David Barton

Recall that under British law, it had been illegal to print a Bible in the English language in America. Following Yorktown, America was no longer under that restriction, and a plan was advanced in Congress to print America’s very own, very first, English-language Bible.

 This plan was presented by publisher Robert Aitken of Philadelphia, who offered his own presses for the project. Interestingly, according to the congressional documents accompanying this proposal, on January 21, 1781, the Bible was described to Congress as “a neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools.”

 Congress approved the plan and appointed a committee to oversee the printing of the Bible. The result was what has now become one of the rarest books in America – indeed, in the world: the first Bible printed in the English language in America.  The front of that Bible contains the endorsement that “The United States in Congress assembled . . . recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States.” This Bible was the result of our Founding Fathers and the American Congress!

The surrender at Yorktown occurred in 1781, the “Bible of the Revolution” was printed in 1782, and the peace treaty with Great Britain was signed in 1783. Interestingly, even that peace treaty – negotiated and signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay – reflects the strong religious sentiments of our Founders. For example, notice its opening declaration: “In the Name of the most Holy and undivided Trinity. Amen!” (A copy of the original treaty can still be seen at the John Quincy Adams State Drawing Room in the U. S. State Department in Washington, D. C.)

 When word of the signed peace treaty reached America, George Washington officially resigned as Commander-in-Chief. In the final of the eight pictures in the Rotunda, George Washington is informing his military staff and the leaders of Congress of his resignation (see page 12). Washington then sent a circular letter to the thirteen governors and State legislatures informing them of his resignation. In that letter, Washington rejoiced in America’s recent successes and then closed by offering this prayer for the States and the governors:

the 1783 peace treaty

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 a 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 [peaceful] temper of the mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation.

 The final thing George Washington reminds the governors and States is that if they don’t imitate Jesus, America won’t be a happy nation.  

One of the statues in the Rotunda is of our 20th President, James A. Garfield. Garfield, according to his own account, experienced a miraculous intervention of God in his life which saved him from certain drowning in the Ohio-Pennsylvania canal. His is a wonderful story, told in his biography, From Log-Cabin to the White House. Following the Providential intervention that literally saved his life, Garfield gave his heart to the Lord, committed his life to Christ, and became a minister of the Gospel.

In fact, in one of his letters, he describes a revival in which he personally preached the Gospel 19 times, with 34 individuals coming to Christ and 31 of them being baptized. Although such activities are not typically associated with our Presidents today, this was part of the life of James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the United States and a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

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Consider next signer John Hancock. After serving as a President of Congress during the Revolution, he was elected Governor of Massachusetts, where he issued several proclamations calling the citizens to prayer, fasting, and thanksgiving. Hancock’s proclamation from October 15, 1791, is typical of his others: it contains strongly evangelical language. For example, notice the request with which he closes that proclamation: And pray especially “that universal happiness may be established in the world; [and] that all may bow to the scepter of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the whole earth be filled with His glory.” John Hancock also issued other religious proclamations, each equally evangelical in nature, and all fully reflective of his own Christian beliefs. 

John Hancock is another of our Founders who was open about his faith and who has been honored with a statue at the Capitol, located in the east corridor of the Senate wing.  

Consider signer Samuel Adams. Because of his leadership in events like the Boston Tea Party and organizations such as the Sons of Liberty, he has been titled “The Father of the American Revolution.” After the Revolution, Samuel Adams remained very active in political affairs. For example, he was one of the individuals responsible for the movement that led to the drafting and adoption of the Bill of Rights, and he later became the Lieutenant Governor and then Governor of Massachusetts.

 As governor, he, like John Hancock, issued several proclamations for prayer, fasting, and thanksgiving which used strong evangelical language. For example, in his 1795 proclamation, Adams closed by asking citizens to pray “that the peaceful and glorious reign of our Divine Redeemer may be known and enjoyed throughout the whole family of mankind.” This prayer request was often repeated by Adams, as, for example, in his 1797 proclamation, in which he asked that the people pray for “speedily bringing on that holy and happy  period when the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and all the people willingly bow to the sceptre of Him who is the Prince of Peace.”

