Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution, and Religion

by David Barton

  William Penn (1644-1718; England, Pennsylvania) Clergyman and public official; began attending meetings of the Quakers in England and was imprisoned by authorities for attending those meetings (1667); declared himself a Quaker instead of an Anglican; he began writing while in prison and vigorously advocated the doctrines of the Quakers (1668); subsequently authored many religious and political tracts; the land now known as Pennsylvania had been given to his father by Charles II in payment for a loan, and William Penn inherited that land on his father’s death (1670); went on a missionary journey through Holland and Germany and then to America (1677); proposed to establish a civil government in Pennsylvania founded on tolerance, which he called his “holy experiment” (1681); negotiated several treaties with the Indians for that land; established a public grammar school in Philadelphia (1689); presented the Board of Trade in London the first plan for a union of all the American colonies (1697); labored to end slavery; returned to London on urgent business (1701) and never again returned to Pennsylvania.

  Claude Pepper (1900-1989; Alabama, Florida) Attorney and public official; graduate of the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa (1921) and Harvard Law School (1924); practiced law in Florida; member of the Florida State legislature (1929-30); moved to Tallahassee and held various State offices; U. S. Senator (1938-50); member of the U. S. House of Representatives (1962-89) where he served as chairman of the House Select Committee on Aging (1977-83); sponsored the bill that halted mandatory retirement for most federal employees and raised the retirement age to seventy for workers in industry (1978); served as chairman of the House Rules Committee (1983).

  William Phillips (1750-1827; Massachusetts) Public official and philanthropist; educated in Boston but due to his poor health, his education was repeatedly interrupted; entered business with his father who was a successful businessman; toured Britain, Holland, and France (1773); member of the Massachusetts General Court (1805-12); Lieutenant Governor for eleven consecutive terms beginning in 1812; delegate to the State constitutional convention (1820); State Senator (1823); in addition to his political service, he was involved in many philanthropic and religious organizations; for example, member of the Society for Propagating the Gospel Among the Indians and Others (1792-1821), serving as its president (1807-10); a deacon of the Old South Church (1794-1827); an original incorporator of the American Board of Foreign Missions; president of the American Society for Educating Pious Youth for the Gospel Ministry (1816); member of the Massachusetts Bible Society (1817); vice-president of the American Bible Society (1820-1827); also helped found the Massachusetts General Hospital, the American Education Society, as well as several other endeavors.

  John Pickering (1737/38-1805; New Hampshire) Attorney, public official, and jurist; graduated from Harvard (1761); admitted to the bar; started his law practice in Greenland, then moved to Portsmouth; held various civil posts during the Revolution; delegate to the State constitutional convention (1781); member of the State House of Representatives (1783-87); selected as delegate to the Constitutional Convention for the federal Constitution but declined to serve (1787); delegate to the State ratification convention for the federal Constitution (1788); Presidential elector (1788, 1792); member of the New Hampshire Senate; delegate to the State constitutional convention (1791-92); Chief Justice of the Superior Court (1790-95); appointed U. S. federal judge by President George Washington (1795-1804); suffered a mental breakdown in 1801 which led to his impeachment from the court in 1804.

  Timothy Pickering (1745-1829; Massachusetts) Attorney, soldier, jurist, public official; graduated from Harvard (1763); commissioned as Lieutenant of militia (1766); admitted to the bar (1768); Colonel in the Continental Army (1775); justice-of-the-peace (1775); member of the General Court (1776); Adjutant-General in the Continental Army (1776); participated in the Battles of Brandywine (1777) and Germantown (1777); Quarter Master-General (1780); was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown (1781); delegate to the State ratification convention for the federal Constitution (1788); delegate to the State constitutional convention (1789-90); Postmaster General under President George Washington (1791-95) and then Secretary of War, and Secretary of State (1795-97); Secretary of State under President John Adams (1797-1800); appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas (1802); U. S. Senator (1803-11); member of the Executive Council of Massachusetts (1812-13).

