-Caveat Lector-
July 4th! The Birthday of America
by David Barton
This year marks 225 years since our Founding Fathers gave us our National
Birth Certificate. We continue to be the longest on-going Constitutional
Republic in the history of the world. Blessings such as these are not by
chance or accidental. They are blessings of God.
On July 2, 1776, Congress voted to approve a complete separation from Great
Britain. Two days afterwards — July 4th —the early draft of the Declaration
of Independence was signed, albeit by only two individuals at that time:
John Hancock, President of Congress, and Charles Thompson, Secretary of
Congress. Four days later, on July 8, members of Congress took that
document and read it aloud from the steps of Independence Hall, proclaiming
it to the city of Philadelphia, after which the Liberty Bell was rung. The
inscription around the top of that bell, Leviticus 25:10, was most
appropriate for the occasion: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to
all the inhabitants thereof”.
To see the turmoil in other nations, their struggles and multiple
revolutions, and yet to see the stability and blessings that we have here
in America, we may ask how has this been achieved? What was the basis of
American Independence? John Adams said “The general principles on which the
Fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity”.
Perhaps the clearest identification of the spirit of the American
Revolution was given by John Adams in a letter to Abigail the day after
Congress approved the Declaration. He wrote her two letters on that day;
the first was short and concise, jubilant that the Declaration had been
approved. The second was much longer and more pensive, giving serious
consideration to what had been done that day. Adams cautiously noted: "This
day will be the most memorable epic in the history of America. I am apt to
believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great
anniversary festival".
It is amazing that on the very day they approved the Declaration, Adams was
already foreseeing that their actions would be celebrated by future
generations. Adams contemplated whether it would be proper to hold such
celebrations, but then concluded that the day should be commemorated– but
in a particular manner and with a specific spirit. As he told Abigail: “It
ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of
devotion to God Almighty”.
John Adams believed that the Fourth of July should become a religious
holiday– a day when we remembered God's hand in deliverance and a day of
religious activities when we committed ourselves to Him in "solemn acts of
devotion to God Almighty." Such was the spirit of the American Revolution
as seen through the eyes of those who led it, evidenced even further in the
words of John Quincy Adams, one who was deeply involved in the activities
of the Revolution.
In 1837, when he was 69 years old, he delivered a Fourth of July speech at
Newburyport, Massachusetts. He began that address with a question: “Why is
it, friends and fellow citizens, that you are here assembled? Why is it
that entering on the 62nd year of our national existence you have honored
[me] with an invitation to address you. . . ?”
The answer was easy: they had asked him to address them because he was old
enough to remember what went on; they wanted an eye-witness to tell them of
it! He next asked them: “Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior
of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this
day [the Fourth of July]?"
An interesting question: why is it that in America the Fourth of July and
Christmas were our two top holidays? Note his answer: “Is it not that, in
the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly
linked with the birthday of the Savior? 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 cornerstone of human
government upon the first precepts of Christianity"?
According to John Quincy Adams, Christmas and the Fourth of July were
intrinsically connected. On the Fourth of July, the Founders simply took
the precepts of Christ which came into the world through His birth
(Christmas) and incorporated those principles into civil government.
Have you ever considered what it meant for those 56 men— an eclectic group
of ministers, business men, teachers, university professors, sailors,
captains, farmers— to sign the Declaration of Independence? This was a
contract that began with the reasons for the separation from Great Britain
and closed in the final paragraph stating “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”.
Dr. Benjamin Rush, the father of American Medicine and a signer, recorded
that day in his diary. In 1781, he wrote to John Adams “Do you recollect
the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the House when we were called
up, one after another, to the table of the President of Congress to
subscribe to what was believed by many at that time to be our death
warrants? The silence and gloom of the morning was interrupted, I well
recollect, only for a moment by Colonel Harrison of Virginia (a big guy)
who said to Mr. Gerry (small in stature) at the table: 'I shall have a
great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are
now doing... From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few
minutes, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an
hour or two before you are dead.' This speech procured a transient smile,
but it was soon succeeded by the solemnity with which the whole business
was conducted.”
These men took this pledge seriously. Robert Morris of Pennsylvania is an
example of the highest level of integrity. He was chosen as the financier
of the American Revolution. What an honor, except that there was no bank
willing to give any loans to help fund the revolution. It was three years
and the Battle of Saratoga before America got any kind of funding at all.
After winning that battle, foreign nations like France, Holland, and others
decided maybe we weren't such a bad risk and began loaning us money. So
where did we get money for the first three years? Congress, at that time,
could not have obtained a loan of one thousand dollars, yet Robert Morris
effected loans upon his own credit, of tens of thousands. In 1781, George
Washington conceived the expedition against Cornwallis, at Yorktown. He
asked Judge Peters of Pennsylvania, “What can you do for me?” “With money,
everything, without it, nothing,” he replied, at the same time turning with
anxious look toward Mr. Morris. “Let me know the sum you desire,” said Mr.
Morris; and before noon Washington's plan and estimates were complete.
