Independence -- What Did It Mean to the Ones Who Founded Our Country?

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Every year on July 4th we celebrate Independence Day.

But what does it mean to us?

Well, Wikipedia says this: 

"Independence Day...is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence...on July 4, 1776.  The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as a new nation, the United States of America, and were no longer part of the British Empire....

"Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the National Day of the United States." 

Somehow, they forgot motorcycle riding amongst the activities!
 

These are all good things we do to celebrate the founding of our great country, certainly. 

But what did the guys who thought up the way the country would work best?  The Declaration of Independence was certainly important.  The Continental Congress had appointed a five-man committee – including Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Robert R. Livingston of New York – to draft the formal statement justifying the break with Great Britain.  That document would become known as the Declaration of Independence. 

Some of its text is famous:

"...that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"

Right from the start in this document, they declared some things that are vital to our freedom then and today.

A little more info is available here. 


Another important document that came later, in 1789, is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that are attached to it. 

It starts out:

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." 

It goes on to explain how the various branches of the United States government are to work, and more importantly, what the federal government is NOT to have anything to do with.  There are some posts that explain this too, found here and here. 


OK, but what did those founding guys who wrote these documents believe in so many years ago?

Here are a few quotations of people we should have learned about in history class.  These are from the Wall Builders website, where there are many more: 

John Adams

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; JUDGE; DIPLOMAT; ONE OF TWO SIGNERS OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.¹

Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company: I mean hell.²

The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity.³

Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited. . . . What a Eutopia – what a Paradise would this region be!⁴

I have examined all religions, and the result is that the Bible is the best book in the world.⁵

John Quincy Adams

SIXTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; DIPLOMAT; SECRETARY OF STATE; U. S. SENATOR; U. S. REPRESENTATIVE; “OLD MAN ELOQUENT”; “HELL-HOUND OF ABOLITION”

My hopes of a future life are all founded upon the Gospel of Christ and I cannot cavil or quibble away [evade or object to]. . . . the whole tenor of His conduct by which He sometimes positively asserted and at others countenances [permits] His disciples in asserting that He was God.⁶

The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes in the Divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures must hope that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth. Never since the foundation of the world have the prospects of mankind been more encouraging to that hope than they appear to be at the present time. And may the associated distribution of the Bible proceed and prosper till the Lord shall have made “bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” [Isaiah 52:10].⁷

In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.⁸

Benjamin Franklin

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION; DIPLOMAT; PRINTER; SCIENTIST; SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA

As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and His religion as He left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see.²⁹

The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer, like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and guilding, lies here, food for worms. Yet the work itself shall not be lost; for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new and more beautiful edition, corrected and amended by the Author.³⁰ (FRANKLIN’S EULOGY THAT HE WROTE FOR HIMSELF)

John Hancock

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS; REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS

Sensible of the importance of Christian piety and virtue to the order and happiness of a state, I cannot but earnestly commend to you every measure for their support and encouragement.³⁷

He called on the entire state to pray “that universal happiness may be established in the world [and] that all may bow to the scepter of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the whole earth be filled with His glory.”³⁸

He also called on the State of Massachusetts to pray . . .

• that all nations may bow to the scepter of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and that the whole earth may be filled with his glory.³⁹
• that the spiritual kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be continually increasing until the whole earth shall be filled with His glory.⁴⁰
• to confess their sins and to implore forgiveness of God through the merits of the Savior of the World.⁴¹
• to cause the benign religion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be known, understood, and practiced among all the inhabitants of the earth.⁴²
• to confess their sins before God and implore His forgiveness through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.⁴³
• that He would finally overrule all events to the advancement of the Redeemer’s kingdom and the establishment of universal peace and good will among men.⁴⁴
• that the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be established in peace and righteousness among all the nations of the earth.⁴⁵
• that with true contrition of heart we may confess our sins, resolve to forsake them, and implore the Divine forgiveness, through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, our Savior. . . . And finally to overrule all the commotions in the world to the spreading the true religion of our Lord Jesus Christ in its purity and power among all the people of the earth.⁴⁶