  Pilgrims (circa 1620S) The term “pilgrim” means “a wanderer traveling to a holy place” and is generally applied to the group of spiritual refugees who arrived in America in pursuit of both practicing and advancing their religious beliefs in the New World. The Pilgrims were typically of the Congregational belief; that is, the spiritual form of church government they embraced was closer to that in a republic than that of a monarchy or oligarchy (i.e., a Pope, King, Bishop, high church council, etc.). The pilgrims had originated in England and opposed the high-handed tactics of the Church of England, but were persecuted and forced to flee to Amsterdam, Holland where they remained before embarking for America. They arrived in what is now called Plymouth, Massachusetts in the Fall of 1620, and they authored the first government document originated solely in America: the “Mayflower Compact.” The Pilgrims became known in America for their hard-work ethic, their community form of government based on equality rather than aristocracy, and their firm reliance on the Bible and its principles as the basis for decisions in all aspects of life, whether spiritual or civil.

  Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746-1825; South Carolina) Public official, attorney, and soldier; educated at Oxford; member of the State provincial assembly (1769); admitted to the bar (1770); Captain of South Carolina troops (1775); participated in the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown (1777); commanded a regiment in the campaign in the Floridas (1778); member of the State House (1778); member of the State Senate (1779); taken prisoner when Charleston fell (1780) and held until 1782; member of the State House (1782); Brigadier-General (1783); a delegate to the Constitutional Convention where he signed the federal Constitution (1787); Minister to France (1796); a founder of South Carolina College (1801); first president of the Charleston Bible Society (1810-25); vice-president of the American Bible Society (1816-25).

  Plutarch (circa 350-430; Greece) Greek philosopher; studied under Aristotle and Plato; believed that reason is the basis and foundation of all consciousness and that reason is the transcendental or pure intelligence of God; authored numerous works, including Parallel Lives of Illustrious Greeks and Romans and Morals, which were his essays on historical, religious, and philosophical topics.

  Thomas Posey (1750-1818; Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Indiana) Soldier, and public official; early educated in common school; joined the 7th Virginia Continental Regiment (1774); active in many engagements, including the Battle of Saratoga (1777) and numerous excursions against the Indians on the Pennsylvania frontier; began as a Captain, was advanced to Major, to Lieutenant-Colonel (1782), and finally Brigadier-General (1793); member of the Kentucky State Senate (1805-06); Major-General in charge of organizing Kentucky troops (1809); chosen as Speaker of the State Senate and thereby ex-officio Lieutenant-Governor of Kentucky (1805-06); U. S. Senator from Louisiana (1812-13); Governor of the Indiana Territory (1813); vice-president of the American Bible Society.

  Roscoe Pound (1870-1964; Nebraska) Educator and legal scholar; passed the bar exam without a law degree (1890); earned a PhD from the University of Nebraska (1897); taught law at the University of Nebraska (1899-1903), and then became dean of its law school (1903-07); taught at Northwestern University (1907); taught at the University of Chicago (1909-10); dean of the Harvard Law School (1916-36); spent several years in Taiwan reorganizing the Nationalist Chinese government’s judicial system; is considered a legal positivist, making many innovations in and departures from the traditional practices of legal interpretation; during his later years he shared with Learned Hand the reputation of being the nation’s leading jurist outside the U. S. Supreme Court bench.

  Wil
liam Prescott (1726-1795; Massachusetts) Farmer, soldier, and public official; served during the French and Indian War (1755-56); at the outset of the Revolution, he was instrumental in sending supplies of food to Boston during the British blockade (1774); Colonel of a regiment of Minute men (1775); during the Battle of Breed’s Hill, he walked along the top of the hill in a broad-brimmed hat and conspicuous coat – both of which are depicted in the statue of him at Bunker Hill; he is alleged to have declared during that battle, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!” (1775); member of the council of war (1775); participated in the evacuation of New York (1776) and Burgoyne’s surrender (1777); member of the General Court; helped in the suppression of Shays’ Rebellion (1786-87).

