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Historical
Documents & Speeches
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"It
is the duty of
every good citizen to use all the opportunities which occur to him, for
preserving documents relating to the history of our country."
— Thomas
Jefferson,
Author of the Declaration of Independence
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Magna
Carta - 1215 
“Here
is a law which is
above the King and which even he must not break. This reaffirmation of
a
supreme law and its expression in a general charter is the great work
of Magna
Carta; and this alone justifies the respect in which men have held
it.”
—
Winston Churchill
(1874-1965), British Politician & Leader, 1956
John, by the grace of God,
king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and
count of
Anjou, to the archbishop, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciaries,
foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his bailiffs and
liege subjects,
greetings. Know that, having regard to God and for the salvation of our
soul,
and those of all our ancestors and heirs... - Download
- PDF
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The
First Charter of Virginia 1606, Jamestown
The First Charter
of Virginia - To the Glory of God - “JAMES, by the Grace of
God, King of England, Scotland, France
and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, ... loving Subjects, have been
humble
Suitors unto us, that We would vouchsafe unto them our Licence, to make
Habitation, Plantation, and to deduce a colony of sundry of our People
into
that part of America commonly called VIRGINIA, and other parts and
Territories
in America, either appertaining unto us, or which are not now actually
possessed by any Christian Prince or People, ...We, greatly commending,
and
graciously accepting of, their Desires for the Furtherance of so noble
a Work,
which may, by the Providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the
Glory of
his Divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian Religion to such
People, as yet
live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and
Worship of
God, and may in time bring the Infidels and Savages, living in those
parts, to
human Civility, and to a settled and quiet Government: DO, by these our
Letters
Patents, graciously accept of, and agree to, their humble and
well-intended
Desires.”.- Download
- PDF
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Mayflower
Compact - 1620 
Mayflower Compact -
For the Glory of God - IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are
underwritten, the Loyal Subjects
of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great
Britain,
France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having
undertaken for
the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the
Honour of our
King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern
Parts of
Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence
of God
and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil
Body Politick,
for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends
aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such
just and
equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to
time,
as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of
the
Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. - Download
- PDF
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The
New England Confederation - 1643 
“We shall find that the God
of Israel is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a
thousand of our
enemies; when he shall make us a praise and glory that men shall say of
succeeding plantations, ‘The Lord make it likely that of New England.’ For we
must consider that we shall be as a city upon a
hill, the eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall deal
falsely with
our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw
His
present help from us, we shall shame the faces of many of
God’s worthy
servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us till
we be
consumed out of the good land whither we are agoing.”
— John Winthrop (1588-1649) Puritan & First Governor
of Massachusetts,
aboard the Arbella, 1630 - Download
- PDF
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The
Old Deluder Satan Act
- 1649 
It being
one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the
knowledge of
the Scriptures, as in former times by keeping them in an unknown
tongue, so in
these latter times by persuading from the use of tongues, that so that
at least
the true sense and meaning of the original might be clouded and
corrupted with
false glosses of saint-seeming deceivers; and to the end that learning
may not
be buried in the grave of our forefathers, in church and commonwealth,
the Lord
assisting our endeavors.
It is therefore ordered that
every township in this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them
to
fifty households shall forthwith appoint one within their town to teach
all
such children as shall resort to him to write and read, whose wages
shall be
paid either by the parents or masters of such children, or by the
inhabitants
in general, by way of supply, as the major part of those that order the
prudentials of the town shall appoint; provided those that send their
children
be not oppressed by paying much more than they can have them taught for
in
other towns. - Download
- PDF
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English Bill of Rights - 1689
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John
Locke 
- Two Treatises of Government - 1689
“The power of the
legislative being derived from the people by a positive voluntary grant
and
institution, can be no other than what that positive grant conveyed,
which
being only to make laws, and not to make legislators, the legislative
can have
no power to transfer their authority of making laws, and place it in
other
hands.”
“The
reason why men enter
into society is the preservation of their property.
….[Therefore,] whenever the
legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the
people, or to
reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into
a state
of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any farther
obedience,
and are left to the common refuge which God hath provided for all men
against
force and violence. Whensoever, therefore, the legislative shall
transgress
this fundamental rule of society, and either by ambition, fear, folly,
or
corruption, endeavor to grasp themselves, or put into the hands of any
other,
an absolute power over the lives, liberties, and estates of the people,
by this
breach of trust they [the government officals] forfeit the power the
people had
put into their hands… and it devolves to the
people, who have a right to
resume their original liberty, and ….provide for their own
safety and security.”
John Locke - Two Treatises of Government - 1690
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Charter
of Privileges - 1701 
“BECAUSE no People can be
truly happy, though under the greatest Enjoyment of Civil Liberties, if
abridged of the Freedom of their Consciences, as to their Religious
Profession
and Worship: And Almighty God being the only Lord of Conscience, Father
of
Lights and Spirits; and the Author as well as Object of all divine
Knowledge,
Faith and Worship, who only doth enlighten the Minds, and persuade and
convince
the Understandings of People.”
Charter of
Privileges Granted by William Penn, esq.
To the
Inhabitants of Pennsylvania
and Territories, October 28, 1701 (1)
WILLIAM PENN, Proprietary
and Governor of the Province of Pensilvania
and
Territories thereunto belonging, To all to whom these Presents shall
come,
sendeth Greeting. WHEREAS King CHARLES the Second, by His Letters
Patents,
under the Great Seal of England, bearing Date the Fourth Day of March
in the
Year One Thousand Six Hundred and Eighty-one, was graciously pleased to
give
and grant unto me, and my Heirs and Assigns for ever, this Province of
Pennsilvania, with divers great Powers and Jurisdictions for the well
Government thereof." - Download
- PDF
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George
Whitefield - Father Abraham - Market Street, Philadelphia 
“Father Abraham, whom have
you
in heaven? Any Episcopalians? No. Any Presbyterians? No. Have you any
Independents or Seceders? No. Have you any Methodists? No, No, No! Whom
have you
there? We don’t know those names here. All who are here are
Christians—believers
in Christ—men who were overcome by the blood of the Lamb and
the word of his
testimony.
Oh, is this the case? Then God help us,
god help us all, to forget party
names, and to become Christians in deed and in truth!”
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Jonathan
Mayhew - A Discourse concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance
to Higher Powers - 1750 
"Let every soul be subject
unto the higher powers; for there is no power but of God: the powers
that be,
are ordained of God. Here he urges the duty of obedience from this
topic of
argument, that civil rulers, as they are supposed to fulfil the
pleasure of
God, are the ordinance of God. But how is this an argument for
obedience to
such rulers as do not perform the pleasure of God, by doing good; but
the
pleasure of the devil, by doing evil; and such as are not, therefore,
God’s
ministers, but the devil’s! Whosoever, therefore, resisteth
the power,
resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist, shall receive to
themselves damnation. … But how is this an argument, that we
must honor, and
submit to, such magistrates as are not enemies to the evil actions of
men, but
to the good; and such as are not a common blessing, but a common curse,
to
society! But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid: For he is the
minister
of God, a revenger, to execute wrath upon him that doth evil." - Link
to Web Page
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Barron
Charles de Montesquieu - Spirit of the Laws - 1751 
“Laws, in their most general
signification, are the
necessary relations arising from the nature of things. In this sense
all beings
have their laws: the Deity His laws, the material world its laws, the
intelligences superior to man their laws, the beasts their laws, man
his
laws. They who assert that a blind fatality produced the
various effects
we behold in this world talk very absurdly; for can anything be more
unreasonable than to pretend that a blind fatality could be productive
of
intelligent beings?
