Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution, and Religion

by David Barton

  103. Journals of … Congress (1907), Vol. VIII, p. 536, July 7, 1777.

  104. Journals of … Congress (1907), Vol. VIII, p. 734, September 11, 1777.

  105. Journals of … Congress (1907), Vol. VIII, p. 735, September 11, 1777.

  106. Journals of … Congress (1907), Vol. IX, p. 851, October 31, 1777.

  107. Journals of … Congress (1907), Vol. IX, 1777, pp. 854-855, November 1, 1777.

  108. John Adams, Letters, Vol. II, pp. 18-19, to Abigail Adams on December 15, 1777.

  109. Peter Powers, Jesus Christ the True King and Head of Government. A Sermon Preached Before the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, on the Day of their First Election, March 12, 1778 (Newburyport: John Mycall, 1778), p. 29.

  110. See Powers, Jesus Christ the True King, which contains this copy of the Assembly’s resolution: State of Vermont, In General Assembly, March 13, 1778: “This Assembly have this day appointed Col. John Barret, and Capt. John G. Bayley, a Committee to wait on the Rev. Mr. Peter Powers with the thanks of this House for his Sermon delivered them yesterday, at the opening of this session, and to request a copy thereof for the press.”

  111. John Adams, Works, Vol. X, p. 284, to Hezekiah Niles, February 13, 1818.

  112. Paul Wallace, The Muhlenbergs of Pennsylvania (Pittsburg: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1950), p. 118; see also Henry A. Muhlenberg, The Life of Major-General Peter Muhlenberg of the Revolutionary Army (Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1849), p. 53.

  113. Wallace, Muhlenbergs, p. 118; see also Muhlenberg, Life, p. 53.

  114. Muhlenberg, Life, pp. 53-54.

  115. Muhlenberg, Life, p. 456; see also Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1888), s.v. “John Peter Muhlenberg.”

  116. Dorchester, Christianity, pp. 264-265

  117. Peter Oliver, Peter Oliver’s Origin & Progress of the American Rebellion, Douglass Adair and John A. Schutz, editors (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1961), pp. 29, 41-45; see also Carl Bridenbaugh, Mitre and Sceptre (New York: Oxford University Press, 1962), p. 334.

  118. John Wingate Thornton, Pulpit of the American Revolution (Boston: Gould and Lincoln, 1860).

  119. J. T. Headly, The Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution (Springfield, MA: G. & F. Bill, 1861).

  120. The Patriot Preachers of the American Revolution, With Biographical Sketches, 1766-1783 (New York: 1860).

  121. Washington, Writings (1932), Vol. XI, pp. 342-343, General Orders, May 2, 1778.

  122. George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: American Stationers’ Co., 1838), Vol. VI, p. 36, to General Nelson, August 20, 1778.

  123. Journals of Congress (1823), Vol. III, p. 85, October 12, 1778.

  124. Washington, Writings (1932), Vol. XX, pp. 94-95, General Orders, September 26, 1780.

  125. Journals of … Congress (1910), Vol. XVIII, p. 919, October 13, 1780.

  126. Journals of … Congress (1910), Vol. XVIII, pp. 950-951, October 18, 1780.

  127. Samuel Adams, Writings, Vol. IV, p. 189, “Vindex,” June 12, 1780.

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

  129. Journals of … Congress (1914), Vol. XXIII, p. 572, September 12, 1782.

  130. The New Annual Register, or General Repository of History, Politics, and Literature, for the Year 1781 (London: G. Robinson, 1782), pp. 169-170.

  131. Journals of … Congress (1823), Vol. III, p. 679, October 24, 1781.

  132. Journals of … Congress (1914), Vol. XXIII, p. 573, September 12, 1782.

  133. Journals of … Congress (1914), Vol. XXIII, p. 574, September 12, 1782; see also cover page of the “Bible of the Revolution,” either the 1782 original or the 1968 reprint by Arno Press.

  134. Journals of … Congress (1914), Vol. XXIII, p. 574, September 12, 1782.

  135. W. P. Strickland, History of the American Society from its Organization to the Present Time (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1849), pp. 20-21.

  136. Washington, Writings (1938), Vol. XXVI, p. 467, to Robert Morris, June 3, 1783.

  137. George Washington, The Last Official Address of His Excellency George Washington to the Legislature of the United States (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1783), p. 12; see also The New Annual Register or General Repository of History, Politics, and Literature, for the Year 1783 (London: G. Robinson, 1784), p. 150.

