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AUTUMN 1831, Four Indians -3 Nez Perce and 1 Flathead, arrived in St. Louis asking about a "book to heaven." Dr. Marcus Whitman and a group of missionaries responded. Dedicating the Oregon Trail, July 3, 1923, President Warren Harding told how Dr. Whitman, clad in buckskin breeches, fur leggings and moccasins, "in the dead of winter 1842, struggled through...blinding storms, 4,000 miles...from Walla Walla...past the Great Salt Lake, to Santa Fe...to St. Louis and finally...to Washington, D.C...It was a race against time. Public opinion was...that Oregon was not worth claiming...Turning to President Tyler, Whitman added...'All I ask is that you will not barter away Oregon or allow English interference until I can lead...settlers across the plains.'" President Warren Harding continued: "Such was Marcus Whitman, the missionary hero...to plead that the state should acquire...the empire that the churches were gaining for Christianity...Never in the history of the world has there been a finer example of civilization following Christianity. The missionaries led under the banner of the cross and the settlers moved close behind under the star-spangled symbol of the nation." The State of Washington placed Dr. Marcus Whitman's statue in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall.

Herbert Hoover was born AUGUST 10, 1874. The son of a Quaker blacksmith, he studied at Stanford and became a world renowned engineer. Trapped in China when the Boxer Rebellion broke out in 1900, he directed the building of barricades under heavy fire while his wife worked in the hospital. In World War I, at the request of the American Consul, Hoover helped 120,000 Americans stranded in Europe return home. He directed the feeding of Belgium after the Nazis overran it and orchestrated feeding the Allied nations while avoiding rationing at home. After the war, he arranged the feeding of millions starving in Central Europe and Russia. Serving as Secretary of Commerce for Presidents Harding and Coolidge, Hoover became the 31 U.S. President in 1929. Seven months later the Stock Market crashed. Though implementing a plan of aid through the States, political opponents sabotaged his efforts. In his Memorial Day Address, delivered at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 1931, President Herbert Hoover stated: "If, by the grace of God, we stand steadfast in our great traditions through this time of stress, we shall insure that we and our sons and daughters shall see these fruits increased many fold."



Hoover, Herbert Clark. Oct. 18, 1931, in an address beginning a nation-wide drive to aid the private relief agencies during the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover, The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover - The Great Depression 1929-1941 (NY: The MacMillan Co., 1952), p. 151. "My own suggestion is that Iraq might be financed to complete this great land development on the consideration that it be made the scene of resettlement of the Arabs from Palestine. This would clear Palestine completely for Jewish immigration and colonization." Herbert Hoover, New York World-Telegram, Nov. 19, 1945. Solomon Goldman, president of the Zionist Organization of America, wrote to David Ben-Gurion on Apr. 6, 1939, quoting a letter from President Roosevelt to Justice Louis Brandeis: "He wrote about the transfer of several hundred thousand Arabs from Palestine to Iraq. In order to finance this transfer, he suggested the establishment of a fund of three hundred million dollars. He thought that it was possible to collect one hundred million from the Jews, the British Government would loan one hundred and the American Government would loan a third of the required sum." Henry Morgenthau, Roosevelt's Secretary of the Treasury, wrote in his diary in 1942 of a conversation with FDR in which the president said: "I actually would put a barbed wire around Palestine, and I would begin to move the Arabs out of Palestine...I would provide land for the Arabs in some other part of the Middle East...Each time we move out an Arab we would bring in another Jewish family...There are lots of places to which you could move the Arabs. All you have to do is drill a well because there is a large underground water supply, and we can move the Arabs to places where they can really live." (John Morton Blum, Roosevelt and Morgenthau: From the Morgenthau Diaries [Boston, 1970], 519-520.)

