Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution, and Religion

by David Barton

  13. George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Ferdinand Andrews, 1838), Vol. XII, p. 406, from Washington’s adopted daughter to Jared Sparks, February 26, 1833.

  14. Gunning Bedford, Funeral Oration upon the Death of General George Washington (Wilmington: Franklin Press, 1800), p. 15.

  15. John Frederick Schroeder, Maxims of Washington; Political, Social, Moral, and Religious (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1855), p. 340.

  16. Abiel Holmes, The Counsel of Washington, Recommended in a Discourse Delivered at Cambridge, February 22, 1800 (Boston: Samuel Hall, 1800), p. 20.

  17. Eulogies and Orations on the Life and Death of General George Washington (Boston: Manning and Loring, 1800), p. 37, eulogy by Jonathan Mitchell Sewall, December 31, 1799.

  18. Eulogies, p. 190, oration delivered by Jeremiah Smith, February 22, 1800.

  19. Michael A. MacDonald, “Founding Fathers weren’t devout,” The Charlotte Observer, Friday, January 15, 1993, p. 7A.

  20. John Witherspoon, The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. VI, p. 237, “A Serious Apology for the Ecclesiastical Characteristics.”

  21. The Beards, Rise, Vol. I, p. 439.

  22. Kenneth C. Davis, Don’t Know Much About History (New York: Avon Books, 1990), p. 61.

  23. Davis, Don’t Know, p. 21.

  24. Patrick Henry, Patrick Henry: Life, Correspondence and Speeches, William Wirt Henry, editor (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1891), Vol. I, p. 266; see also Orations of American Orators (New York: Colonial Press, 1900), Vol. I, p. 59.

  25. Documentary Source Book of American History 1606-1898, William MacDonald, editor (New York: MacMillan Co., 1909), p. 19.

  26. Documents of American History, Henry Steele Commager, editor (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1948), p. 117.

  27. Select Documents Illustrative of the History of the United States, 1776-1861, William MacDonald, editor (New York: MacMillan Co., 1898), p. 16.

  28. Documentary Source Book, p. 80.

  29. A Collection of Charters and Other Public Acts Relating to the Province of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: B. Franklin, 1740), p. 1.

  30. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America: Specially Edited and Abridged for the Modern Reader, Richard D. Heffner, editor (New York: Penguin Books, 1984).

  31. Alexis de Tocqueville, [Democracy in America] The Republic of the United States of America and its Political Institutions, Reviewed and Examined, Henry Reeves, translator (New York: A. S. Barnes, Co., 1851), Vol. I, p. 332.

  32. de Tocqueville, Democracy (1851), Part I, 337.

  33. de Tocqueville, Democracy (1851), Part I, 335.

  34. Paul C. Vitz, Censorship: Evidence of Bias in Our Children’s Textbooks (MI: Servant Books, 1986), p. 3.

  35. Vitz, Censorship, pp. 18-19.

  36. Vitz, Censorship, pp. 49-50.

  37. Vitz, Censorship, pp. 53-54.

  38. Vitz, Censorship, passim.

  39. Charles Coffin, The Story of Liberty (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1878), p. 9.

  40. “Shadowboxing” Richmond Times-Dispatch, Tuesday, August 17, 1993, p. A-8.

  41. “Shadowboxing” Richmond Times-Dispatch, Tuesday, August 17, 1993, p. A-8.

  42. “Sleaze in Salem,” Roanoke Times World-News, September 1, 1993, p. A-6.

  43. W. E. Woodward, A New American History (New York: Literary Guild, 1937), pp. 86-87.

  44. Woodward, George Washington, p. 143.

  45. Fairfax Downey, Our Lusty Forefathers (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1947), p. 40, n.

  46. Frank Moore, Materials for History Printed From Original Manuscripts, the Correspondence of Henry Laurens of South Carolina (New York: Zenger Club, 1861), p. 20, to John Laurens, August 14, 1776.

  47. John Jay, The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1891), Vol. III, p. 342, to the English Anti-Slavery Society, June 1788.

  48. Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Ellery Bergh, editor (Washington, DC: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Assoc., 1903), Vol. I, p. 34.

  49. Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason, 1839), Vol. VIII, p. 42, to Dean Woodward, April 10, 1773.

  50. 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, July 4, 1837 (Newburyport: Charles Whipple, 1837), p. 50.

