Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution, and Religion

by David Barton

  33. Prentiss, Eaton, p. 150, to Timothy Pickering, July 4, 1800.

  34. Prentiss, Eaton, p. 185, to John Marshall, September 2, 1800.

  35. Prentiss, Eaton, p. 325, Eaton’s journal, April 8, 1805.

  36. Prentiss, Eaton, p. 334, Eaton’s journal, May 23, 1805.

  37. The complete title is: The Life of the Late Gen. William Eaton: Several Years an Officer in the United States’ Army Consul at the Regency of Tunis on the Coast of Barbary, and Commander of the Christian and Other Forces that Marched from Egypt Through the Desert of Barca, in 1805, and Conquered the City of Derne, Which Led to the Treaty of Peace Between the United States and the Regency of Tripoli.

  38. Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore and Mason, 1840), Vol. X, pp. 281-282, to Thomas Paine in 1790.

  39. John Adams, Works, Vol. III, p. 421, diary entry for July 26, 1796.

  40. John Adams, Works, Vol. IX, p. 73, to John Marshall, August 11, 1800.

  41. Samuel Adams, The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams, William V. Wells, editor (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1865), Vol. III, pp. 372-373, to Thomas Paine, November 30, 1802.

  42. Benjamin Rush, Letters of Benjamin Rush, L. H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1951), Vol. II, p. 770, to John Dickinson, February 16, 1796.

  43. Joseph Gurn, Charles Carroll of Carrollton (New York: P. J. Kennedy & Sons, 1932), p. 203.

  44. John Witherspoon, The Works of the Reverend John Witherspoon (Philadelphia: William W. Woodward, 1802), Vol. III, p. 24, n. 2, “The Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men,” May 17, 1776.

  45. John Quincy Adams, An Answer to Pain’s [sic] “Rights of Man” (London: John Stockdale, 1793), p. 13.

  46. Elias Boudinot, The Age of Revelation (Philadelphia: Asbury Dickins, 1801), pp. xii-xiv, prefatory remarks to his daughter, Mrs. Susan V. Bradford.

  47. S. G. Arnold, The Life of Patrick Henry of Virginia (Auburn: Miller, Orton and Mulligan, 1854), p. 250, to his daughter Betsy, August 20, 1796.

  48. George Morgan, Patrick Henry (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1929), p. 366 n; see also, Bishop William Meade, Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of Virginia (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1857), Vol. II, p. 12.

  49. John E. O’Conner, William Paterson: Lawyer and Statesman (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1979), p. 244, Fourth of July Oration in 1798.

  50. Zephaniah Swift, A System of Laws of the State of Connecticut (Windham: John Byrne, 1796), Vol. II, pp. 323-324.

  51. William Jay, The Life of John Jay (New York: J. & J. Harper, 1833), Vol. II, p. 266, to Uzal Ogden, February 14, 1796.

  52. Dictionary of American Biography, s.v. “Thomas Paine.”

  53. Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason (Philadelphia: Booksellers, 1794), p. 8.

  54. Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), s.v. “infidelity.”

  55. Benjamin Franklin, Two Tracts: Information to Those Who Would Remove to America and Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America (London: John Stockdale, 1784), p. 24.

  56. Paine, Reason, p. 9.

  57. Ethan Allen, Reason the Only Oracle of Man (Bennington, VT: Haswell & Russell, 1784). This book was also called “The Deist’s Bible.”

  58. Charles Lee, Anecdotes of the Late Charles Lee, [and His] Letters (London: J. S. Jordan, 1797), pp. 189-194; see especially his will.

  59. Daniel Dorchester, Christianity in the United States from the First Settlement Down to the Present Time (New York: Hunt & Eaton, 1890), pp. 316-317.

  60. Copies of these wills are in the author’s possession; they may be obtained from various state archives and historical societies.

  61. John Adams and John Quincy Adams, The Selected Writings of John and John Quincy Adams, Adrienne Koch and William Peden, editors (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1946), p. 292, John Quincy Adams to John Adams, January 3, 1817.

  62. Gunning Bedford, Funeral Oration Upon the Death of General George Washington (Wilmington: James Wilson, 1800), p. 18.

  63. Rolla P. Andrae, A True, Brief History of Daniel Boone (Defiance, MO: Daniel Boone Home, 1985), p. 59, to Sarah Boone, October 1816.