AUGUST 11, 1984, by an 88-11 Senate vote and a 337-77 House vote, Congress passed the Equal Access Act, stating: "It shall be unlawful for any public secondary school which receives Federal financial assistance and which has a limited open forum, to deny equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any students who wish to conduct a meeting within that limited open forum on the basis of the religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at such meeting." Regarding this, President Reagan commented August 23, 1984 at Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas: "We even had to pass a special law in the Congress just a few weeks ago to allow student prayer groups the same access to school rooms after classes that a Young Marxist Society...would already enjoy." The Supreme Court upheld the Equal Access Act by a vote of 8-1 in Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, June 4, 1990: "If a State refused to let religious groups use facilities open to others, then it would demonstrate not neutrality but hostility toward religion. The Establishment Clause does not license government to treat religion and those who teach or practice it...as subversive of American ideals."





The U.S. Code, Section 4071 (20 U.S.C. 4071-74). August 23, 1984, following the enactment of the "Equal Access Bill of 1984," President Ronald Reagan spoke at an Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast at the Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. U.S. Supreme Court, June 4, 1990, Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, 496, U.S. 226, 250, (1990), No. 88-1597 Part III was delivered by Justice O'Connor and No. 88-1597-CONCUR Part II was delivered by Justice Kennedy and Justice Scalia. 8 to 1 decision. See Widmar, 454 U.S., at 272, n.11. Jeremiah O'Leary, "Reagan Declares that Faith Has Key Role in Political Life," The Washington Times (August 24, 1984). Walter Shapiro, "Politics & the Pulpit," Newsweek (September 17, 1984), p. 24. The Speech That Shook The Nation (Forerunner, December 1984), p. 12. Nadine Strossen, "A Constitutional Analysis of the Equal Access Act's Standards Governing School Student's Religious Meetings," Harvard Journal on Legislation, Winter, 1987. p. 118. David R. Shepherd, Ronald Reagan: In God We Trust (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1984), p. 146.

"O Beautiful, For Spacious Skies, For Amber Waves of Grain..." Almost the National Anthem, "America the Beautiful" was written by Katherine Lee Bates, born AUGUST 12, 1859. Daughter of a Congregational minister, she taught high school, then English literature at Wellesley College. Of her 1893 Colorado journey, Katherine Lee Bates wrote: "Some of the other teachers and I decided to go on a trip to 14,000-foot Pikes Peak. We hired a prairie wagon. Near the top we had to leave the wagon and go the rest of the way on mules. I was very tired. But when I saw the view, I felt great joy. All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse." Printed in The Congregationalist, July 4, 1895, Katharine Lee Bates wrote: "America! America! God shed his grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood, From sea to shining sea!" Meeting with South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan, November 14, 1983, President Reagan said: "At the worship service Sunday morning with our soldiers...less than a mile from one of the most tyrannical regimes on Earth...a choir of little girls...all orphans...closing the service, singing "America, the Beautiful" in our language, was a spiritual experience."

"New Jersey is being invaded by Martians!" was the script of a 1938 radio drama based on the novel War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, who died AUGUST 13, 1946. H.G. Wells wrote the best sellers The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and The First Men in the Moon, which inspired a boy named Robert Goddard to become the father of modern rocketry. At the National Space Club, March 29, 1985, President Reagan stated: "Personally, I like space. The higher you go, the smaller the Federal Government looks." Reagan continued: "Dr. Goddard once wrote a letter to H.G. Wells...'There can be no thoughts of finishing, for aiming at the stars...is a problem to occupy generations...there is always the thrill of just beginning.'" In his Outlines of History, 1920, H.G. Wells said of the U.S. Constitution: "Its spirit is indubitably Christian." In The Secret Places of the Heart, 1922, H.G. Wells wrote: "Sir Richmond and Miss Grammont went out into the moonlit gloaming...crossed the bridge...and followed the road beside the river towards the old Abbey Church, that Lantern of the West...said Sir Richmond...'It's only through love that God can reach over from one human being to another. All real love is a divine thing."