  51. Jefferson, Writings, Vol. I, p. 4.

  52. Jefferson, Writings, Vol. I, p. 28, from his autobiography; see also James Madison, The Papers of James Madison (Washington, DC: Langtree and O’Sullivan, 1840), Vol. III, p. 1395, August 22, 1787; see also James Madison, The Writings of James Madison, Gaillard Hunt, editor, (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1910), Vol. IX, p. 2, to Robert Walsh, November 27, 1819.

  53. The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (Washington, DC: Gales and Seaton, 1834), p. 1518, 1st Congress, 2nd Session, March 22, 1790; see also George Adams Boyd, Elias Boudinot, Patriot and Statesman (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1952), p. 182.

  54. John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1854), Vol. IX, p. 92, to George Churchman and Jacob Lindley, January 24, 1801.

  55. Kate Mason Rowland, Life and Correspondence of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1898), Vol. II, p. 321, to Robert Goodloe Harper, April 23, 1820.

  56. Charles J. Stille, The Life and Times of John Dickinson (Philadelphia: J. P. Lippincott Co., 1891), p. 324, to George Logan, January 30, 1804.

  57. John Jay, The Life of John Jay, William Jay, editor (New York: J. & J. Harper, 1833), Vol. II, p. 174, to Richard Price, September 27, 1785.

  58. Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (Philadelphia: Matthew Carey, 1794), Query XVIII, pp. 236-237.

  59. Richard Henry Lee, Memoir of the Life of Richard Henry Lee, and His Correspondence With the Most Distinguished Men in America and Europe, Richard H. Lee, editor (Philadelphia: H. C. Carey and I. Lea, 1825), Vol. I, p. 19, first speech of Richard Henry Lee in the Virginia House of Burgesses.

  60. William Livingston, The Papers of William Livingston, Carl E. Prince, editor (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1988), Vol. V, p. 358, to James Pemberton, October 20, 1788.

  61. Luther Martin, The Genuine Information Delivered to the Legislature of the State of Maryland Relative to the Proceedings of the General Convention Lately Held at Philadelphia (Philadelphia: Eleazor Oswald, 1788), p. 57; see also Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Jonathan Elliot, editor (Washington, DC: 1836), Vol. I, p. 374.

  62. Elliot’s Debates, Vol. III, p. 452, George Mason, June 15, 1788.

  63. William Armor, Lives of the Governors of Pennsylvania (Norwich, CT: T. H. Davis &Co., 1872), p. 223.

  64. Benjamin Rush, Minutes of the Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the Abolition Societies Established in Different Parts of the United States Assembled at Philadelphia (Philadelphia: Zachariah Poulson, 1794), p. 24.

  65. Noah Webster, Effect of Slavery on Morals and Industry (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1793), p. 48.

  66. James Wilson, The Works of the Honorable James Wilson, Bird Wilson, editor (Philadelphia: Lorenzo Press, 1804), Vol. II, p. 488, “The Natural Rights of Individuals.”

  67. Witherspoon, Works (1815), Vol. VII, p. 81, Lecture X, “Lectures on Moral Philosophy.”

  68. Livingston, Papers, Vol. V, p. 255, to the New York Manumission Society, June 26, 1786.

  69. A Constitution or Frame of Government Agreed Upon by the Delegates of the People of the State of Massachusetts-Bay (Boston: Benjamin Edes and Sons, 1780), p. 7, Article I, “Declaration of Rights” and An Abridgement of the Laws of Pennsylvania, Collinson Read, editor, (Philadelphia: Printed for the Author, 1801), pp. 264-266, Act
of March 1, 1780.

  70. The Public Statue Laws of the State of Connecticut (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1808), Book I, pp. 623-625, Act passed in October 1777 and Rhode Island Session Laws (Providence: Wheeler, 1784), pp. 7-8, Act of February 27, 1784.

  71. Constitutions (1797), p. 249, Vermont, 1786, Article I, “Declaration of Rights.”

  72. The Constitutions of the Sixteen States (Boston: Manning and Loring, 1797), p. 50, New Hampshire, 1792, Article I, “Bill of Rights.”

  73. Laws of the State of New York, Passed at the Twenty-Second Session, Second Meeting of the Legislature (Albany: Loring Andrew, 1799), pp. 721-723, Act of March 29, 1799.

  74. Laws of the State of New Jersey, Complied and Published Under the Authority of the Legislature, Joseph Bloomfield, editor (Trenton: James J. Wilson, 1811), pp. 103-105, Act of February 15, 1804.

  75. Rufus King, The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, Charles King, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1894), Vol. I, pp. 288-289.

  76. Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1791), p. 104, August 7, 1789.