There
is, then, a prime reason; and laws are the
relations subsisting between it and different beings, and the relations
of
these to one another. God is related to the universe, as
Creator and
Preserver; the laws by which He created all things are those by which
He
preserves them. He acts according to these rules, because He knows
them; He
knows them, because He made them; and He made them, because they are in
relation to His wisdom and power.
Since
we observe that the world, though formed by the
motion of matter, and void of understanding, subsists through so long a
succession of ages, its motions must certainly be directed by
invariable laws;
and could we imagine another world, it must also have constant rules,
or it
would inevitably perish." - Link
to Web Page
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James
Otis - Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved - 1764 
"Has it any solid
foundation, any chief cornerstone but what accident, chance, or
confusion may
lay one moment and destroy the next? I think it has an everlasing
foundation in
the unchangeable will of GOD, the author of nature, whose laws never
vary. …The
end of government being the good of mankind points out its great
duties: it is
above all things to provide for the security, the quiet, and happy
enjoyment of
life, liberty, and property. There is no one act which a government can
have a
right to make that does not tend to the advancement of the security,
tranquillity, and prosperity of the people. If life, liberty, and
property
could …
The sum of my argument is: that civil government is of God that the
administrators of it were originally the whole people; that they might
have
devolved it on whom they pleased; that this devolution is fiduciary,
for the good
of the whole; that by the British constitution this devolution is on
the King,
Lords and Commons." -
Link
to Web Page
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William
Blackstone - Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England - 1765 
“This law
of nature, being co-eval with mankind and dictated by God Himself, is
of course
superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe,
in all
countries, and at all times: no human laws are of any validity, if
contrary to
this; …upon these two foundations, the law of nature and the
law of revelation,
depend all human laws; that is to say, no human laws should be suffered
to
contradict these.”
"No laws are
binding on the human subject which assault the body or violate
the [liberty of ] conscience."
“Blasphemy
against the Almighty is denying his being or providence, or uttering
contumacious [rebellious] reproaches on our Savior Christ. It is
punished, at
common law by fine and imprisonment, for Christianity is part of the
law of the
land.”
- Link
to Web Page
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John
Dickinson - Letters from "A Farmer" - 1768 
“Let us consider our, selves as
men—freemen—Christian freemen—separated
from the rest of the world, and firmly bound together by the same
rights, interests and dangers. ... for posterity, to whom, by the most
sacred obligations, we are bound to deliver down the invaluable
inheritance; ... you may surely, without presumption, believe, that
Almighty God himself will look down upon your righteous contest with
gracious approbation. You will be a “band of
brothers,” cemented by the dearest ties, and strengthened
with inconceivable supplies of force and constancy, by that sympathetic
ardor, which animates good men, confederated in a good cause. Your
honor and welfare will be, as they now are, most intimately concerned;
and besides, you are assigned by divine providence, in the appointed
order of things, the protectors of unborn ages, whose fate depends upon
your virtue. Whether they shall arise the generous and indisputable
heirs of the noblest patrimonies, or the dastardly and hereditary
drudges of imperious task-masters, you must determine." - Link
to Web Page
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Samuel
Adams - The Rights of the Colonists - 1772 
"Among the natural
rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to
liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and
defend
them in the best manner they can. These are evident branches of, rather
than
deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the
first law
of nature. …The natural liberty of man is to
be free from any
superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative
authority
of man, but only to have the law of nature [God] for his rule.
… These may be
best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the
great
Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found
clearly
written and promulgated in the New Testament. … his natural
right to worship
God according to the dictates of his own conscience. And, by the
charter of
this Province, it is granted, ordained, and established (that is,
declared as
an original right) that there shall be liberty of conscience allowed in
the
worship of God to all Christians …Magna Charta itself is in
substance but a
constrained declaration ..." - Download
- PDF
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The
Minute Man Oath - 1773 
“We trust in God that,
should the state of our affairs require it, we shall be ready to
sacrifice our
estates and everything dear in life, yea, and life itself, in support
of the
common cause.”
————————————————
Sign your name here?
Excerpt:
Lexington Memorial .... On the
morning of the ever
memorable 19th of April, 1775, the die was cast!!! The blood of the
martyrs, in
the cause of God and their country, was the cement of the Union
of these States, the Colonies and gave the spring to the spirit,
firmness and
resolution of their fellow citizens. They rose as one man, to revenge
their
brethren’s blood and at the point of the sword, to assert and
defend their
native rights. They nobly dared to be free!! The contest was long,
bloody and
affecting. Righteous heaven approved the solemn appeal: victory crowned
their
arms and the peace, liberty and independence of the United Sates of
America was
their glorious reward. - Download
- PDF
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John
Joachim Zubly - The Law of Liberty - 1775 
"The gospel
is called a law of liberty, because it bears a most friendly aspect to
the liberty
of man; it is a known rule ...the gospel
makes no
alteration in the civil state; it by no means renders man's natural and
social
condition worse than it would be without the knowledge of the gospel.
… the gospel is a law of liberty in a much higher
sense; by whomsoever a man is overcome, of the same he is brought into
bondage;
but no external enemy can so completely tyrannize over a conquered
enemy, as sin
does over all those who yield themselves its servants; vicious habits,
when
once they have gained the ascendancy in the soul, bring man to that
unhappy
pass, that he knows better things and does worse; sin, like a torrent,
carries
him away against knowledge and conviction, while conscience fully
convinces him
that he travels the road of death, and must expect, if he so continues,
to take
up his abode in hell ... till the grace of God
brings
salvation, when he would do good, evil is present with him; in short,
instead
of being under a law of liberty, he is under the law of sin and death;
but
whenever he feels the happy influence of the grace of the gospel, then
this
"law of liberty makes him free from the law of sin and death:" it
furnishes him with not only motives to resist, but with power also to
subdue
sin; sin reigns no longer in his mortal body, because he is not under
the law,
but under grace. By this law of liberty he is made free from
sin,
and has
his fruit unto holiness, and the end of it eternal
life.” - Download
- PDF
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Thomas
Paine - Common Sense - 1776 
“Society
in every state is
a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary
evil; in
its worst state an intolerable one.”
“I
have always considered
the independancy of this continent, as an event which sooner or later
must
arrive.”
“Until
an independance is
declared, the Continent will feel itself like a man who continues
putting off
some unpleasant business from day to day, yet knows it must be done,
hates to
set about it, wishes it over, and is continually haunted with the
thoughts of
its necessity.” - Download
- PDF
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John
Adams letter to his wife on the birth of a new Nation 
"Yesterday,
the
greatest
question was decided, which ever was debated in America,
and a greater, perhaps,
never was nor will be decided among men. A resolution was passed
without one
dissenting colony, “that these United Colonies are, and of
right ought to be,
free and independent States, and as such they have, and of right ought
to have,
full power to make war, conclude peace, establish commerce, and to do
all other
acts and things which other States may rightfully do.” You
will see in a few
days a Declaration setting forth the causes which have impelled us to
this
mighty revolution, and the reasons which will justify it in the sight
of God
and man. ...