Emperor Hirohito surrendered AUGUST 14, 1945. The next day, on the Jewish New Year, President Truman stated: "The enemies of civilization who would have destroyed completely all freedom of religion have been defeated. All faiths unite in thanksgiving to Almighty God on our victory over the forces of evil." In a Day of Prayer, August 16, 1945, Truman proclaimed: "The warlords of Japan...have surrendered unconditionally... This is the end of the...schemes of dictators to enslave the peoples of the world, destroy their civilization, and institute a new era of darkness and degradation." Truman continued: "Our global victory has come from the courage...of free men and women united in determination to fight. It has come from the massive strength of arms...created by peace-loving peoples who knew that unless they won, decency in the world would end. It has come from millions of peaceful citizens...turned soldiers overnight-who showed a ruthless enemy that they were not afraid to fight." Truman concluded: "It has come with the help of God, Who was with us in the early days of adversity and...Who has now brought us to this glorious day of triumph. Let us give thanks to Him and...dedicated ourselves to follow in His ways."

He conquered from Austria to Palestine, Holland to Egypt, uncovered Pyramid treasures and the Rosetta Stone. He sold a million square miles of land to U.S. to raise money for his army. His name was Napoleon Bonaparte, born AUGUST 15, 1769. In 1797, Napoleon said to the parish priests in Milan: "A society without religion is like a ship without a compass." Though emperor for life, disastrous losses in Russia and Waterloo led to his banishment in 1815 to the South Atlantic Island of Saint Helena, where he dictated his "Mémoires" to General Charles Tristan de Montholon, Baron Gaspar Gourgaud and General Henri Gratien Bertrand. Additionally, Emmanuel de Las Cases recorded a journal the emperor's conversations titled "Mémorial de Sainte Hélène." At the beginning of his captivity, Napoleon complained to Montholon of having no chaplain. Pope Pius VII petitioned England to grant Napoleon's wish and Abbé Vignali became his chaplain. To Montholon, Napoleon affirmed his belief in God and read aloud the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Napoleon stated: "The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it."

Charles Finney died AUGUST 16, 1875. An attorney, he saw so many Scripture references in Blackstone's Law Commentaries that he bought a Bible and came to faith. Finney's 1835 Revival Lectures inspired George Williams to found the YMCA-Young Men's Christian Association-in 1844, and inspired William Booth to found The Salvation Army in 1865. Finney formed the Benevolent Empire - a network of volunteer organizations to aid with social problems - which by 1834 had a budget which rivaled the Federal Government. Concerning the Kingdom of God, Finney wrote "Every member must work or quit. No honorary members." While president of Oberlin College, 1851-1866, it served as a station on the Underground Railroad secretly bringing slaves to freedom, and it granted the first degree in the U.S. to a black woman, Mary Jane Patterson. Charles Finney wrote: "The time has come for Christians to vote for honest men, and take consistent ground in politics or the Lord will curse them...Politics are a part of a religion in such a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to their country as a part of their duty to God." Charles Finney concluded: "God will bless or curse this nation according to the course Christians take in politics."

AUGUST 17, 1955, President Eisenhower authorized the code of conduct for U.S. soldiers, which stated: "I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense...If captured...I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy...I will never forget I am an American fighting man, responsible for my actions and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America." In 1947, the U.S. Corp of Cadets required: "Attendance at chapel is part of a cadet's training; no cadet will be exempted. Each cadet will receive religious training in one of the three particular faiths: Protestant, Catholic or Jewish." In 1949, the U.S. Naval Academy required: "All Midshipmen, except those on authorized outside church parties, shall attend Sunday services in the chapel." On November 15, 1862, Lincoln ordered: "The Commander in Chief...enjoins the...observance of the Sabbath...The sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, a becoming deference to the best sentiment of a Christian people...demand that Sunday labor in the Army and Navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity."