 Samuel Adams was a strong and outspoken Christian – a fact confirmed both in his private writings and in the official public records. He was such an important leader that he, too, has been honored with an individual statute, located in East Central Hall.

 Religious proclamations acknowledging God and calling on His aid (like those already seen from Jonathan Trumbull, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams) were frequent from our Founders, not only in their individual state leadership roles as governors but also in their collective national leadership roles in Congress. For example, during the Revolution, Congress issued no less than fifteen national prayer proclamations. Those proclamations, each written by different committees composed of different Founding Fathers, were all characterized by strong Biblical language. This should come as no surprise, however; after all, in the Declaration of Independence, our Founders announced to the world that they were proceeding “with a firm reliance on Divine Providence”; and the numerous prayer proclamations issued throughout the Revolution prove that they meant what they said.

 There are many other Founding Fathers in the Rotunda painting of the signers of the Declaration who are worthy of examination, but it is sufficiently established that numerous Christians were among the signers and that much spiritual depth was represented by the individuals in that one painting.

 The Rotunda painting of the surrender of the British at Yorktown depicts the conclusion of the last military battle of the American Revolution. Even though two more years would pass before a final peace treaty was signed, for all practical purposes, after Yorktown, America was free from British laws and policies and was now able to establish her own.

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Benjamin Rush was a leading educator, helping start five colleges and universities, including the first college for women. Additionally, he is called the “Father of American Medicine,” personally trained three thousand students for their medical degrees, published a number of medical textbooks, and made numerous medical discoveries which still benefit us today. He was also a founder of America’s first abolition society and for forty years was a national leader in the abolition movement.

 Because of his faith, we still enjoy the fruit of his labors. For example, in 1791, Dr. Rush founded “The First Day Society” which grew into today’s Sunday Schools. Additionally, he also started America’s first Bible society: The Bible Society of Philadelphia. The original constitution for that Bible society was authored by Dr. Rush.  

In that constitution, Dr. Rush listed two important reasons that America needed Bible societies: first, he pointed out that with a Bible, every individual could discover how to have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ; second, he argued that if every individual owned a Bible – and would study and obey it – that all of our social problems, including crime, slavery, etc., would diminish.

As Dr. Rush explained, it is in living by the Bible that man becomes both “humanized and civilized.” In looking for ways to print Bibles faster and more economically, Dr. Rush and the Society came across what was called stereotyped printing – an early form of mass production. With the help of President James Madison and an act passed by Congress in the Capitol building,  Dr. Rush’s Bible society obtained stereotype plates by which they could mass produce Bibles. The result was America’s first mass-produced, stereotyped Bible – and it came about through the efforts of Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

 Consider next signer Francis Hopkinson. He was a church music director, a choir leader, and the editor of a music work from 1767 – one of the first hymnals printed in America. His work took the one hundred and fifty Psalms and set them all to music so that the Psalms could be sung much as King David had done over two thousand years before. Interestingly, his work was one of the earliest in America to include musical notation and place notes in a staff so that the melody could be seen. This unique Bible hymnbook was the work of Declaration signer, Francis Hopkinson.

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              Begin with John Witherspoon. He was an ordained minister of the Gospel, published several books of Gospel sermons, and played major roles in two American editions of the Bible, including one from 1791 that is considered America’s first family Bible.

 The Rev. Dr. Witherspoon wrote the introduction for this Bible, and although the Bible’s text is essentially the same as that of the King James ersion, it does not carry that title. After all, the Americans – including Dr. Witherspoon – had just fought a war to be free of kings, so why attach the name of a king to an American edition of the Bible Therefore, this Bible describes itself only as “The Holy Bible” because, as Dr. Witherspoon pointed out, this was God’s Word, not the word of a king! 12 John Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration and minister of the Gospel, helped produce America’s very first family Bible.