I am surprised at the
suddenness as well as greatness of this revolution. …But the
day is past. The
second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the
history of America.
I am
apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as
the
great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of
deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be
solemized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells,
bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the
other, from
this time forward, forevermore.
You will think me
transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil,
and
blood, and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this declaration,
and
support and defend these States. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see
the rays
of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is more than worth
all the
means, and that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even
although
we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall not." - Download
- PDF
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John
Adams speech in support of the Declaration - 1776 
“Before God, I believe
the
hour has come. My judgement approves this measure, and my whole heart
is in it.
All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, I
am now
ready here to stake upon it. And I leave off as I began, that live or
die,
survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment,
and by
the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence
now, and Independence
for ever!”
Sink or swim, live or die,
survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote. It is
true,
indeed, that in the beginning we aimed not at independence. But there's
a
divinity which shapes our ends. The injustice of England
has driven us to arms; and,
blinded to her own interest for our good, she has obstinately
persisted, till
independence is now within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it,
and it
is ours. Why, then, should we defer the declaration? Is any man so weak
as now
to hope for reconciliation with England,
which shall leave either safety to the country and its liberties, or
safety to
his own life and his own honor?" - Download
- PDF
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The Declaration
of Independence- July 4, 1776 
We hold these truths to be
self-evident: 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; that whenever any form of
government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to
alter or to
abolish it ….
We, therefore, the
representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress
assembled,
appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our
intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of
these
colonies solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are,
and of
right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES ... And for the support
of
this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine
Providence,
we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our
sacred honor. - Download
- PDF
(Charter
or mission statement for the future United States of America)
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John
Hancock's letter to British Authorities on the Declaration of
Independence - 1776 
“we are able, and to trust
the load to that Being [God] who controls both Causes and Events, so as
to
bring about his own Determination..”
Altho it is not possible to
foresee the Consequences of human Actions, yet it is nonetheless a Duty
we owe
ourselves and Posterity in all our public Counsels, to decide in the
best
Manner we are able, and to trust the load to that Being who controls
both
Causes and Events, so as to bring about his own Determination.
Impressed
with this
Sentiment, & at the same Time fully convinced that our Affairs
may take a
more favourable Turn, the Congress have judged it necessary to dissolve
all
Connection between Great Britain and the American Colonies, and to
declare them
free and independent States; - Download
- PDF
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Patrick
Henry - Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death - 1777 
“It is natural to man to
indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a
painful
truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into
beasts.
Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle
for
liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes,
see
not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern
their
temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may
cost, I am
willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for
it.”
No man thinks more highly
than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy
gentlemen
who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same
subject
in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought
disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a
character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments
freely and
without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the
House is
one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as
nothing
less than a question of freedom or slavery; - Download
- PDF
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Articles
of Confederation - 1777 
Every State shall abide by
the determination of the United States
in Congress assembled, on all
questions which by this confederation are submitted to them. And the
Articles
of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and
the
Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration at any time
hereafter be
made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress
of the
United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every
State.
And Whereas it hath pleased
the Great Governor of the World to incline the hearts of the
legislatures we
respectively represent in Congress, to approve of, and to authorize us
to
ratify the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union.
Know Ye that we the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the power and
authority
to us given for that purpose, do by these presents, in the name and in
behalf
of our respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm
each and
every of the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union, and
all and
singular the matters and things therein contained: And we do further
solemnly
plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents, that they
shall
abide by the determinations of the United States in Congress assembled,
on all
questions, which by the said Confederation are submitted to them. And
that the
Articles thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we
respectively
represent, and that the Union
shall be
perpetual. - Download
- PDF
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Thanksgiving
Proclaimation by the Continental Congress - 1777 
“solemn thanksgiving
to
Almighty God for his mercies, and of prayer for the continuance of his
favor
and protection to these United States; to beseech him that he would be
graciously pleased to influence our public councils, and bless them
with wisdom
from on high, with unanimity, firmness, and success; that he would go
forth
with our hosts and crown our arms with victory; that he would grant to
his
church the plentiful effusions of divine grace, and pour out his holy
spirit on
all ministers of
the gospel; that he
would bless and prosper the means of education, and spread the light of
Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth; that he
would
smile upon the labors of his people and cause the earth to bring forth
her
fruits in abundance; that we may with gratitude and gladness enjoy
them; that
he would take into his holy protection our illustrious ally, give him
victory
over his enemies, and render him signally great, as the father of his
people
and the protector of the rights of
mankind.” - Link
to - web site
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Benjamin
Franklin - Information to Those Who Would Remove to America -
1782 
“To this may be truly
added,
that serious religion, under its various denominations, is not only
tolerated,
but respected and practiced. Atheism is unknown there; infidelity rare
and
secret; so that persons may live to a great age in that country,
without having
their piety shocked by meeting with either an atheist or an infidel.
And the
Divine Being seems to have manifested his approbation of the mutual
forbearance
and kindness with which the different sects treat each other, by the
remarkable
prosperity with which He has been pleased to favor the whole
country.”
Many persons in Europe
having, directly or by letters, expressed to the writer of this, who is
well
acquainted with North America, their desire of transporting and
establishing
themselves in that country; but who appear to have formed, through
ignorance,
mistaken ideas and expectations of what is to be obtained there; he
thinks it
may be useful, and prevent inconvenient, expensive, and fruitless
removals and
voyages of improper persons, if he gives some clearer and truer notions
of that
part of the world - Download
- PDF
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George
Washington's Circular to the States - 1783 
“I now make it my
earnest
prayer, that God would have you, and the State over which you preside,
in his
holy protection, that he would incline the hearts of the Citizens to
cultivate
a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government, to entertain a
brotherly
affection and love for one another, for their fellow Citizens of the
United
States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in
the
Field, and finally, that he 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 mind, which were the Characteristics of
the
Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without an humble imitation
of whose
example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy
Nation.” - Download
- PDF
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Evacuation
Day - New York City - Nov. 25, 1783 
“A reverence for the
laws is
peculiarly essential to public safety and prosperity under our free
constitution: should we suffer the authority of the magistrate to be
violated
for the sake of private vengeance, we should be unworthy of the
numberless
blessings which an indulgent Providence
hath placed within our reach."
"While we regard
with inviolable gratitude and affection all who have aided us by their
counsel
or their arms, let us not be unmindful of that Almighty Being, whose
gracious
Providence has been manifestly interposed for our deliverance and
protection;
and let us shew by our virtues, that we deserve to partake of the
freedom,
sovereignty, and independence, which are so happily established
throughout
these United States.”
-
Download
- PDF
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James Madison's Vices of the Political System
of the United States - 1787
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Benjamin
Franklin's request for prayer at the Constitutional Convention -
1787 
“I have lived, Sir, a long
time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proof I see of this
truth that
God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the
ground
without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his
aid? We
have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except
the Lord build the
House they labour in vain that build it.’
.... In this situation of this
Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and
scarce
able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir,
that we
have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of
lights to
illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain,
when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for
the divine
protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, & they were
graciously answered.