His legal decisions were so respected they were referenced in U.S. Supreme Court Cases. For 40 years he served on New York's District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals before dying AUGUST 18, 1961. His name was Learned Hand. In 1944, during World War II, Judge Learned Hand spoke on "The Spirit of Liberty" at a program in New York's Central Park: "What then is the spirit of liberty? I cannot define it; I can only tell you my own faith...The spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women; The spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interest alongside its own without bias; The spirit of liberty remembers that not even a sparrow falls to earth unheeded." Judge Learned Hand continued: "The spirit of liberty is the spirit of Him who, nearly two thousand years ago, taught mankind the lesson it has never learned, but has never quite forgotten - that there may be a kingdom where the least shall be heard and considered side by side with the greatest." Judge Learned Hand wrote: "The use of history is to tell us...past themes, else we should have to repeat, each in his own experience, the successes and the failures of our forebears."

A graduate of Georgetown University, he was a Fulbright Scholar before becoming Governor of Arkansas and then America's 42nd President. In 1998, he became the 2nd president ever to be impeached. His birth name was William Jefferson Blythe IV, born AUGUST 19, 1946. At age 15, he took his stepfather's name Clinton. At James Madison High School, July 12, 1995, President Bill Clinton stated: "The First Amendment does not require students to leave their religion at the schoolhouse door...It is especially important that parents feel confident that their children can practice religion...We need to make it easier and more acceptable for people to express and to celebrate their faith." Bill Clinton continued: "If students can wear T-shirts advertising sports teams, rock groups or politicians, they can also wear T-shirts that promote religion...Religion is too important to our history and our heritage for us to keep it out of our schools...Nothing in the First Amendment converts our public schools into religion-free zones or requires all religious expression to be left behind at the schoolhouse door." President Clinton concluded: "Government's schools also may not discriminate against private religious expression during the school day."

Fascinating - Thanks!

I really hope this is an ongoing series. I think that many of the younger people will be surprised to hear some of these things. If you are putting these together yourself, holler and I'll be glad to help. I do have a collection of older material, but most of mine is near or before 1776. I even have scans of the original documents. I'd really love to see something like this on the front page of every newspaper in the country every day. BUT, I know how far that idea would go.

This is a one year series called American Minute that is put out free in an email, on the radio, in a book and on a cd by William J Federer (the book and cd does cost a small fee for production and shipping).

I have the entire years worth but I also have more material to add to this thread to go with it from other sources. Please feel free to add to it with whatever you have. I would enjoy seeing it also.

Will have to look into this information.  And BEP would love to get some scans of what you have as well.

I thought this was some great reading.

300,000 miles on horseback, from the Atlantic to the Appalachians, from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico, for forty-five years, he spread the gospel. This was Francis Asbury, Methodist Circuit riding preacher who was born AUGUST 20, 1745. When the Revolution started, he refused to return to England: "I can by no means agree to leave such a field for gathering souls to Christ as we have in America." He befriended Richard Bassett, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, who converted, freed his slaves and paid them as hired labor. Francis Asbury dedicated the first African Methodist Episcopal Church and met personally with George Washington, congratulating him on his election. By the time he died, the Methodist Church in America had grown from 300 members to over 200,000. Unveiling the Equestrian Statue of Francis Asbury in Washington, D.C., 1924, President Calvin Coolidge stated: "Our government rests upon religion It is from that source that we derive our reverence for truth and justice, for equality and liberty...This circuit rider spent his life making stronger the foundation on which our government rests." Coolidge concluded: "Francis Asbury is entitled to rank as one of the builders of our nation."

He was one of six founding fathers to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. President Washington appointed him to the Supreme Court. Born in Scotland, he was an active delegate at the Constitutional Convention, speaking 168 times. His name was James Wilson and he died AUGUST 21, 1798.

The first law professor of the University of Pennsylvania, James Wilson wrote in his Lectures on Law, 1789-91: "Law...communicated to us by reason and conscience...has been called natural; as promulgated by the holy scriptures, it has been called revealed...But it should always be remembered, that this law, natural or revealed...flows from the same divine source; it is the law of God." James Wilson continued: "Human law must rest its authority, ultimately, upon the authority of that law, which is divine." The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania records in Updegraph v. Commonwealth, 1824: "The late Judge James Wilson, of the Supreme Court of the United States, Professor of Law in the College in Philadelphia... for our present form of government we are greatly indebted to his exertions...In his Course of Lectures (3d Vol. of his Works, 122), he states that...'Christianity is part of the common-law.'"