  138. Annual Register for the Year 1783, p. 113; opening line of final Treaty of Peace.

  139. Letters of Delegates to Congress (1994), Vol. XXVI, p. , October 22, 1783, n., Elias Boudinot to the States, saying “For this proclamation, which was drafted by a committee of James Duane, Samuel Holton and Samuel Huntington, appointed on October 13…”

  140. Journals of … Congress (1914), Vol. XXV, p. 699, proclamation for October 18, 1783.

  141. John Hancock, A Proclamation for a Day of Thanksgiving (Boston, 1783) for November 8, 1783.

  142. Thanksgiving Proclamation of November 11, 1783 (Trenton: Issac Collins, 1783).

  143. See the Thanksgiving Proclamation of October 30, 1783 by the President and the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, A Proclamation (Philadelphia: Francis Bailey, 1783).

  144. See the Journals of Congress (1823) for June 12, 1775; March 16, 1776; December 11, 1776; November 1, 1777; March 7, 1778; November 17, 1778; March 20, 1779; October 20, 1779; March 11, 1780; October 18, 1780; March 20, 1781; October 26, 1781; March 19, 1782; October 11, 1782; October 18, 1783.

  145. James Madison, The Papers of James Madison, Henry D. Gilpin, editor (Washington, DC: Langtree and O’Sullivan, 1840), Vol. II, pp. 984-986, June 28, 1787.

  146. Madison, Papers (1840), Vol. II, p. 986, June 28, 1787.

  147. Madison, Papers (1840), Vol. II, p. 986, June 28, 1787.

  148. Madison, Papers (1840), Vol. II, p. 986, June 28, 1787.

  149. See, for example, C. M. Butler, Addresses and Lectures on Public Men and Public Affairs (Cincinnati: H.W. Derby, 1856), p. 175, “Our Union - God’s Gift,” November 28, 1850.

  150. Madison, Papers (1840), Vol. II, p. 986, June 28, 1787.

  151. Madison, Papers (1840), Vol. II, pp. 1023-1024, July 4, 1787.

  152. George Washington, The Diaries of George Washington, John C. Fitzpatrick, editor (New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1925), Vol. III, p. 226, July 4, 1787.

  153. The Massachusetts Centinel (Boston), August 15, 1787, p. 1; see also Morris, Christian Life and Character, pp. 253-254.

  154. Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason, 1837), Vol. V, p. 162, “A Comparison of the Conduct of the Ancient Jews and of the Anti-Federalists in the United States of America.”

  155. Washington, Writings (1932), Vol. XXX, p. 321 n., May 10, 1789.

  156. The Debates in the Several Conventions, on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Jonathan Elliot, editor (Washington, DC: 1836), Vol. II, p. 2, Massachusetts Convention, January 9, 1788.

  157. Elliot, Debates, Vol. II, p. 207, New York Convention, June 17, 1788.

  158. Elliot, Debates, Vol. III, p. 1, Virginia Convention, June 2, 1788.

  159. Elliot, Debates, Vol. IV, p. 1, North Carolina Convention, July 21, 1788; see also Vol. II, p. 2, Masschusetts Convention, January 10, 1788.

  160. The Daily Advertiser (New York), April 23, 1789, p. 2.

  161. Annals of Congress (1834), Vol. I, p. 25, April 27, 1789.

  162. Annals of Congress (1834), Vol. I, p. 241, April 29, 1789.

  163. Annals of Congress (1834) Vol. I, pp. 27-28, April 30, 1789.

  164. Annals of Congress (1834) Vol. I, p. 29, April 30, 1789.

  165. Annals of Congress (1834) Vol.
I, pp. 949-950, September 25, 1789.

  166. Washington, Writings (1838), Vol. XII, pp. 119-120, October 3, 1789; see also James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1897 (Published by Authority of Congress, 1899), Vol. I, p. 64, October 3, 1789.

  167. Washington, Writings (1838), Vol. XII, p. 167, to the Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church of North America, October 1789.

  168. Washington, Writings (1838), Vol. X, pp. 222-223, to John Armstrong, March 11, 1792.

  169. George Washington, Address of George Washington, President of the United States … Preparatory to His Declination (Baltimore: Christopher Jackson, 1796), pp. 22-23.

  170. James Kent, Memoirs and Letters of James Kent, William Kent, editor (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1898), p. 123.

  171. The Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789-1800, Maeva Marcus, editor (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988), Vol. II, p. 11.