All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent
instances of a superintending providence in our favor. To that
kind providence we
owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of
establishing
our future national felicity." - Download
- PDF
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Constitution
of the United States - 1787 
“With
all the defects in
our Constitution, whether general or particular, the comparison of our
government with those of Europe,
is like a
comparison of Heaven with Hell. England,
like the earth, may be allowed to take the intermediate
station.”
— Thomas
Jefferson, 3rd President
of the U. S.
“If I could have
entertained the slightest apprehension that the Constitution framed by
the
Convention, where I had the honor to preside, might possibly endanger
the
religious rights of any ecclesiastical society, certainly I would never
have
placed my signature on it.”
— George
Washington (1732-1799) Father of the Country, 1st President of the United States
“Every
word of the
Constitution decides a question between power and liberty.”
“The future and
success of America
is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this
Constitution is
founded.”
— James
Madison (1751-1836) Father of the
Constitution, 4th President of the United States -
Download -
PDF
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Northwest
Ordinance - 1787 
“Sec. 13. And, for
extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty,
which form
the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions are
erected; to
fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws,
constitutions, and
governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said
territory: to
provide also for the establishment of States, and permanent government
therein,
and for their admission to a share in the federal councils on an equal
footing
with the original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with
the
general interest”
Art. 3.
Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government
and the
happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever
be
encouraged. ... Art.
6. There shall be
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory.
- Download -
PDF
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George
Washington's First Inaugural - 1789 
“It would be peculiarly
improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to
that
Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the
councils of
nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect,
that His benediction
may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the
United
States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential
purposes, and
may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute
with
success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage
to the
Great Author of every public and private good.”
“The propitious smiles of
Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal
rules of
order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” - Download -
PDF
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George
Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation - 1789 
By
the President of the United States of America,
a Proclamation.
Whereas it is the duty of
all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his
will, to
be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and
favor--
and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee
requested me
to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public
thanksgiving
and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the
many signal
favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity
peaceably to
establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. - Download -
PDF
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Bill
of Rights - 1791 
“Let the American youth never forget, that they
possess a noble inheritance, brought by the toils, and sufferings, and
blood of
their ancestors.”
“The real object of
the First Amendment was not to
countenance, much less to advance Mohammedanism, or Judaism, or
infidelity, by
prostrating Christianity, but to exclude all rivalry among Christian
sects
[denominations] and to prevent any national ecclesiastical patronage of
the
national government.”
“There is not a truth
to be gathered from history,
more certain, or more momentous, than this: that civil liberty cannot
long be
separated from religious liberty without the destruction of both.
Wherever
religious liberty exists, it will, first or last, bring in and
establish
political liberty.”
— Joseph Story
(1779-1845)
Supreme Court Justice & Commentator on the U.S.
Constitution
“I regard it [the
Constitution] as the work of the
purest patriots and the wisest statesmen that ever existed,
aided by the smiles
of a benignant Providence;
. . . it almost appears a Divine interposition in our behalf .
. . . The hand
that destroys the Constitution rends our Union
asunder for ever.”
— Daniel Webster
(1782-1852)
Author, Lawyer and Patriot - Download -
PDF
_________________________________________________________
Fisher
Ames - Famous oration in support of the Jay Treaty - 1796
Editors
Note: In
ill health, and barely able to
stand, Fisher Ames made his plea before members of Congress in support
the of
the Jay Treaty with Great Britain.
Ame’s speech, considered to be a
world famous oration, moved the vote in Congress to a deadlocked 49-49.
Fortunately for the country, the bill passed the next day, by a narrow
three
votes. Had the funding bill had not passed to support the Jay Treaty,
likely
the country would have been pulled back into war with Britain.
“I
have thus been led by my
feelings to speak more at length than I intended. Yet I have, perhaps,
as
little personal interest in the event as any one here. There is, I
believe, no
member who will not think his chance to be a witness of the
consequences greater
than mine. If, however, the vote shall pass to reject, and a spirit
should
rise, as it will, with the public disorders, to make confusion worse
confounded, even I, slender and almost broken as my hold upon life is,
may
outlive the government and Constitution of my country.” -
Download
- PDF
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George
Washington's Farewell Address - 1796
“Can it be that Providence has
not
connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue? The
experiment,
at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human
nature. Alas!
is it rendered impossible by its vices?”
“Of all the dispositions
and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality
are
indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of
patriotism,
who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness,
these
firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.”
Friends and
Citizens:
The
period for a new
election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the
United
States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your
thoughts
must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with
that
important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce
to a
more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise
you of
the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the
number of
those out of whom a choice is to be made. - Download
- PDF
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Treaty
of Tripoli - 1797
ARTICLE 9.
The commerce between the
United States and Tripoli,-the protection to be given to merchants,
masters of
vessels and seamen,- the reciprocal right of establishing consuls in
each
country, and the privileges, immunities and jurisdictions to be enjoyed
by such
consuls, are declared to be on the same footing with those of the most
favoured
nations respectively.
ARTICLE 10.
The money and presents
demanded by the Bey of Tripoli as a full and satisfactory consideration
on his
part and on the part of his subjects for this treaty of
perpetual peace and
friendship are acknowledged to have been recieved by him previous to
his
signing the same, according to a reciept which is hereto annexed,
except such
part as is promised on the part of the United States to be delivered
and paid
by them on the arrival of their Consul in Tripoly, of which part a note
is
likewise hereto annexed. And no presence of any periodical tribute or
farther
payment is ever to be made by either party.
ARTICLE 11.
As the government of the
United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian
Religion as it has in itself no character of enmity against
the laws, religion
or tranquility of Musselmen,-and as the said States never have entered
into any
war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by
the
parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever
produce an
interruption of the harmony existing between the two
countries.
- Download
- PDF
Review of the often misquoted
Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli and brief historical context of the
treaty.
- Link
to Web Page
_________________________________________________________
John
Adams - Proclamation Fasting and Prayer - 1798
“AS the safety and
prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the
protection and
blessing of Almighty God; and the national acknowledgment of this truth
is not
only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him, but a duty
whose
natural influence is favorable to the promotion of that morality and
piety,
without which social happiness cannot exist, nor the blessings of a
free
government be enjoyed; and as this duty, at all times incumbent, is so
especially
in seasons of difficulty and of danger, when existing or threatening
calamities, the just judgments of God against prevalent iniquity are a
loud
call to repentance and reformation.”
- Download
- PDF
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Noah
Webster - The Second Great Awakening - 1808
"About a year ago an unusual
revival of religion took place in New Haven. ....
During this time, my mind continued to be
more and more agitated, and in a manner wholly unusual and to me
unaccountable.
I had indeed short composure, but at all times of the day and in the
midst of
other occupations, I was suddenly seized with impressions, which called
my mind
irresistibly to religious concerns and to the awakening. …
The impressions however grew
stronger till at length I could not pursue my studies without frequent
interruptions. My mind was suddenly arrested, without any previous
circumstance
of the time to draw it to this subject and as it were fastened to the
awakening
and upon my own conduct. I closed my books, yielded to the influence,
which
could not be resisted or mistaken and was led by a spontaneous impulse
to
repentance, prayer and entire submission and surrender of myself to my
maker
and redeemer. My submission appeared to be cheerful and was soon
followed by
that peace of mind which the world can neither give nor take away.