  77. The Constitutions of the United States of America (Trenton: Moore and Lake, 1813), p. 366, “An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States Northwest of the River Ohio,” Article VI.

  78. Washington, Writings (1932), Vol. XXVIII, pp. 407-408, to Robert Morris, April 12, 1786.

  79. Richard Allen, The Life Experience and Gospel Labors of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1983), p. 73, “Address to the People of Color in the United States.”

  80. Principles: A Quarterly Review for Teachers of History and Social Science (Claremont, CA: The Claremont Institute, 1992), Thomas G. West, “Was the American Founding Unjust? The Case of Slavery,” p. 5.

  81. Walter E. Williams, Creators Syndicate, May 26, 1993, “Some Fathers Fought Slavery.”

  82. Williams, May 26, 1993, “Some Fathers Fought Slavery.”

  83. Frank Swancara, Obstruction of Justice by Religion (Colorado: W. H. Courtright Publishing Co., 1936), p. 3.

  84. R. J. Rummel, Death By Government (New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1994), p. 4.

  85. Rummel, Death, p. 8.

  86. Daniel Dorchester, Christianity in the United States (New York: Hunt and Eaton, 1890), p. 124.

  87. Witherspoon, Works (1815), Vol. V, pp. 325-326, “The Trial of Religious Truth by Its Moral Influence,” October 9, 1759.

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

  89. James Thomas Flexner, George Washington: The Forge of Experience 1732-1775 (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1965), p. 39.

  90. Washington, Writings (1836), Vol. XI, p. 232, to Mrs. S. Fairfax on May 16, 1798.

  91. Washington, Writings (1938), Vol. XXVIII, p. 83, to George William Fairfax, February 27, 1785.

  92. Washington, Writings (1836), Vol. XI, p. 232, to Sarah Cary Fairfax, May 16, 1798.

  93. Flexner, George Washington, p. 157.

  94. See, for example, John Adams, Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851), Vol. III, pp. 170-171, diary entry for June 2, 1778; see also Noah Webster, The Revolution in France Considered in Respect to its Progress and Effects (New York: George Bunce, 1794), p. 18; see also Correspondence of the American Revolution; Being Letters of Eminent Men to George Washington, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1853), Vol. IV, pp. 256-257, from Gouverneur Morris to George Washington, April 29, 1789.

  95. de Tocqueville, Democracy (1851), Vol. I, p. 332.

  96. Washington, Writings (1835), Vol. IX, p. 190, to the Marquis de la Rouerie, August 10, 1786.

  97. George Washington Parke Custis, Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington, by His Adopted Son (New York: Derby & Jackson, 1860), pp. 472-473.

  98. John Marshall, The Life of George Washington (Philadelphia: C. P. Wayne, 1807), Vol. V, pp. 761-762.

  99. The Medical Repository, Samuel Mitchill and Edward Miller, editors (New York: T. & J. Swords, 1800), Vol. III, pp. 311-312, from The Times, a newspaper printed in Alexandria (Virginia), dated in December 16, 1799, by James Craik and Elisha C. Dick, attending physicians.

  100. Eulogies, p. 91, oration by David Ramsay, January 15, 1800.

  101. Eulogies, p. 190, oration by Jeremiah Smith, February 22, 1800.

  102. Eulogies, pp. 36-37, eulogy by Jonathan Mitchell Sewell, December 31, 1799.

  103. Eulogies, p. 17, oration by Henry Lee, December 26, 1799.

  104. John Quincy Adams, Writings of John Quincy Adams, Worthington Chauncey Ford, editor (New York: MacMillan Co., 1913), Vol. II, p. 451, n., to Joseph Pitcairn, February 4, 1800.

  105. Charles Caldwell, Character of General Washington (Philadelphia: Printed at the office of “The True American,” 1801), p. 7.

  106. Alfred W. McCann, Greatest of Men – Washington (New York: Devin-Adair Co., 1927), pp. 3, 5, 207.

  107. Barbara Chase-Riboud, Sally Hemings (New York: Viking Press, 1979), Book Jacket.

  108. Virginius Dabney, The Jefferson Scandals: A Rebuttal (New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1981), p. 6.

  109. Dictionary of American Biography, s.v. “James Thomson Callender.”

  110. Dictionary of American Biography, s.v. “James Thomson Callender.”

  111. Dictionary of American Biography, s.v. “James Thomson Callender.”

  112. Dabney, Scandals, pp. 15, 34.

  113. Dabney, Scandals, p. 6.

  114. Newsweek, February 1, 1993, p. 59, “What’s Fair in Love and War,” Randy Shilts.

  115. John McAuley Palmer, General Von Steuben (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1937), p. 94.

  116. Washington, Writings (1934), Vol. XI, pp. 83-84, General Orders, March 14, 1778.

  117. William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1769), Vol. IV, pp. 215-216.

  118. James Wilson, The Works of James Wilson (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1967), Vol. II, p. 656.