Patrick Henry

REVOLUTIONARY GENERAL; LEGISLATOR; “THE VOICE OF LIBERTY”; RATIFIER OF THE
U. S. CONSTITUTION; GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA

Being a Christian… is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast.⁴⁸

The Bible… is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed.⁴⁹

Righteousness alone can exalt [America] as a nation…Whoever thou art, remember this; and in thy sphere practice virtue thyself, and encourage it in others.⁵⁰

The great pillars of all government and of social life [are] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone, that renders us invincible.⁵¹

This is all the inheritance I can give to my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.⁵²

Thomas Jefferson

SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; DIPLOMAT; GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA; SECRETARY OF STATE; THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend all to the happiness of man.⁶³

The practice of morality being necessary for the well being of society, He [God] has taken care to impress its precepts so indelibly on our hearts that they shall not be effaced by the subtleties of our brain. We all agree in the obligation of the moral principles of Jesus and nowhere will they be found delivered in greater purity than in His discourses.⁶⁴

I am a Christian in the only sense in which He wished anyone to be: sincerely attached to His doctrines in preference to all others.⁶⁵

I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ.⁶⁶

James Madison

SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION; AUTHOR OF THE FEDERALIST PAPERS; FRAMER OF THE
BILL OF RIGHTS; SECRETARY OF STATE; FOURTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

A watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest, while we are building ideal monuments of renown and bliss here, we neglect to have our names enrolled in the Annals of Heaven.⁷¹

I have sometimes thought there could not be a stronger testimony in favor of religion or against temporal enjoyments, even the most rational and manly, than for men who occupy the most honorable and gainful departments and [who] are rising in reputation and wealth, publicly to declare their unsatisfactoriness by becoming fervent advocates in the cause of Christ; and I wish you may give in your evidence in this way.⁷²

George Washington

JUDGE; MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS;
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY;
PRESIDENT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION;
FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; “FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY”

You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.¹²¹

While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.¹²²

The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger. The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.¹²³

I now make it my earnest prayer that God would… most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of the mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion.¹²⁴

Daniel Webster

U. S. SENATOR; SECRETARY OF STATE; “DEFENDER OF THE CONSTITUTION”

[T]he Christian religion – its general principles – must ever be regarded among us as the foundation of civil society.¹²⁵

Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens.¹²⁶

[T]o the free and universal reading of the Bible… men [are] much indebted for right views of civil liberty.¹²⁷

The Bible is a book… which teaches man his own individual responsibility, his own dignity, and his equality with his fellow man.¹²⁸

Noah Webster

REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER; JUDGE; LEGISLATOR; EDUCATOR; “SCHOOLMASTER TO AMERICA”

[T]he religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His apostles… This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe our free constitutions of government.¹²⁹

The moral principles and precepts found in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.¹³⁰

All the… evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.¹³¹

[O]ur citizens should early understand that the genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament, or the Christian religion.¹³²[T]he Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children under a free government ought to be instructed. No truth is more evident than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.¹³³

The Bible is the chief moral cause of all that is good and the best corrector of all that is evil in human society – the best book for regulating the temporal concerns of men.¹³⁴

[T]he Christian religion… is the basis, or rather the source, of all genuine freedom in government… I am persuaded that no civil government of a republican form can exist and be durable in which the principles of Christianity have not a controlling influence.¹³⁵

Notice that all of them cited the importance of religion -- mostly Christianity -- related to our form of government?  That is one of the main reasons our country has survived these nearly 2½ centuries, and the reason why we have the freedoms we do. 

The government our founders gave us is still the most perfect form of government thus far conceived on this earth.

We had better not tamper with it, lest we lose it along with the many freedoms it gives us -- including riding our motorbikes almost anywhere we choose. 

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