…
I could no longer question or have a doubt
respecting … Christian
doctrines of regeneration, of free grace and of the sovereignty of God.
I now
began to understand and relish many parts of the scriptures, which
before
appeared mysterious and unintelligible, or repugnant to my natural
pride." - Download
- PDF
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Dr
Benjamin Rush - A Defence of the Bible in schools - 1812
The only foundation for a
useful education in a republic is to be laid in religion. Without this,
there can
be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty
is the
object and life of all re publican governments. Such is my veneration
for every
religion that reveals the attributes of the Deity, or a future state of
rewards
and punishments, that I had rather see the opinions of Confucius or
Mohammed
inculcated upon our youth than see them grow up wholly devoid of a
system of
religious principles. But the religion I mean to recommend in this
place is the
religion of Jesus Christ. It is foreign to my purpose to hint at the
arguments
which establish the truth of the Christian revelation. My only business
is to
declare that all its doctrines and precepts are calculated to promote
the
happiness of society and the safety and well-being of civil government.
A
Christian cannot fail of being a republican.* (To be added)
*Republicanism
is more than a form of government,
such as our Constitutional Republic.
It a
Judio-Christian biblically based political philosophy based on
republican
principles, comprised of republican vales and virtues (not the
Republican
Party). The foundation or bedrock of republicanism is God, His law and
blessing
upon a people and a nation. Republicicanism is spiritual as well and
resides in
the heart. ...
- Link
to explanation of Republicanism and American Exceptionalism
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Francis
Scott Key - The Star Spangled Banner - 1814
“Blest with vict'ry and
peace, may the heav'n-rescued land Praise the Pow'r that hath made and
preserv'd us as a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is
just, And
this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’
And the star-spangled banner
in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave!”
O, thus be it ever when
freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes
and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and
peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath
made and preserv'd us as a nation!
Then
conquer we must, when
our cause. it is just,
And
this be our motto:
"In God is our trust"
And
the star-spangled
banner in triumph shall wave
O'er
the land of the free
and the home of the brave! - Download
- PDF
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Jubilee of Freedom - July 4th - 1826
_______________________________________________________
John
Quincy Adams - Oration Delivered Before the Inhabitants of the
town of at Newburyport, MA July 4th - 1837
“Is
it not
that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is
indissolubly
linked with the birthday of the Saviour? That it forms a leading event
in the
progress of the gospel dispensation
Is it
not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social
compact on
the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the
corner
stone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and
gave to
the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the
prophecies,
announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Saviour and
predicted by the
greatest of the Hebrew prophets six hundred years before?”
…
“And, by
this paper, this One People did notify the world of mankind that they
thereby
did assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal
station, to
which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitled them.
This was indeed a great and
solemn event. The sublimes of the prophets of antiquity with the voice
of
inspiration had exclaimed, "Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen
such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Or
shall a
nation be born at once?" In the two thousand five hundred years, that
had
elapsed since the days of that prophecy, no such event had occurred. It
had
never been seen before. In the annals of the human race, then, for the
first
time, did one People announce themselves as a member of that great
community of
the powers of the earth, acknowledging the obligations and claiming the
rights
of the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God. The earth was made to bring
forth in
one day! A Nation was born at once!" - Download
- PDF
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John
Quincy Adams - The Jubilee of the Constitution, Fiftieth Anniversary of
the Inauguration of George Washington, New York, April 30th
- 1839
"George Washington ... in the visions of
the night, the guardian angel of the
Father of our country had appeared before him, in the venerated form of
his
mother, and, to cheer and encourage him in the performance of the
momentous and
solemn duties that he was about to assume, had delivered to him a suit
of
celestial armor."
"Yes, gentlemen! on that
shield, the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES was sculptured (by forms
unseen,
and in characters then invisible to mortal eye,) the predestined and
prophetic
history of the one confederated people of the North American Union."
"And now the future is all
before us, and Providence
our guide…. The ark of your
covenant is the Declaration of independence. Your Mount Ebal, is the confederacy of
separate
state sovereignties, and your Mount
Gerizim
is the Constitution of the United States.
In that scene of tremendous and awful solemnity, narrated in the Holy
Scriptures there is not a curse pronounced against the people, upon
Mount
Ebal, not a blessing promised them upon Mount Gerizim, which your
posterity may
not suffer or enjoy, from your and their adherence to, or departure
from, the
principles of the Declaration of Independence, practically interwoven
in the
Constitution of the United States. Lay up these principles, then, in
your
hearts, and in your souls - bind them for signs upon your hands, that
they may
be as frontlets between your eyes - teach them to your children,
speaking of
them when sitting in your houses, when walking by the way, when lying
down and
when rising up - write them upon the doorplates of your houses, and
upon your
gates - cling to them as to the issues of life - adhere to them as to
the cords
of your eternal salvation. So may your children's children at the next
return
of this day of jubilee, after a full century of experience under your
national
Constitution, celebrate it again in the full enjoyment of all the
blessings
recognized by you in the commemoration of this day, and of all the
blessings
promised to the children of Israel upon Mount Gerizim, as the reward of
obedience to the law of God." - Download
- PDF
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Napoleon
Bonaparte - On the Divinity of Jesus Christ, exiled on Saint Helena -
1820
“I know men; and I tell you
that Jesus Christ is not a man. Superficial minds see a resemblance
between
Christ and the founders of empires, and the gods of other religions.
That
resemblance does not exist. There is between Christianity and whatever
other
religions the distance of infinity...”
“The Bible is no mere book,
but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose
it.”
“Time, the great destroyer,
is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust
its
strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me
most; I
have often thought of it. This it is which proves to me quite
convincingly the
Divinity of Jesus Christ.”
“If you do not
perceive that
Jesus Christ is God, very well, then I did wrong to make you a
general.” - Download
- PDF
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________________________________________________________
Abraham
Lincoln's Advice to the American People on the Constitution -
1837
“Let
every American, every
lover of liberty, every well-wisher to his posterity, swear by the
blood of the
Revolution, never to violate in the least particular the laws of the
country,
and never to tolerate their violation by others. As the patriots of
seventy-six
did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the
support of the
Constitution and laws let every American pledge his life, his property,
and his
sacred honor—let every man remember that to violate the law
is to trample on
the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own and his
children’s
liberty. Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every American
mother to the
lisping babe that prattles on her lap; let it be taught in schools, in
seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in primers,
spelling—books, and
in almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in
legislative
halls, and enforced in courts of justice.”
- Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
Daniel
Webster - Reception at Madison
-
1837
“On the diffusion of
education among the people rest the preservation and perpetuation of
our free
institutions. I apprehend no danger to our country from a foreign foe.
The
prospect of a war with any powerful nation is too remote to be a matter
of
calculation. Besides, there is no nation on earth powerful enough to
accomplish
our overthrow. Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from
another
quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their
government, from their carelessness and negligence, I must confess that
I do apprehend
some danger. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in
their
public servants, and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in
this
way they may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the
instruments of
their own undoing. Make them intelligent, and they will be vigilant;
give them
the means of detecting the wrong, and they will apply the remedy.
…
I
regard it [Constitution] as
the work of the purest patriots and wisest statesmen that ever existed,
aided
by the smiles of a benignant Providence
for when we regard it as a system of government growing out of the
discordant
opinions and conflicting interests of thirteen independent States, it
almost
appears a Divine interposition in our behalf. … the hand
that destroys the Constitution
rends our Union
asunder for ever.”
- Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
Daniel
Webster - The Dignity and Importance of History
-
1853
"Unborn ages and visions of
glory crowd upon my soul, the realization of which, however, is in the
hands
and good pleasure of Almighty God, but, under His divine blessing, it
will be
dependent on the character and the virtues of ourselves and our
posterity. ….And
let me say, gentlemen, that if we and our posterity shall be true to
the
Christian religion, if we and they shall live always in the fear of
God, and
shall respect His commandments, if we and they shall maintain just
moral
sentiments and such conscientious convictions of duty as shall control
the
heart and life, we may have the highest hopes of the future fortunes of
our
country …. It will have no decline and fall. It will go on
prospering and to
prosper.
But
if we and our posterity
reject religious institutions and authority, violate the rules of
eternal
justice, trifile with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly
destroy the
political constitution which holds us together, no man can tell how
sudden a
catastrophe may overwhelm us that shall bury all our glory in profound
obscurity. Should that catastrophe happen, let it have no history! Let
the
horrible narrative never be written! Let its fate be like that of the
lost
books of Livy, which no human eye shall ever read, or the missing
Pleiad, of
which no man can ever know more than that it is lost, and lost
forever!"
- Link
to Web Page
________________________________________________________
Abraham
Lincoln's First
Inaugural Address -
1861
“Descending from these
general principles, we find the proposition that in legal contemplation
the
Union is perpetual confirmed by the history of the Union
itself. The Union
is much older than the
Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in
1774.
It was matured and continued by the Declaration of Independence in
1776. It was
further matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States
expressly
plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of
Confederation in 1778. And finally, in 1787, one of the declared
objects for
ordaining and establishing the Constitution was ‘to form a
more perfect Union.’
But if destruction of the Union by one or by a
part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union
is less perfect than before the Constitution, having lost the vital
element of
perpetuity.”
- Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
The
Emancipation Proclamation
- 1863
That on the
first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and
sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated
part of
a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the
United
States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the
Executive
Government of the United States, including the military and naval
authority
thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and
will do
no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts
they may
make for their actual freedom. …
Now,
therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by
virtue of the power in me vested as
Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time
of actual armed rebellion against the
authority and government of the United States,
and as a fit and necessary war
measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, …
And
upon this act, sincerely
believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon
military
necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the
gracious favor
of Almighty God.
- Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
Abraham Lincoln
National Fast Day -
1863
“And whereas it is the duty
of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the
overruling power
of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet
with
assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and
to
recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and
proven by all
history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the
Lord.”
A
Proclamation.
Whereas,
the Senate of the
United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just
Government
of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a
resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day
for
National prayer and humiliation. - Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
Gettysburg
Address - 1863
"Fourscore and seven
years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation,
conceived
in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created
equal. Now
we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any
nation
so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great
battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that
field as a
final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that
nation might
live….”
Abraham Lincoln describing
July 5th, 1863 — "Well, I will tell you how
it was. In the pinch of the campaign up there (at Gettysburg) when
everybody
seemed panic-stricken and nobody could tell what was going to happen,
oppressed
by the gravity of our affairs, I went to my room one day and locked the
door
and got down on my knees before Almighty God and prayed to Him mightily
for
victory at Gettysburg. I told Him that this war was His war, and our
cause His
cause, but we could not stand another Fredericksburg
or Chancellorsville.
Then and there I made a
solemn vow to Almighty God that if He would stand by our boys at Gettysburg,
I would stand
by Him. And after that, I don't know how it was, and I cannot explain
it, but
soon a sweet comfort crept into my soul. The feeling came that God had
taken
the whole business into His own hands and that things would go right at
Gettysburg, and
that is
why I had no fears about you.” - Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
Abraham
Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation - 1863
The ever watchful providence
of Almighty God. … In the midst of a civil war of unequaled
magnitude and
severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to
provoke
the aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has
been
maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has
prevailed …
They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing
with us in
anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has
seemed to me fit and
proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully
acknowledged as
with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. ...
I …set apart and observe the
last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to
our
beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them
that
while offering up the ascription's justly due to Him for such singular
deliverance's and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for
our
national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all
those
who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the
lamentable civil
strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the
interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation,
and to
restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the
full
enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and Union. - Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
Abraham
Lincoln's
Second Inaugural Address -
1865
“Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God,
and
each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any
men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread
from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be
not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither
has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.
‘Woe
unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses
come, but woe to that man by whom the offense
cometh.’ ...
If
we shall suppose that American slavery is one of
those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but
which,
having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove,
and that
He gives to both North and South this terrible war ...As was said three thousand
years ago, so still it must be said 'the judgments of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.'" Fellow-Countrymen:
- Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Oath
of the Continental Army
“So
help me God”
“I, _______________ do
acknowledge the United States of America to be free, independent and
sovereign
states, and declare that the people thereof owe no allegiance or
obedience, to
George the third, king of Great Britain; and I renounce, refuse and
abjure any
allegiance or obedience to him: and I do swear (or affirm) that I will,
to the
utmost of my power, support, maintain and defend
the said United States, against the said king George the
third and his heirs and successors, and his and their abettors,
assistants and
adherents, and will serve the said United States in the office of
_______________ which I now hold, with fidelity, according to the best
of my
skill and understanding. So help me God.” - Download
- PDF
Oath
of the President of the United States
“So help me God”
I do solemnly swear (or
affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the
United
States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve,
protect and defend the Constitution of the United
States. “So help me
God.”
Editors
Note: The
duties of the office of
president, and oath of office, are spelled out under Article II of the
Constitution. George Washington as the country’s first
president, set the
tradition for all future presidents to follow by adding the words
“I swear-so
help me God!” after the oath of office or today the words
“So help me God.” - Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
Oath
of members of Congress and Supreme Court
“So help me God”
With
their hand on the Bible swear to support and defend the Constitution ...
“I do solemnly swear (or
affirm) that I will support and defend
the Constitution of the United States against
all enemies, foreign and domestic;
that I will bear true
faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely,
without
any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and
faithfully discharge the
duties of the office on which I am
about to enter: So help me God.”
“I,
____________________________, do
solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without
respect to
persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I
will
faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties
incumbent upon
me as [TITLE] under the Constitution
and laws of the United States. So help
me God.” - Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
Oath
of the Military of the United States
“So help me God”
"I,
____________________________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will
support and defend the
Constitution of
the United States against all enemies,
foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and
allegiance to the
same; and that I will obey the orders (constitutional & lawful)
of the President of the United
States and
the orders (constitutional
& lawful) of
the officers appointed over me, according to regulations
and the
Uniform Code of Military Justice. So
help me God." - Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
Oath
of Citizenship - United States of America
"... I
will support and defend the Constitution
and laws of the United States of America against
all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true
faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of
the United
States when required by law; that I will perform noncombatant service
in the
Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will
perform
work of national importance under civilian direction when required by
the law;
and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation
or
purpose of evasion; so help me God.” - Download
- PDF
_________________________________________________________
Oath
for American Citizens to Vote - United States of America - Proposed
Excerpt:
In the
United States of America,
any
citizen over the age of 18, and who meets their perspective state
requirements,
may vote in Federal elections. For natural-born citizens however, no
oath “to
protect and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America
against enemies foreign and domestic” is required.