Born AUGUST 22, 1934, he served in Vietnam, commanded the U.S. forces in Grenada and Desert Storm, was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and knighted by the Queen of England. This was four star General Norman Schwarzkopf. On December 22, 1990, President George H.W. Bush was asked by the press: "There continues to be reports that American servicemen are not being allowed to wear American flag patches on their uniforms. There continues to be restrictions by the Saudis on religious materials." President Bush responded: "I've discussed this with our commanding general, H. Norman Schwarzkopf, and I am satisfied that our young men and women over there will be able to do what every other American family will be doing-thanking God for our many blessings at Christmas." In a 1991 interview with David Frost, General Schwarzkopf described an extreme flanking maneuver to cut off the Iraqi retreat: "When my forward commander radioed that they had reached the Euphrates River...I waited... 'General,' he said, 'I've got to tell you about the casualties.' I braced myself. 'One man was slightly wounded.' That's when I knew God was with us."

"We have met the enemy and they are ours," wrote Navy Captain Oliver Hazard Perry, who died AUGUST 23, 1819. Captain Perry was renowned for his victory during the War of 1812 over 6 British warships in the Battle of Lake Erie. On September 10, 1813, Perry's vessels, with many sailors being free blacks, were anchored at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, blocking the supply route to Fort Malden. The British squadron, consisting of two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop, approached, commanded by the one-armed Commodore Robert Barclay, who helped defeat Napoleon's fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar. Strong winds prevented Perry from getting in a safe position and with no long range firepower his flagship was crippled and most of his crew killed by British cannons. In a courageous move, the 28-year-old Perry switched to the ship "Niagara" and sailed directly across the British line, firing broadside. He won the battle in 15 minutes and forced Barclay to surrender. This pivotal victory secured the Northwest Territory for the United States, opened supply lines and lifted the nation's morale. To the sailors on deck Captain Perry remarked: "The prayers of my wife are answered."

Johannes Gutenberg invented the first moveable type printing press. His masterpiece, the Gutenberg Bible, was printed AUGUST 24, 1455. No longer copied by hand and chained to pulpits, Bibles were mass produced. Unfortunately his business partner sued and took his rights. Gutenberg, whose name means "beautiful mountain," wrote: "Let us break the seal which seals up holy things and give wings to Truth in order that she may win every soul that comes into the world." In The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1831, book 5, Victor Hugo wrote: "The 15th century everything changes. Human thought discovers a mode of perpetuating itself... Gutenberg's letters of lead...supersede Orpheus's letters of stone...The invention of printing is the greatest event in history. It is the mother of revolution." Victor Hugo continued: "Whether it be Providence or Fate, Gutenberg is the precursor of Luther." In A Tramp Abroad, 1880, Mark Twain wrote: "We made a short halt at Frankfort-on-the-Main...I would have liked to visit the birthplace of Gutenberg, but...no memorandum of the house has been kept." On August 12, 1993, at Denver's Regis University, Pope John Paul II gave a Gutenberg Bible to President Clinton.

He discovered planet Uranus in 1781 and desired to name it after King George III, though others gave it his name, as Thomas Jefferson's wrote from Paris to John Page, August 20, 1785: "You will find in these the tables for the planet Herschel, as far as the observations hitherto made...You will see...that Herschel was...the first astronomer who discovered it to be a planet." Previously a music teacher and bandleader, Sir William Herschel identified double-stars, coined the word "asteroid," meaning star-like, discovered infrared radiation and constructed the largest reflecting telescopes of his day to catalogue thousands of nebulae and galaxies. Knighted by King George, he died in his observatory, AUGUST 25, 1822. Of the heavens, Sir William Herschel stated: "The undevout astronomer must be mad." His son, Sir John Frederick Herschel, took his father's telescope to the southern hemisphere where he catalogued hundreds of new stars and nebulae. Of the Bible, Sir John Frederick Herschel wrote: "All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more and more strongly the truths that come from on high and are contained in the Sacred Writings."