  64. Letters of Delegates to Congress: 1774-1789, Paul H. Smith, editor (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1992), Vol. XIX, p. 325, Elias Boudinot to Susan Boudinot, October 30, 1782; see also Elias Boudinot, The Life, Public Services, Addresses, and Letters of Elias Boudinot, J.J. Boudinot, editor (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, and Co., 1896), Vol. I, p. 260-262.

  65. From an autographed letter in the author’s possession written by Jacob Broom to his son, James, February 24, 1794.

  66. From an autographed letter in the author’s possession written by Charles Carroll to Charles W. Wharton, September 27, 1825.

  67. James Iredell, The Papers of James Iredell, Don Higginbotham, editor (Raleigh: North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1976), Vol. I, p. 11, 1768 essay on religion.

  68. E. Edwards Beardsley, Life and Times of William Samuel Johnson (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1886), p. 184.

  69. James Kent, Memoirs and Letters of James Kent, William Kent, editor (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1898), p. 277.

  70. Hugh A. Garland, The Life of John Randolph of Roanoke (New York: D. Appleton &Co., 1853), Vol. II, p. 104, from Francis Scott Key.

  71. Robert Treat Paine, The Papers of Robert Treat Paine, Stephen T. Riley and Edward W. Hanson, editors (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1992), Vol. I, p. 48, March/April 1749.

  72. Charles W. Upham, The Life of Timothy Pickering (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1873), Vol. IV, p. 390, prayer of November 30, 1828.

  73. Garland, John Randolph, Vol. II, p. 99, to Francis Scott Key, September 7, 1818.

  74. Benjamin Rush, The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush, George W. Corner, editor (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1948), p. 166.

  75. Lewis Henry Boutell, The Life of Roger Sherman (Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Co., 1896), pp. 272-273.

  76. Swift, Correspondent, p. 135.

  77. Jonathan Trumbull, Governor of the English Colony of Connecticut, in New-England, in America, A Proclamation (New Haven, 1770), for November 15, 1770.

  78. John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. V, p. 276, 278, “The Absolute Necessity of Salvation Through Christ,” January 2, 1758.

  79. An Abstract of the American Bible Society (New York: Daniel Fanshaw, 1830), p. 2.

  80. Report of the Executive Committee of the Bible Society of Massachusetts, prepared for the Anniversary of the Society, June 4, 1818 (Boston: John Eliot, 1818), p. 7.

  81. Parker C. Thompson, The United States Army Chaplaincy: from its European Antecedents to 1791 (Washington, DC: Office of the Chief of Chaplains, Department of the Army, 1978), Vol. I, p. 246; see also Dictionary of American Biography, s.v. “Abraham Baldwin.”

  82. Thompson, Army Chaplaincy, Vol. I, p. 246; see also Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography, s.v. “Joel Barlow.”

  83. The Second Report of the Managers of the New Jersey Bible Society (Trenton: George Sherman, 1811), p. 11.

  84. Constitution of the American Bible Society (New York: G. F. Hopkins, 1816), p. 7.

  85. Address of the New Jersey Bible Society to the Publick (New Brunswick: Abraham Blauvelt, 1810), p. 15.

  86. Report of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (Boston: Crocker &Brewster, 1835), p. 5.

  87. Eliphalet Pearson, A Sermon Delivered in Boston Before the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, November 27, 1811 (Cambridge: Hilliard and Metcalf, 1811), p. 36.

  88. Abiel Holmes, A Discourse Delivered Before the Society for Propagating the Gospel Among the Indians and Others in North America, November 3, 1808 (Boston: Farrand, Mallory, and Co., 1808), p. 66.

  89. The Eighth Report of the Bible Society of Philadelphia (Philadelpia: William Fry, 1816), p. 44.

  90. Con
stitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7; see also W. P. Strickland, History of the American Bible Society from its Organization to the Present Time (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1849), p. 34.

  91. Eighth Report of the Bible Society of Philadelphia, p. 45.

  92. The First Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the American Bible Society (New York: J. Seymour, 1817), p. vii; The Second Report of the American Bible Society (New York: Daniel Fanshaw, 1818), p. iii.

  93. Holmes, Discourse, p. 65.

  94. The Constitution of the Missionary Society of Connecticut (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1800), p. 5.

  95. John Lathrop, A Discourse Before the Society for Propagating the Gospel Among the Indians and Others in North America, Delivered on the 19th of January, 1804 (Boston: Manning and Loring, 1804), p. 42.