Natural-born citizens are
not tested on their competency of American history, Constitution, Bill
of
Rights, government, literacy or required to be a “person of
good moral
character” as those applying for citizenship. An oath
“to protect and defend
the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America
against
enemies foreign and domestic” is required for those applying
for citizenship,
President, Congress, Judicial, Military, National Guard, and federal
employees.
George
Washington said, “The
preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the
republican
model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as
finally,
staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American
people.”
Founding Father Dr Benjamin Rush stated that, “Freedom can
exist only in the
society of knowledge. Without learning, men are incapable of knowing
their
rights.” … Truths once considered to be
self-evident are no longer, and with
loss of truth, and knowledge, comes loss of rights, liberty, and
freedom, and
eventually, loss of country. Download
- PDF
_________________________________________________________
Additional
Oath
for ALL Government Offices - United States of America -
Proposed
With hand on the bible, “I
acknowledge I have read, understand and will faithfully support the
Declaration
of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. I entirely renounce
and
abjure all oaths and allegiances other than to God and the United States of
America.
I will faithfully read, and comprehend ALL legislation before I cast my
vote or sign any bill or legislation. I do solemnly swear that
I
will not sign, pass
or vote for any legislation that violates the Constitution of the United States of
America,
so help me God.” Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
Winston
Churchill - Blood, Toil, and Sweat - 1940
“And
do not suppose that
this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This is
only the
first sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup which will be proffered
to us
year by year, unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial
vigor,
arise and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time.”
“I am prepared to meet my
Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me
is
another matter.”
“You can measure a man's
character by the choices he makes under pressure.”
“History will be kind to me
for I intend to write it.”
“Today is Trinity Sunday.
Centuries ago words were written to be a call and a spur to the
faithful
servants of Truth and Justice: Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour,
and be
in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in
battle than
to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar. As the will of
God is in
Heaven, even so let it be.” - Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
Winston
Churchill - This was their finest hour - 1940
________________________________________________________
Franklin
Delanor Roosevelt's D-Day Prayer - June 6, 1944
“Almighty
God: our sons,
pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a
struggle to
preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set
free a
suffering humanity..”
_________________________________________________________
John
F. Kennedy - First
Inaugural Address
- January 20, 1961
"For I
have sworn before you and Almighty God
the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and
three-quarters ago.
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the
power to
abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet
the
same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at
issue
around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the
generosity of the state but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first
revolution. Let
the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike,
that the
torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this
century,
tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our
ancient
heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those
human
rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we
are
committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall
pay any
price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose
any foe
to assure the survival and the success of liberty. …. With a
good conscience
our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us
go
forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but
knowing
that here on earth God's work must truly be our own."
John F. Kennedy - First Inagural address audio
-
January 20,
1961
John F. Kennedy - First Inagural address text
-
January 20,
1961
_________________________________________________________
Ronald
Reagan - A Time for Choosing - October 27, 1964
"Well I
think it's time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that
were
intended for us by the Founding Fathers. … If we lose
freedom here, there's no
place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.
And
this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no
other
source of power except the sovereign people, is still the newest and
the most
unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man.
…Well,
perhaps there is a simple answer—not an easy
answer—but simple: If you and I
have the courage to tell our elected officials that we want our
national policy
based on what we know in our hearts is morally right. ...
You and I have
a rendezvous with destiny. We'll preserve for our children this,
the last best hope of man on earth, or we'll sentence them to take the
last
step into a thousand years of darkness."
A Time for Choosing - Stump Speech - October
27,
1964
A Time for Choosing - Stump Speech Video -
October 27,
1964
_________________________________________________________
Ronald
Reagan's Evil Empire Speech - March 8, 1983
“Yes, let us pray for the
salvation of all of those who live in that totalitarian darkness
— pray they
will discover the joy of knowing God. But until they do, let us be
aware that
while they preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence
over
individual man, and predict its eventual domination of all peoples on
the
Earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world. …So,
I urge you to speak
out against those who would place the United States
in a position of
military and moral inferiority. …So, in your discussions of
the nuclear freeze
proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride — the
temptation of
blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally
at
fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an
evil
empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and
thereby remove
yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and
evil.”
“He
called us the ‘Evil Empire.’ So why did you in the
West laugh at him? It’s true!”
— Arkady Murashev, Moscow police chief, a leader of
Democratic Russia
Editors Note:
Reagan’s
anticommunist work with John Paul II, the "Holy Alliance," would be
tied
to a series of messages given to three illiterate children in Fatima,
Portugal
in 1917, by an apparition of the Virgin Mary. The
messages were
given to
the children at the end of WWI, years before Russia
was a country. - Download
- PDF
Ronald Reagan's Evil Empire Speech - March 8,
1983
Ronald
Reagan's Evil Empire Speech Video -
March 8, 1983
_________________________________________________________
Ronald
Reagan's Farewell Address - January 11, 1989
There's a clear cause and
effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As
government
expands, liberty contracts. ...Ours was the first revolution in the
history
of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three
little
words: "We the people." "We the people" tell the government
what to do, it doesn't tell us. "We the people" are the driver, the
government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what
route, and
how fast. Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which
governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution
is a
document in which "We the people" tell the government what it is
allowed to do. "We the people" are free. This belief has been the
underlying basis for everything I've tried to do these past eight
years. …
we're about to enter the '90s,
and some
things have changed. Younger parents aren't sure that an unambivalent
appreciation of America
is the right thing to teach modern children. And as for those who
create the
popular culture, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our
spirit is
back, but we haven't reinstitutionalized it. We've got to do a better
job of
getting across that America
is freedom--freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of
enterprise. And
freedom is special and rare. It's fragile; it needs protection.
… If we forget
what we did, we won't know who we are. I'm warning of an eradication of
the
American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the
American
spirit. Let's start with some basics: more attention to American
history and a
greater emphasis on civic ritual. …
So,
we've got to teach history based not on what's in fashion but what's
important.
…And so, good-bye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of
America.
Ronald Reagan's Farewell Address Text -
January 11, 1989
Ronald Reagan's Farewell Address Video -
January 11, 1989
________________________________________________________
The
Ten Commandments
“We have staked the whole
future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far
from it.
We have staked the future of all our American institutions upon the
capacity of
each and all of us to govern ourselves, to sustain ourselves, according
to the
Ten Commandments of God.”
— James Madison (1751-1836)
Fourth President of the United States
“The Ten Commandments and
the Sermon on the Mount contain my religion...”
— John Adams (1797-1801)
Second President of the United States
and Patriot
“If the time ever comes when
we shall go to pieces, it will ... be ... from inward corruption - from
the
disregard of right principles ... from losing sight of the fact that
‘Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any
people.’ [Proverbs
14:34 RSV]. ...T]he secession of the Southern States in 1860 was a
small matter
with the secession of the Union itself from the great principles
enunciated in
the Declaration of Independence, in the Golden Rule, in the Ten
Commandments,
in the Sermon on the Mount. Unless we hold, and hold firmly to these
great
fundamental principles of righteousness, ...our Union
... will be ‘only a covenant with death and an agreement with
hell.’” “The race that puts its
trust in God has always, under all circumstances, more for it than
against it.”