  172. The Documentary History of the Supreme Court, Vol. II, p. 13, from John Jay to Richard Law, March 10, 1790.

  173. New Hampshire Gazette (Portsmouth), May 26, 1791; see also Documentary History of the Supreme Court, Vol. II, p. 192.

  174. Columbian Centinel (Boston), May 16, 1792, p. 74; see also Documentary History of the Supreme Court, Vol. II, p. 276.

  175. The Documentary History of the Supreme Court, Vol. II p. 412, from the Newport Mercury (Rhode Island), June 25, 1793.

  176. United States Oracle (Portsmouth, NH), May 24, 1800; see also The Documentary History of the Supreme Court, Vol. III, p. 436.

  177. The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (Washington, DC: Gales and Seaton, 1851), 6th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 797, December 4, 1800.

  178. The First Forty Years of Washington Society, Gaillard Hunt, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906), p. 13.

  179. John Quincy Adams, Memoirs of John Quincy Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott and Co., 1874), Vol. I, p. 268, October 30, 1803.

  180. John Quincy Adams, Memoirs, Vol. I, p. 265, October 23, 1803.

  181. The Federal Orrery (Boston), July 2, 1795, p. 3, records that “public worship is now regularly administered at the Capitol every Sunday morning.” The diaries of Congressmen such as Rep. Manasseh Cutler record that President Thomas Jefferson was a regular weekly attendant at the church services (see, for example, William Cutler and Julia Cutler, Life, Journal, and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler (Cincinnati: Colon Robert Clarke &Co., 1888), Vol. II, p. 119, p. 113, and passim). The writings of Rep. Abijah Bigelow similarly document President James Madison’s attendance at the Capitol church (see, for example, American Antiquarian Society, Proceedings, 1810-1815 (1930), p. 168, letter of Abijah Bigelow to his wife, December 28, 1812). In the diaries of President John Quincy Adams, he records his own weekly attendance at the Capitol church (see, for example, John Quincy Adams, Memoirs, Vol. VII, pp. 437-438, and passim). Similar contemporary documents report the attendance of subsequent Presidents, Senators, and Representatives at the Capitol church until well after the Civil War (see, for example, James Hutson, Religion in the Founding of the American Republic (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1998), p. 91).

  182. Kendall, Travels, Vol. I, pp. 3-5.

  183. John Quincy Adams, Memoirs, Vol. I, p. 251, May 26, 1802.

  184. Alexis de Tocqueville, The Republic of the United States of America and Its Political Institutions, Reviewed and Examined, Henry Reeves, translator (Garden City, NY: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1851), Vol. I, p. 337.

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

  186. Murat, Sketch, pp. 113, 132.

  187. Murat, Sketch, p. 111.

  188. Harriet Martineau, Society in America (New York: Saunders and Otley, 1837),

  189. Martineau, Society, Vol. II, p. 366.

  190. Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U.S. 457, 465, 470, 471 (1892).

  Chapter 6 The Religious Nature of the Founding Fathers

  1. See Noah Webster’s Sketches of American Policy (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1785). James Madison confirms Noah Webster’s call as the second, following Pelatiah Webster’s call (Pelatiah Webster, A Dissertation on the Political Union and Constitution of the Thirteen United States (Hartford: Hudson & Goodwin, 1783)); see also James Madison, The Papers of James Madison, Henry D. Gilpin, editor (Washington, DC: Langtree & O. Sullivan, 1840), Vol. II, pp. 706-708, in Madison’s preface to his Notes on the Debates in the Convention.

  2. See, for example, Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (Springfield, MA: George and Charles Merriam, 1849), p. xvi, “Memoir of the Author.” Furthermore, Webster’s diaries record visits from delegates George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, Rufus King, Abraham Baldwin, Edmund Randolph, William Samuel Johnson, Oliver Ellsworth, Roger Sherman, and William Livingston during the Convention.

  3. American Heritage Dictionary, 2nd College Edition, (New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1983), s.v. “atheism.”

  4. American Heritage Dictionary, s.v. “agnostic.”

  5. American Heritage Dictionary, s.v. “deism”; see also American College Dictionary (New York: Random House, 1947), s.v. “deism.”

  6. Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language (1964), see synonym for “deist”; Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1971), see synonym for “atheist”; The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1902), Vol. I, see synonym for “atheist”; Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of the English Language (1956), see synonyms for “skeptic.”

  7. Society of Separationists, “Did you know that these great American thinkers all rejected Christianity?” (Austin: American Atheist Center); see also Steven Morris, Los Angeles Times, “America’s Unchristian Beginnings,” August 3, 1995, p. B-9.