Robert Morris promised him the amount, and he raised it upon his own
responsibility. It has been justly remarked, that: “If it were not
demonstrable by official records, posterity would hardly be made to believe
that the campaign of 1781, which resulted in the capture of Cornwallis, and
virtually closed the Revolutionary War, was sustained wholly on the credit
of an individual merchant.” America couldn't repay him because there was
no money and yet Robert Morris never complained because he had given his word.
You see the same thing in the life of John Hart. He was a strong Christian
gentleman and Speaker of the House of Representatives in New Jersey. He
promised to help provide them with guidance and leadership. There were
three things that were important in his life; his Savior, his family and
his farm. Because of his signature on the Declaration, the British were
seeking him (and the rest of the signers) to execute as traitors. John
Hart fled his home after which his farm was ravaged, his timber destroyed,
his cattle and stock butchered for the use of the British army. He did not
dare to remain two nights in the same location. After Washington's success
at the battle of Trenton, he finally returned home to find that his wife
had died and his children scattered. He lost almost everything that was
important to him but kept his word.
John Hancock, a very wealthy individual lived in a mansion reflecting his
princely fortune — one of the largest in the Province of Massachusetts.
During the time the American army besieged Boston to rid it of the British,
the American officers proposed the entire destruction of the city. “By the
execution of such a plan, the whole fortune of Mr. Hancock would have been
sacrificed. Yet he readily acceded to the measure, declaring his
willingness to surrender his all, whenever the liberties of his country
should require it”. A man of his word, he demonstrated his integrity.
The 16 Congressional proclamations for prayer and fasting throughout the
Revolution were not bland (i.e. , the acknowledgment of Jesus Christ, the
quoting of Romans 14:17, etc.); however, this is not unusual considering
the prominent role that many ministers played in the Revolution.
One such example is John Peter Muhlenburg. In a sermon delivered to his
Virginia congregation on January 21, 1776, he preached verse by verse from
Ecclesiastes 3— the passage which speaks of a season and a time to every
purpose under heaven. Arriving at verse 8, which declares that there is a
time of war and a time of peace, Muhlenburg noted that this surely was not
the time of peace; this was the time of war. Concluding with a prayer, and
while standing in full view of the congregation, he removed his clerical
robes to reveal that beneath them he was wearing the uniform of an officer
in the Continental army! He marched to the back of the church; ordered the
drum to beat for recruits and over three hundred men joined him, becoming
the Eighth Virginia Brigade. John Peter Muhlenburg finished the Revolution
as a Major-General, having been at Valley Forge and having participated in
the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Stonypoint, and Yorktown.
Another minister-leader in the Revolution was the Reverend James Caldwell.
His actions during one battle inspired a painting showing him standing with
a stack of hymn books in his arms while engaged in the midst of a fierce
battle against the British outside a battered Presbyterian church. During
the battle, the Americans had developed a serious problem: they had run out
of wadding for their guns, which was just as serious as having no
ammunition. Reverend Caldwell recognized the perfect solution; he ran
inside the church and returned with a stack of Watts Hymnals — one of the
strongest doctrinal hymnals of the Christian faith (Isaac Watts authored “O
God Our Help In Ages Past”, “Joy to the World”, “Jesus Shall Reign”, and
several other classic hymns). Distributing the Watts Hymnals among the
soldiers served two purposes: first, its pages would provide the needed
wadding; second, the use of the hymnal carried a symbolic message. Reverend
Caldwell took that hymn book— the source of great doctrine and spiritual
truth— raised it up in the air and shouted to the Americans, “Give 'em
Watts, boys!”
The spiritual emphasis manifested so often by the Americans during the
Revolution caused one Crown-appointed British governor to write to Great
Britain complaining that: “If you ask an American who is his master, he'll
tell you he has none. And he has no governor but Jesus Christ”.
Letters like this, and sermons like those preached by the Reverend Peter
Powers (“Jesus Christ the King”), gave rise to a motto of the American
Revolution. Most of us are unaware that the American Revolution even had a
motto, but most wars do (e.g., World War II – “Remember Pearl Harbor”; the
Texas' war for independence – “Remember the Alamo”; etc.). The motto of the
American Revolution was directed against King George III— who
concapriciously, and regularly violated “the laws of nature and of nature's
God”. The motto was very simple and very direct: No King but King Jesus!
Preserving American liberty depends first upon our understanding the
foundations on which this great country was built and then preserving the
principles on which it was founded. Let's not let the purpose for which we
were established be forgotten. The Founding Fathers have passed us a torch;
let's not let it go out.
To learn more about the quest for our freedom, read WallBuilder resources
such as Lives of the Signers, Wives of the Signers (both reprints); or view
one of their video's, The Spirit of the American Revolution; or listen to
the stories recounted by David Barton in America's Birthday. These, and
many more, are available from WallBuilders. To order or request a FREE
catalog, call toll-free 800-873-2845; or you may write to them at P.O. Box
397, Aledo, TX, 76008. Visit their web site at wallbuilders.com.
-end article-
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-tHE eXTREMIST
"I have little doubt that the whole country will soon be rallied to the
unity of our Creator, and, I hope, to the pure doctrines of Jesus also." "I
shall need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our
forefathers, as Israel of old, from their native land and planted them in
this country."
-Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the US, chosen to write the Declaration
of Independence
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