The 1791 bible prepared by dr. witherspoon (left), his introduction (right), and one of his many books of sermons (upper left) Consider next Charles Thomson. Charles Thomson was the Secretary of Congress, and he and John Hancock were the only two to sign the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. Charles Thomson is another Founder responsible for an American edition of the Bible. That Bible – called Thomson’s Bible – was the first translation of the Greek Septuagint into English. It took Charles Thomson twenty-five years to complete his translation, but even today that work is still considered one of the more scholarly American translations of the Bible. Consider also signer Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Charles Carroll was the last of the fifty-six signers to pass away, dying in 1832 at the age of 95. A strong and unequivocal declaration of his Christian faith appears in numerous writings, including a letter he wrote on his 89th birthday in which he declared:

“On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation, and on His merits; not on the works I have done in obedience to His precepts.” 13 In other of his writings, Charles Carroll explained that his Christian faith was one of the chief reasons that he had entered thomson’s bible carroll’s letter expressing his strong christian faith into the American Revolution – he was fighting to preserve religious liberty. In fact, he was so committed to Christianity that he built and personally funded a Christian house of worship. Charles Carroll’s life and words confirm that he was a strong Christian, and he is one of that handful of Americans who have been honored at the Capitol with a statue, located in East Central Hall. Consider next signer Benjamin Rush. When he died in 1813, the writings of the day, and the other Founders who were still alive, declared that Dr. Rush was one of our three most notable Founders, ranking him in prominence along with George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. 15 Yet who today has heard of Benjamin Rush, or who knows of his accomplishments?

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 There are many today who dispute this fact. Rather than acknowledge that Christianity played an important role in the formation of this nation, or that there is a deep and rich religious heritage attached to the Capitol building, or that most of our Founding Fathers were strongly and openly religious, they instead claim just the opposite. For example, one prominent historian amazingly asserts, “The Founding Fathers were at most deists.” And in an article entitled “America’s UnChristian Beginnings,” the writer forcefully claims that “The early presidents and patriots were generally deists or Unitarians, believing in some form of impersonal Providence but rejecting the divinity of Jesus and the relevance of the Bible.” Another author similarly charges, “[M]ost of our other patriarchs were at best deists, [not] believing in . . . the God of the Old and New Testaments.” And the title of one book seems to say it all: The Godless Constitution.

The reason that such absurd accusations often go unrefuted by the average citizen is that most Americans don’t know who our Founders were. For example, in the picture of the signing of the Constitution (this picture will be discussed in detail later in a different room in the Capitol) how many of the 39 signers can the average citizen identify? Which one is Gouverneur Morris? Or William Paterson? Or John Dickinson? Although each of these signers played crucial roles, most Americans today have never heard of them. Similarly, in the picture of the signers of the Declaration, which one is Stephen Hopkins? Or Samuel Huntington? Or Richard Henry Lee? If citizens don’t know who our Founders were, when they clearly can’t address the question of whether or not they were religious. 

In earlier years, charges of the non-religious nature of our Founders were immediately dismissed because citizens knew about our individual Founders. For example, the textbook from 1848 pictured on the right 11 (recently reprinted), was used in classrooms for decades. It provided the signing of the constitution a brief biography of each of the 56 signers of the Declaration and was quite candid about the strong Christian faith of so many of them.

 In a return to the practice of these earlier schoolbooks, let’s examine some of the religious beliefs held by Founders depicted, for example, in the painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

 Realize that every individual in the painting had an impact on the Declaration of Independence, even though not everyone pictured actually signed it. Why? Because even though Congress approved the Declaration on July 4th, 1776, it was then signed only by the President and Secretary of Congress. The final engrossed version of the declaration was not signed by most representatives until August 2nd; and during that intervening month, some who had voted for the Declaration were called away to the service of their country before they could sign.

For example, George Clinton voted for the final draft of the Declaration on July 4th, but before he could sign, he was called to assume military leadership in New York. And even though Robert Livingston was on the five-man committee charged with writing the Declaration, he was recalled to serve in his State legislature before he could sign the very document he had helped draft. George Clinton and Robert Livingston, even though they ultimately did not sign the Declaration, are both in the Rotunda painting of the signing of the Declaration and each is so significant that he has been honored with a statue at the Capitol.

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