  8. John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1856), Vol. X, p. 254, to Thomas Jefferson, April 19, 1817.

  9. John Adams, Works, Vol. X, p. 254, to Thomas Jefferson, April 19, 1817.

  10. Thomas Jefferson, Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, editor (Boston: Gray and Bowen, 1830), Vol. IV, p. 301, to John Adams, May 5, 1817.

  11. Naval Documents Related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers, Claude A. Swanson, editor (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1939), Vol. I, p. V.

  12. Glen Tucker, Dawn Like Thunder: The Barbary Wars and the Birth of the U. S. Navy (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1963), p. 127.

  13. A General View of the Rise, Progress, and Brilliant Achievements of the American Navy, Down to the Present Time (Brooklyn: 1828), pp. 70-71.

  14. Tucker, Dawn, p. 50.

  15. President Washington selected Col. David Humphreys in 1793 as sole commissioner of Algerian affairs to negotiate treaties with Algeria, Tripoli and Tunis. He also appointed Joseph Donaldson, Jr., as Consul to Tunis and Tripoli. In February of 1796, Humphreys delegated power to Donaldson and/or Joel Barlow to form treaties. James Simpson, U. S. Consul to Gibraltar, was dispatched to renew the treaty with Morocco in 1795. On October 8, 1796, Barlow commissioned Richard O’Brien to negotiate the treaty of peace with Tripoli. See, for example, Ray W. Irwin, The Diplomatic Relations of the United States with the Barbary Powers (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1931), p. 84.

  16. J. Fenimore Cooper, The History of the Navy of the United States of America (Philadelphia: Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co., 1847), pp. 123-124; see also A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: 1789-1897, James D. Richardson, editor (Washington, DC: Published by Authority of Congress, 1899), Vol. I, pp. 201-202, Washington’s Eighth Annual Address, December 7, 1796.

  17. See, for example, the 1787 treaty with Morocco; the 1795, 1815, and 1816 treaties with Algiers; the 1796 and 1805 treaties with Tripoli; and the 1797 treaty with Tunis. The American Diplomatic Code, Em
bracing A Collection of Treaties and Conventions Between the United States and Foreign Powers from 1778 to 1834, Jonathan Elliot, editor (New York: Burt Franklin, 1970; originally printed 1834), Vol. I, pp. 473-514.

  18. Gardner W. Allen, Our Navy and the Barbary Corsairs (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1905), pp. 33, 45, 56, 60.

  19. Allen, Our Navy, p. 66.

  20. Allen, Our Navy, p. 57.

  21. Allen, Our Navy, p. 56.

  22. (See general bibliographic information from footnote 17 for each of these references) Morocco: See Articles 10, 11, 17, and 24; Algiers: See Treaty of 1795, Article 17, and Treaty of 1815, Article 17; Tripoli: See Treaty of 1796, Article 11, and Treaty of 1805, Article 14; Tunis: See forward to Treaty.

  23. Acts Passed at the First Session of the Fifth Congress of the United States of America (Philadelphia: William Ross, 1797), pp. 43-44.

  24. John Jay, Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1893), Vol. IV, p. 491, Address to the Annual Meeting of the American Bible Society, May 8, 1823.

  25. John Quincy Adams, An Oration Delivered Before the Inhabitants of the Town of Newburyport at Their Request on the Sixty-First Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence (Newburyport: Charles Whipple, 1837), p. 17.

  26. John Adams, Works, Vol. IX, p. 121, in a speech to both houses of Congress, November 23, 1797.

  27. Noah Webster, History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1832), p. 339.

  28. Daniel Webster, Mr. Webster’s Speech in Defence of the Christian Ministry and In favor of the Religious Instruction of the Young. Delivered in the Supreme Court of the United States, February 10, 1844, in the Case of Stephen Girard’s Will (Washington, DC: Gales and Seaton, 1844), p. 52.

  29. John Adams, Works, Vol. VIII, p. 407, to Thomas Jefferson, July 3, 1786.

  30. John Adams, Works, Vol. X, pp. 45-46, to Thomas Jefferson, June 28, 1813.

  31. Charles Prentiss, The Life of the Late Gen. William Eaton (Brookfield: Merriam & Co., 1813), pp. 92-93, William Eaton to Timothy Pickering, June 15, 1799.

  32. Prentiss, Eaton, p. 146, to Mr. Smith, June 27, 1800.