. The Amistad, decided in 1841. John Quincy Adams was 73 years old at the time.¹³ This event is depicted in the famous Hollywood movie Amistad.

Endnotes

¹ “The Siege of Boston,” Massachusetts Historical Society, accessed December 8, 2023.
² “Lexington and Concord,” ushistory.org, accessed December 8, 2023.
³ Bernard Bailyn, “The Battle of Bunker Hill,” Massachusetts Historical Society, accessed December 8, 2023.
⁴ “Washington takes command of Continental Army in 1775,” April 15, 2016, US Army.
⁵ “Letter (draft) from John Quincy Adams to Joseph Sturge, March 1846,” Massachusetts Historical Society.
⁶ John Quincy Adams, entry for August 20, 1827, Memoirs of John Quincy Adams, ed. Charles Francis Adams (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1875), VII:325.
⁷ John Adams, entry for March 14, 1778, The Works of John Adams, ed. Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851), III:108.
⁸ Abigail Adams to John Quincy Adams, June 1778, Letters of Mrs. Adams, ed. Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1840), I:122-125.
⁹ Office of the Historian, “Biographies of the Secretaries of State: John Quincy Adams (1767–1848),” Department of State, accessed December 8, 2023.
¹⁰ “House Members Who Served as President,” United States House of Representatives, accessed December 8, 2023.
¹¹ “The Election of John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts,” United States House of Representatives, accessed December 8, 2023.
¹² “The House “Gag Rule”,” United States House of Representatives, accessed December 8, 2023.
¹³ “The Amistad Case,” National Archives, accessed December 8, 2023.

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