  96. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  97. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  98. Abstract of the American Bible Society, p. 2.

  99. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  100. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  101. Dictionary of American Biography, s.v. “Lyman Hall.”

  102. Alexander Hamilton, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, Harold C. Syrett, editor (New York: Columbia University Press, 1977), Vol. XXV, pp. 605-610, to James Bayard, April 16-21, 1802.

  103. Second Report of the Managers of the New Jersey Bible Society, p. 14.

  104. Sixth Report of the American Bible Society (New York: Daniel Fanshaw, 1822), p. vii.

  105. Report of the American Board for Foreign Missions, p. 5.

  106. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  107. William J. Petersen, A Brief History of the American Sunday-School Union (PA: American Missionary Fellowship, 1969), p. 6.

  108. Henry Otis Dwight, The Centennial History of the American Bible Society (New York: MacMillan Co., 1916), Vol. I, p. 73; see also Second Report of the American Bible Society (New York: Daniel Fanshaw, 1818), p. vii, through at least the Fourteenth Annual Report of the American Bible Society (New York: Daniel Fanshaw, 1830), p. vii, and others.

  109. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 6; see also, Rufus King, The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, Charles R. King, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1900), Vol. VI, pp. 28-30 (including all notes), from Rev. Romeyn, July 17, 1816; to Rev. Romeyn, July 1816; from Rev. Romeyn, July 31, 1816.

  110. Address of the New Jersey Bible Society to the Publick (New Brunswick: Abraham Blauvelt, 1810), p. 15.

  111. Abstract of the American Bible Society, p. 2.

  112. Gailbreth Hall Todd, The Torch and the Flag (Philadelphia: American Sunday School Union, 1966), p. 20.

  113. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  114. Holmes, Discourse, p. 66.

  115. Holmes, Discourse, p. 66.

  116. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  117. Abstract of the American Bible Society, p. 2.

  118. Todd, Torch, p. 19.

  119. Bernard C. Steiner, One Hundred and Ten Years of Bible Society Work in Maryland: 1810-1920 (Baltimore: Maryland Bible Society, 1921), pp. 12-13.

  120. Abstract of the American Bible Society, p. 2.

  121. Todd, Torch, p. 20.

  122. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  123. Robert Treat Paine, Papers, Vol. I, p. 300, commission as chaplain, August 8, 1755.

  124. Todd, Torch, p. 20.

  125. Holmes, Discourse, p. 64.

  126. A Circular Address from the Bible Society of Massachusetts (Boston: J. Belcher, 1809), p. 22.

  127. Report of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, p. 5.

  128. Fifth Report of the American Bible Society (New York: Daniel Fanshaw, 1821), p. vii.

  129. Samuel Worchester, A Sermon Preached in Boston on the Anniversary of the American Society for Educating Pious Youth for the Gospel Ministry (Andover: Flagg & Gould, 1816), p. 44.

  130. Eighth Report of the Bible Society of Philadelphia, p. 51.

  131. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  132. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  133. Eighth Report of the Bible Society of Philadelphia, p. 51.

  134. An Address of the Bible Society Established at Philadelphia to the Public (Philadelphia: Fry and Kammerer, 1809), p. 24.

  135. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  136. Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography, s.v. “Cotton Mather Smith.”

  137. Eighth Report of the Bible Society of Philadelphia, p. 45.

  138. Henry Otis Dwight, The Centennial History of the American Bible Society (New York: MacMillan Co., 1916), pp. 97-98.

  139. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-1989 (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1989), s.v. “John Cotton Smith.”

  140. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  141. Holmes, Discourse, p. 68.

  142. Holmes, Discourse, p. 65.

  143. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  144. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7; see also Abstract of the American Bible Society, p. 2.

  145. First Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the American Bible Society, p. iii.

  146. Constitution of the Missionary Society of Connecticut (Hartford: Hudson & Goodwin, 1800), p. 5.

  147. Ninth Report of the American Bible Society (New York: Abraham Paul, 1825), p. 2.

  148. Margaret R. Townsend, Vice-Presidents of the American Bible Society, 1816-1966 (New York: American Bible Society, 1967), s.v. “Peter Vroom.”

  149. Report of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, p. 4.

  150. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  151. Todd, Torch, p. 16

  152. Todd, Torch, p. 18.

  153. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  154. Dictionary of American Biography, s.v. “John Witherspoon.”

