David Barton

Since the only way for America to end slavery was to separate from Great Britain, many Founders believed that separation would be an appropriate course of action. In fact, in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson personally penned the clause declaring: [King George III] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. . . . Determined to keep open a market where men should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce.

That is, not only has King George III engaged in slavery and the slave trade but he has even opposed all efforts to stop it. Ending slavery was so important to so many of the Founders that when America did separate from Great Britain in 1776, several States began abolishing slavery, including Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. It is true that not every State immediately abolished slavery; and it is also true that even though the overwhelming majority of Founding Fathers were anti-slavery, not all were. In fact, Jefferson’s forceful denunciation of the slave trade in the original draft of the Declaration was complained about so strenuously by the delegates from Georgia and South Carolina that his clause was removed from the Declaration and a milder condemnation inserted instead. Nevertheless, the desire to end slavery was a major factor in the thinking of many Founding Fathers.

For example, America’s first antislavery society was founded in 1774 with the help of Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Benjamin Rush (both of whom became signers of the Declaration of Independence). This society was founded two years before the separation from Great Britain – an act of civil disobedience, for King George III had said America could not end slavery.

But these two Founders ignored that dictum and worked to end slavery anyway; and Dr. Benjamin Rush led the anti-slavery fight for almost four decades and even headed the national abolition movement. For many Founders, their desire to end slavery was religiously motivated. This fact is illustrated by John Quincy Adams, who hated slavery and so crusaded against it that he was nicknamed “the hell-hound of abolition” for his unrelenting efforts to abolish that evil. In a famous speech, Adams cited the Bible passage from Luke 4 where Jesus declared that he had come to “proclaim liberty to the captives”; he then noted that if this was the goal of the Savior, it should also be the goal of all Christians – they, too, should work to end slavery. Clearly, issues such as religious liberties and the desire to end slavery – as well as the removal of trial by jury, the impressment of American seamen by the British, the placing of the military power above the civilian power, and many others – were important reasons behind the Founders’ separation from Great Britain. Yet all that most Americans hear about today is “taxation without representation.”

Another indication of how little is known today about our own history is revealed when Americans are asked, “Who were the leaders most responsible for the movement in America that led to our independence?” Today, we hear names such as Samuel Adams, the “Father of the American Revolution”; Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration; John Hancock, the President of Congress with his bold signature on the Declaration; and John Adams, who not only signed the Declaration but who also negotiated and signed the Peace Treaty with Great Britain to secure our independence. These were indeed important political leaders behind our independence, but previous generations also knew about other important leaders. John Adams himself declared that the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Mayhew and the Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper were two of the individuals “most conspicuous, the most ardent, and influential” in the “awakening and revival of American principles and feelings” that led to our independence. Other ministers whose influence and leadership were also important included the Rev. George Whitefield, the Rev. James Caldwell, the Rev. John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg with his brother the Rev. Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, and many more. (The exploits of many of these ministers are recorded in several older historical works, including The Pulpit of the American Revolution, The Patriot Preachers of the American Revolution, and The Chaplains and Clergy of the Revolution.) Regrettably, today we don’t hear much about the role of the church – of ministers and Christians – in the founding of our civil government.

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