  119. Zephaniah Swift, A System of Laws of the State of Connecticut (Windham: John Byrne, 1796), Vol. II, p. 311.

  120. Laws of the State of New York … Since the Revolution (New York: Thomas Greenleaf, 1798), Vol., I, p. 336, Chap. XXI, February 14, 1787, in which the penalty was hanging; The Public Statute Law of the State of Connecticut (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1808), Book I, p. 295, Title LXVI, Chap. I, §2, in which the penalty was death; Alphabetical Digest of the Public Statute Laws of South Carolina (Charleston: John Hoff, 1814), Vol. I, p. 99, Title 28, in which the penalty was death as well as the forfeiture of possessions; Statutes of the State of Vermont (Bennington, VT: Anthony Haswell 1791), p. 74, March 8, 1787, in which the penalty was death.

  121. A Digest of the Laws of the State of Georgia (Milledgeville: Grantland and Orme, 1822), p. 350, Section XXXV, in which the penalty was life in prison at hard labor; Laws of the State of Maine (Hallowell: Goodale, Glazier and Co., 1822), p. 58, Chapter V, Febrary 19, 1821, in which the penalty was solitary confinement for up to one year and imprisonment at hard labor for up to ten years; Laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: John Bioren, 1810), Vol. I, p. 113, Chapter CCXXXVI, Section VII, in which the penalty was imprisonment at hard labor.

  122. Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (Philadelphia: Matthew Carey, 1794), Query XIV, p. 211.

  123. Jefferson, Writings, Vol. I, pp. 226-227, “For Proportioning Crimes and Punishments.”

  124. Peter Stone, 1776: A Musical Play (New York: The Viking Press, 1970), p. 153.

  125. Stone, 1776, Musical, p. 78.

  126. Stone, 1776, Musical, p. 74.

  127. Stone, 1776, Musical, p. 28.

  128. Stone, 1776, Musical, p. 81.

  129. Charles A. Goodrich, Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (New York: William Reed & Co., 1829), p. 153.

&
nbsp; 130. John Sanderson, Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (Philadelphia: R.W. Pomeroy, 1824), Vol. VI, pp. 253, 260.

  131. Benson J. Lossing, Eminent Americans (New York: American Book Exchange, 1881), p. 320.

  132. Chase-Riboud, Hemings, Book Jacket.

  133. Chase-Riboud, Hemings, pp. 123-124.

  134. Mary Higgins Clark, Aspire To The Heavens: A Portrait of George Washington (Cutchogue, NY: Buccaneer Books, 1968), p. 44.

  135. Richard M. Rollins, The Long Journey of Noah Webster (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1980), pp. 107-108.

  136. Noah Webster, Letters of Noah Webster, Harry R. Warfel, editor (New York: Library Publishers, 1953), pp. 309-315, to Thomas Dawes, December 20, 1808.

  137. Fawn M. Brodie, Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History (New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1974), p. 229.

  138. Brodie, Intimate History, p. 229.

  139. Mark Noll, Nathan Hatch, George Marsden, The Search for Christian America (Colorado Springs: Helmers & Howard, 1989), p. 90.

  140. See, for example, John Witherspoon’s numerous works, including The Dominions of Providence Over the Passions of Men (Philadelphia: R. Aitken, 1776); Ecclesiastical Characteristics (Philadelphia: William and Thomas Bradford, 1767); Christian Magnanimaty (Princeton: James Tod, 1787); A Sermon on the Religious Education of Children (Elizabethtown: Kollock, 1789); Sermons on Practical Subjects (Glasgow: A. Duncan and Co., 1768); Letters on the Education of Children and Marriage (Andover: Flagg and Gould, 1817); The Works of the Rev. John Witherspoon (Philadelphia: William W. Woodward, 1802) in four volumes; The Works of John Witherspoon (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815) in ten volumes; etc.

  141. Noah Webster, The Holy Bible … With Amendments of the Language (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1833), p. iii.

  142. Random House Dictionary of the English Language (1987), s.v. “religion.”

  143. United States v. Seeger, 380 U.S. 163 (1965).

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

  145. The Beards, Rise, pp. 448-449.

  146. The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia (Avon Publishers, 1983), p. 872.