  Rev. Joseph Priestley (1733-1804; England, Pennsylvania) Clergyman, scientist, and author; attended Daventry, a dissenting academy (1751); took his first parish in the village of Needham Market, Surrey (1755); ordained to the ministry (1762); he mastered several languages including Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, German, Italian, Arabic, Syriac, etc. and studied both chemistry and electricity; made a fellow in the Royal Society (1766); made a foreign associate of the French Academy of Sciences (1772); spent time in France (1774); because of his sympathies for the French Revolution, his house, chapel, scientific and religious works, etc. were burned by a mob (1791); made a citizen of France by the French Assembly (1792); because of his longing for political and religious freedom, he sailed for America (1794); invited to become professor of chemistry at Philadelphia but declined (1794); made important discoveries in physics and chemistry (including isolating oxygen and eight other gases) but was never invited to preach; authored numerous religious and scientific works.

  Samuel de Puffendorf (1632-1694; Sweden) Educator, political philosopher, and public official; the son of a Lutheran minister; studied theology at the University of Leipzig but changed to legal studies at the University of Jena; traveled to Copenhagen, and as a result of the war between Denmark and Sweden, spent 8 months in prison (1658); after his release, traveled to Leiden and published a complete system of universal law (1660); accepted a new professorial position at the University of Lund in Sweden (1670); published his greatest work, “The Eight Books on the Law of Nature and Nations” (1672); a summary was published the following year, “On the Duty of Man and Citizen” (1673); turned to the study of history and became the official historian to the Swedish King (1677).

  General Casimir Pulaski (1748-1779; Poland) Soldier; joined the military at an early age; arrested and condemned to death because of an unsuccessful revolt against Russia; escaped and fled to Turkey and then France where he heard about the American cause from Benjamin Franklin (1775); sailed for America (1777); appointed by Congress as Brigadier-General in charge of cavalry (1777); fought in the Battles of Brandywine (1777) and Germantown (1777); helped supply troops at Valley Forge (1777-78); sent to Charleston where, although defeated by the British, he managed to save the city (1779); joined in the siege of Savannah (1779) where he was wounded, dying two days later; a statue to him was erected in Savannah with the cornerstone being laid by Lafayette (1824); the statue was completed in 1855.

  Puritans Puritanism is the name given to the religious movement which generally sought greater strictness of life, simpler religious beliefs and manners of worship, and simpler church structure. The movement originated in the 16th century in the Church of England among those who thought there was too much attachment to the Church of Rome. The Puritans sought to “purify” the Church of England from vestments and elaborate ceremonies, and generally objected to icons (statues), stained glass windows, and church music. They further believe not only that all the clergy should be of equal rank rather than have a hierarchy of Archbishops, Bishops, etc., but that a local congregation should select its own pastor or even that a member of the congregation could preach. Some of the Puritans broke completely with the Church of England (also termed “separatists”) largely made up the group of “Pilgrims” which settled Plymouth Colony. The Puritan movement was much influenced by John Calvin and John Knox, and modern descendants of many of the Puritans’ teachings include the Baptists, Congregationalists, United Churches of Christ, and the Presbyterians.

  Rufus Putnam (1738-1824; Massachusetts) Soldier, jurist, and public official; his father died when he was seven, and he was raised by relatives and apprenticed to a millwright; his academic studies were self-taught math, geography, history, etc.; served in the French and Indian War (1755-56); after the War, farmed, surveyed, and built mills; entered the Revolution as a Lieutenant-Colonel and organized the batteries on Dorchester Heights that forced the British to evacuate Boston (1775-76); served in the Battle of Saratoga (1777) as well as the Battles of Stonypoint and Verplanck Point (1779); Brigadier-General (1783); helped end Shays’ Rebellion (1786-87); established the first settlement in the Northwest Territory at Marietta, Ohio (1788); appointed judge in the Northwest Territory by President George Washington (1796); Surveyor-General of the United States under Presidents George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson (1796-1803); delegate to the first Ohio constitutional convention (1802); president of the Ohio Bible Society (1816); sometimes called “The Father of Ohio.”

  Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618; England) Sailor, soldier, explorer, and merchant; studied at Oxford (1568); served with the French Huguenots (1569-72); involved in two piratical ventures against Spain (1578-79); captain of infantry in suppressing the rebellion in Ireland (1580-81); became Court favorite and was knighted (1584); given 40,000 acres in Ireland; inherited from his half-brother a patent for land in America; sent two ships to Florida and up to North Carolina; his first 108 settlers landed on Roanoke Island (1585); those settlers ran short of food and were unable to get along with the Indians and so returned to England with Francis Drake (1586); a second group of settlers arrived but only fifteen stayed (1586); another expedition of 150, including 17 women, was sent to Roanoke where they found no trace of the previous fifteen (1587); while there, Virginia Dare was born – the first English child born on this continent; another expedition was sent to Roanoke but found no trace of the previous colonists except the word “Croatan” carved on a tree (1590); Raleigh lost so much money that in 1589 he gave his rights to a company of businessmen who eventually established Jamestown – the first permanent English settlement on the continent; Raleigh made numerous sea voyages, including one to South America (1595), Cadiz (1596), the Azores (1597), and again to South America (1617); he was executed in 1618 under an old sentence for piracy.

  David Ramsay (1749-1815; South Carolina) Physician, public official, and author; graduated from Princeton (1765); graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia (1772); moved to South Carolina (1773); member of the State House of Representatives (1776-83); served as surgeon in the Continental Army (1780-81); member of the Continental Congress (1782-86) and served as its President Pro Tempore during the last term; member of the State Senate (1792, 1794, 1796, 1801-15) and served as president of that body for seven years; prominent historian and author of several historical works, including History of the Revolution of South Carolina (1785), History of the American Revolution (1789), Life of Washington (1807), History of South Carolina (1809), History of the United States (published posthumously in 1816-17); Ramsay was gunned down by an insane assassin (1815).

  Edmund Randolph (1753-1813; Virginia) Attorney, public official; graduated from William and Mary (1773); studied law under his father and admitted to the bar; appointed by Washington as aide-de-camp (1775); mayor of Williamsburg (1776); first Attorney-General of Virginia (1776-86); delegate to the State convention that adopted the first constitution for the State (1776); member of the Continental Congress (1779-82); Governor (1786); delegate to the Annapolis Convention which preceded the Constitutional Convention (1786); delegate to the Constitutional Convention (1787) but, along with George Mason, he declined to sign the completed Constitution because he thought it insufficiently protected States
’ rights; became a significant voice in leading the successful fight for a Bill of Rights; the first Attorney-General of the United States, appointed by President George Washington (1789-94); Secretary of State under President George Washington (1794-95); senior counsel for Aaron Burr in his treason trial (1807).

  William Rawle (1759-1836; Pennsylvania) Attorney, statesman, and author; studied law during the American Revolution (1778) and traveled to London for advanced legal studies (1781) before being admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar (1783); Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania (1786-1836); member of the State legislature (1789); selected by President George Washington as U. S. Attorney General but declined that position as well as a judgeship but did accept an appointment as U. S. Attorney for Pennsylvania (1791-1800); member of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society (1792-1836) and its president (1818), arguing court cases against slavery; Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar (1822-1827); Chancellor of the Law Association of Philadelphia (1827-1836); published his famous View of the Constitution (1825) which was used as a text in West Point; a founder and President of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (1825-1836); he was an active Quaker throughout his life.

  John Randolph of Roanoke (1773-1833; Virginia) Public official, and diplomat; a descendant of John Rolfe and Pocahontas; studied at Princeton, Columbia, and William & Mary; member of the U. S. House of Representatives (1799-1813, 1815, 1819-25, 1827-29); U. S. Senator (1825-27); delegate to the State constitutional convention at Richmond (1829); appointed minister to Russia by President Andrew Jackson (1830).