"Women can vote" was the news AUGUST 26, 1920, with the passage of the 19th Amendment: "The right of citizens of the U.S. to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." President Gerald Ford stated February 13, 1976: "Susan B. Anthony...with other dedicated women... took the cause of women's suffrage to State capitals across our growing Nation...The irreversible change she wrought...led to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment." Also fighting for prohibition, Susan B. Anthony spoke at a Daughters of Temperance dinner, March 1, 1849: "Ladies! There is no Neutral position for us...If we sustain not this noble enterprise...then is our influence on the side of Intemperance. If we say we love the Cause and then sit down at our ease, surely does our action speak the lie. And now permit me once more to beg of you to lend your aid to this great Cause, the Cause of God and all Mankind." Another suffrage leader was Julia Ward Howe, author of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, who wrote in the 3rd verse: "Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel, Since God is marching on."

AUGUST 27, 1776, British General Howe trapped 8,000 American troops on Brooklyn Heights. Desperate, Washington ferried his army all night across the East River. Morning came yet half his troops were still in danger. A fog allowed the entire army to be evacuated. Never again did the British have such a chance to trap the American army. Major Ben Tallmadge, Washington's Chief of Intelligence, wrote: "As the dawn of the next day approached, those of us who remained in the trenches became very anxious for our own safety, and when the dawn appeared there were several regiments still on duty. At this time a very dense fog began to rise off the river, and it seemed to settle in a peculiar manner over both encampments. I recollect this peculiar providential occurrence perfectly well, and so very dense was the atmosphere that I could scarcely discern a man at six yards distance...We tarried until the sun had risen, but the fog remained as dense as ever." Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull had written to General George Washington, July 13, 1775: "May the God of the armies of Israel shower down the blessings of his Divine Providence...in the day of battle and danger."

At the Civil Rights March in Washington, D.C., AUGUST 28, 1963, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., stated: "I have a dream...where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." Martin Luther King continued: "This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, 'My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.'" Martin Luther King concluded: "When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"

"Beloved Cherokees," wrote President Washington on AUGUST 29, 1796, "The wise men of the United States meet once a year, to consider what will be for the good of their people...I have thought that a meeting of your wise men...would be alike useful to you...I now send my best wishes to the Cherokees and pray the Great Spirit to preserve them." On May 12, 1779, Washington addressed the Delaware Indian Chiefs at the Middle Brook military encampment: "Brothers: I am glad you have brought three of the Children of your principal Chiefs to be educated with us...Congress...will look upon them as their own Children." Washington continued: "This is a great mark of your confidence and of your desire to preserve the friendship between the Two Nations...and to become One people with your Brethren of the United States...You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are." Washington concluded: "Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention; and to tie the knot of friendship and union so fast, that nothing shall ever be able to loose it...I pray God He may make your Nation wise and strong."

One of America's greatest generals for capturing Fort Ticonderoga with Ethan Allen and leading the charge at Saratoga, he felt unappreciated, so AUGUST 30, 1780, General Benedict Arnold conspired with British General Clinton to surrender West Point for 20,000 pounds, equivalent to one million dollars today. The British courier was Major John Andre, who had met Arnold's wife in Philadelphia. As Andre tried to cross to the British lines, he was searched, found with the blue prints for West Point in his boot and executed. Arnold escaped on the ship Vulture. George Washington wrote September 26, 1780: "Treason of the blackest dye was yesterday discovered! General Arnold who commanded at West Point, was about to...give the American cause a deadly wound if not fatal stab...Its discovery affords the most convincing proof that the Liberties of America are the object of divine Protection." On May 8, 1783, Yale President Ezra Stiles stated: "A providential miracle at the last minute detected the treacherous scheme of traitor Benedict Arnold, which would have delivered the American army, including George Washington himself, into the hands of the enemy."