— Francis Grimke (1852-1937)
Black Presbyterian minister & leader who helped organize American
Negro
Academy.
“It cannot be emphasized too
strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by
religionists,
but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!
For
this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum,
prosperity,
and freedom of worship here.”
— Patrick Henry (1736-1799)
Patriot, Lawyer and Orator
“The Law given from Sinai
[The Ten Commandments] was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and
religious code.”
— John Quincy Adams,
(1767-1848) 6th
President of the United States - Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
The
Seven Deadly Sins
“Those things doth the Lord
hate: A proud Look, a lying Tongue, and Hands that shed innocent
Blood.”
— Jonas Clark (1730-1805)
Minute Men Leader, Patriot Pastor at the Church of Lexington
& Author
“Without morals a republic
cannot subsist any length of time; they, therefore, who are decrying
the
Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are
undermining the
solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free
governments.”
— Charles Carroll
(1737-1832) Founding Father and Leader from Maryland
“As piety and virtue support
the honor and happiness of every community, they are peculiarly
requisite in a
free government. Virtue is the spirit of a republic; for where all
power is
derived from the people, all depends on their good disposition. If they
are
impious ... all is lost.”
— Samuel Cooper (1725-1783)
Pastor of the Brattle
Street
Church
Boston, Pastor
of John Hancock,
James Bowdoin, and John
Adams
“It
is only what is written
upon the soul of man that will survive the wreck of time.”
— Francis Grimke (1852-1937)
Black Presbyterian minister & leader who helped organize American
Negro
Academy.
- Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
The
Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
“God who gave us life gave
us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we
have
removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people
that
these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be
violated but
with His Wrath? Indeed; I tremble for my country when I reflect that
God is
just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.”
— Thomas Jefferson,
inscription on the Jefferson Memorial
“No people ought to feel
greater obligations to celebrate the goodness of the Great Disposer of
Events
and of [the] destiny of nations than the people of the United States
... And to
the same Divine Author of every good and perfect gift we are indebted
for all
those privileges and advantages, religious as well as civil, which are
so
richly enjoyed this favored land.”
— James Madison
(1751-1836) Fourth President of the United States
“I believe the Bible is the
best gift God has ever given man. All the good from the Saviour of the
world is
communicated to us through this book.”
— Abraham Lincoln
(1809–1865) Sixteenth President of the United States
- Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
The
Nine Supernatural Gifts of the Holy Spirit
“And whatever you ask in prayer, you
will receive, if
you have faith.”
— Matthew 21:22 RSV
“Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other
men,
but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God.”
— Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790) Statesman, Scientist, Inventor, Printer and Philosopher
“No people ought to feel
greater obligations to celebrate the goodness of the Great Disposer of
Events
and of [the] destiny of nations than the people of the United States
... And to
the same Divine Author of every good and perfect gift we are indebted
for all
those privileges and advantages, religious as well as civil, which are
so
richly enjoyed this favored land.”
— James Madison (1751-1836) Fourth President of the United
States - Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
The
Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit
“The Christian religion, in
its purity, is the basis and 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.”
— Noah Webster
(1758-1843) Father
of the Dictionary
& American Patriot
“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom
of God
will be taken away from you and
given to a nation producing the fruits of it.”
— Matthew 21:43 RSV
“To the character of hero
and patriot, this good man added that of Christian. Although the
greatest man
upon earth, he disdained not to humble himself before his God and to
trust in
the mercies of Christ.”
— Gunning Bedford
(1747-1812 ) Patriot,
Lawyer, &
Signer of the Constitution from Delaware - Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
Six
things the Lord hates
“Those who wish well to the
State ought to choose to places of trust men of inward principle,
justified by
exemplary conversation. Is it reasonable to expect wisdom from the
ignorant? fidelity
from the profligate? assiduity and application
to public business from men of a dissipated
life? Is it reasonable to commit
the management of public revenue to one who hath wasted his own patrimony? Those,
therefore, who pay no
regard to religion and sobriety in the persons whom they send to the
legislature of any State are guilty of the greatest absurdity and will
soon pay
dear for their folly.”
— John Witherspoon
(1722-1794) Educator, Economist, Minister, Writer & Founding
Father
“I have been alternately
called an aristocrat and a democrat. I am neither. I am a Christocrat.
I
believe all power ... will always fail of producing order and happiness
in the
hands of man. He alone who created and redeemed man is qualified to
govern
him.”
— Benjamin Rush
(1745-1813) Founding Father& signer of the Declaration of
Independence
“Amongst other strange
things said of me, I hear it is said by the deists that I am one of
their
number; and, indeed, that some good people think I am no Christian.
This
thought gives me much more pain than the appellation of Tory; because I
think religion
of infinitely higher importance than politics; and I find much cause to
reproach myself that I have lived so long and have given no decided and
public
proofs of my being a Christian. But, indeed, my dear child, this is a
character
which I prize far above all this world has, or can boast.”
— Patrick Henry (1736-1799)
Patriot, Lawyer and Orator - Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
The
Report of Pontius Pilate, Governor of Judea; sent to August Caesar in
Rome
“And at the time he was
crucified there was darkness over all the world, the sun being darkened
at
mid-day, and the stars appearing, but in them there appeared no lustre;
and the
moon, as if turned into blood, failed in her light.”
To the most mighty,
venerable, most divine, and most terrible, the august Cæsar,
Pilate the
governor of the East sends greeting. I have, O most mighty, a narrative
to give
you, on account of which I am seized with fear and trembling. For in
this
government of mine, of which one of the cities is called Jerusalem, all
the
people of the Jews have delivered to me a man named Jesus, bringing
many
charges against him, which they were not able to convict him of by the
consistency of their evidence. And one of the heresies they had against
him
was, that Jesus said that their Sabbath should not be a day of leisure,
and
should not be observed. For he performed many cures on that day: he
made the
blind receive their sight, the lame walk; - Download
- PDF
________________________________________________________
The
Report of Pontius Pilate, Governor of Judea; sent to Tiberius Ceasar in
Rome
“And amid the terror dead
men were seen rising again, so that the Jews who saw it said, We beheld
Abraham
and Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve patriarchs, who died some two
thousand
five hundred years before, and we beheld Noah clearly in the
body.”
I HAVE undertaken to communicate to thy goodness
by this
my writing, though possessed with much fear and trembling, most
excellent king, the present state of affairs, as the result hath shown.
For as I administered this province, my lord, according to the command
of thy serenity, which is one of the eastern cities called Jerusalem,
wherein the temple of the nation of the Jews is erected, all the
multitude of the Jews, being assembled, delivered up to me a certain
man called Jesus, bringing many and endless accusations against him;
but they could not convict him in anything. But they had one heresy
against him, that he said the sabbath was not their proper
rest. - Download
- PDF
_________________________________________________________
|
|
Video / Audio -
Historical Providential Perspective - Link
to page
|
_________________________________________________________
Through
God’s blessing, grace and assistance,
Washington
made our Country and Lincoln saved our Country.
 For
our God and our Union ....
Who will be the Third Protector
of our Liberties and Freedoms?
Will there be a Third Protector of our Liberties and Freedoms?
_________________________________________________________
No
authority on earth supersedes God’s Word and Law.
_________________________________________________________
www.GodTheOriginalIntent.com |
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