  155. Constitution of the American Bible Society, p. 7.

  156. American Heritage, December 1992, “The Radical Revolution,” Gordon Wood, p. 52.

  157. Steven Morris, “America’s Unchristian Beginnings,” The Los Angeles Times, August 3, 1995, p. B-9. This article was picked up on wire services and appeared in newspapers across the nation.

  158. Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Ellery Bergh, editor (Washington, DC: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1904), Vol. XIV, p. 385, to Charles Thompson, January 9, 1816.

  159. Jefferson, Memoir, Vol. III, p. 506, to Benjamin Rush, April 21, 1803.

  160. Benjamin Franklin, Works of the Late Doctor Benjamin Franklin (Dublin: P. Morgan, P. Byrne, J. Moore, and W. Jones, 1793), p. 76.

  161. See, for example, Charles Buck, A Theological Dictionary Containing Definitions of All Religious Terms (Philadelphia: Edwin T. Scott, 1823), pp. 141-142; John Evans, A Sketch of the Denominations into Which the Christian World is Divided (Worcester: Thomas & Sturtevant, 1807), pp. 22-26; Robert Baird, Religion in America (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1845), p. 286.

  162. James Madison, The Papers of James Madison (Washington, DC: Langtree & Sullivan, 1840), Vol. II, pp. 984-986.

  163. Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), s.v. “infidelity.”

  164. John Adams, Papers of John Adams (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1983), Vol. VI, p. 348, to James Warren, August 4, 1778.

  165. Rush, Letters, Vol. II, p. 799, to Noah Webster, July 20, 1798.

  166. Hamilton, Papers, Vol. XXI, pp. 402-404, “The Stand No. III,” April 7, 1798.

  167. William Jay, Life, Vol. II, pp. 346-347, to John Bristed, April 23, 1811.

  168. Arnold, Patrick Henry, pp. 249-250.

  169. Samuel Adams, The Writings of Samuel Adams, Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (Ne
w York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1906), Vol. II, p. 381, to William Checkley, December 14, 1772.

  170. Collections of the New York Historical Society for the Year 1821 (New York: E. Bliss and E. White, 1821), p. 34, “An Inaugural Discourse Delivered Before the New York Historical Society by the Honorable Gouverneur Morris,” September 4, 1816.

  171. Witherspoon, Works (1815), Vol. VI, p. 13, “An Address to the Senior Class at Princeton College,” September 23, 1775.

  172. Witherspoon, Works (1802), Vol. III, p. 42, “The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men,” May 17, 1776.

  173. Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography, James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, editors (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1888), s.v. “Richard Lee/Richard Henry Lee.”

  174. Richard Henry Lee, Memoir of the Life of Richard Henry Lee, and His Correspondence, Richard H. Lee, editor (Philadelphia: H. C. Carey and I. Lea, 1825), Vol. I, p. 201.

  175. Dallas Times Herald, August 6, 1988, Associated Press, “Public backs ‘separation’ slogan, but not its results,” B-5, see also Jacob Gershman, “Freedom of Religion Resides in Obscurity: Few Students Aware of First Amendment,” New York Sun, 2002 (at: www.thefire.org/pdfs/167_3392.pdf).

  Chapter 7 Safeguarding Original Intent

  1. Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U.S. 457, 459 (1892).

  2. John Dickinson, The Political Writings of John Dickinson (Wilmington: Bonsal and Niles, 1801), Vol. I, p. 199.

  3. State v. [Smith] Clark, 29 N.J.L. 96, 97-98 (1860).

  4. Clark at 97.

  5. Clark at 99.

  6. United States v. Kirby, 74 U.S. 482, 483 (1868).

  7. Kirby at 484.

  8. Kirby at 486, 487.

  9. Kirby at 487.

  10. Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U.S. 457, 472 (1892).

  Chapter 8 Rewriting Original Intent

  1. McCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U.S. 203, 207-209 (1948).

  2. McCollum at 212.

  3. McCollum at 231, (Frankfurter, J., concurring).

  4. Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America, Begun and Held at the City of New-York on Wednesday the Fourth of March in the Year 1789 (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1791), p. 104.

  5. The Constitutions of the United States of America (Trenton: Moore and Lake, 1813), p. 364, “An Ordinance of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio,” Article III; see also The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846), Vol. III, p. 536, December 3, 1818.