Imprisoned twelve years for preaching without a license from the King, he wrote Pilgrim's Progress, an allegory of a man named Christian fleeing the City of Destruction and directed by Evangelist to follow a narrow path to the City of Zion. The friends and dangers he meets along the way inspired the modern story Wizard of Oz. This classic of John Bunyan, who died AUGUST 31, 1688, was translated into over a hundred languages and found in nearly every colonial American home. Ronald Reagan, greeting Australia's Prime Minister, June 30, 1981, said: "Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, 'We are all travelers in what John Bunyan calls the wilderness of this world. And the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend-they keep us worthy of ourselves.'" Franklin Roosevelt said January 19, 1936: "When Theodore Roosevelt died, the Secretary of his class at Harvard, in sending classmates a notice of his passing, added this quotation from Pilgrim's Progress: 'My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles who now will be my rewarder.'"

Very interesting.  I will email these to my son.  Thanks!

This is more than fascinating and completely true, but it's actually understated. "Common-law" is rights and wrongs that are simply assumed by average people. In other words, if an average person thinks that something should be wrong, it probably is wrong and against the law. "Christianity" encompasses the values, morals, and teachings of the Holy Bible. I said that the statement above was understated because many values, morals, and teachings of the Holy Bible became much more than just "common-law", rather adopted by the people and written into the formal laws of the land. There are countless examples of this throughout history. In fact, the Holy Bible is the most influential book in the history of mankind in terms of a source for values, morals, ethics, right, wrong, and eventually the adopted laws of mankind.

For Early America, the Holy Bible was the ultimate and unquestioned source for what is right and what is wrong. The Holy Bible was actually quoted in the adopted law. This would include times long before 1776. In many places, one could go so far as to say that the Holy Bible was the Law. Examples of this would include the "Puritans".

Amen.

I just came across another source for this sort of information. It is a very large book (originally two books) that was written by a Benjamin F. Morris in 1864. From my understanding Morris was a historian that new Benjamin Franklin and some of the other founding fathers. There are documents and statements in this book that are not available anywhere else and prove beyond a doubt that the U.S. was founded on Christian principles. This book has been out of print for about 100 yrs and is now back in print and available again. The ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State do not want this book to be known about. There is a rumor that they are trying to prevent it's distribution. Currently the book is sold out and having to be back ordered.

I WANT THIS BOOK!!

Oops, I should have given it's title. "The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States"

I want the book also, especially considering that the ACLU doesn't want it distributed. If it's recently back in print and already sold out and back-ordered, it might be a worthy investment for every Christian to order 4 or 5 of them and distribute them to friends and family. I guess we could also see if our local library would handle an ample supply of them.

I have no idea when or where, but I'm sure that I've read something about "The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States". If it's as good as portrayed, maybe we could get enough people together to guarantee that the book becomes actively printed again. Limited printing usually results in fairly high costs, so the more wanting the book - the less it would cost. Limited printing could easily jack the price up to over $100 a copy. OR, it might be possible that the book is out of copyright and could be put in electronic format on the Internet. This would be the ultimate answer, and everyone could read it then. I'll try to look and see if anything already exists on the Internet.

I did look at Project Gutenberg and didn't find it there. I only did a partial search on the internet other than that. The group that put it back in print is known as "American Vision". They have a project going right now to try to put a copy of the book in the hands of each US Senator and US Representative.

I agree, it would be excellent for every Christian and every church to have a copy of it.

I also found it and was surprised with the low price for a 1,000 page plus book. It is on back order, and I didn't find a hint about when it might be available. It's been awhile since I've done any searching for "Biblical & Christian Foundations" for America. I was pleasantly surprised and found tons of outstanding material on thousands of sites.

It's been several years ago that I did weeks of work with the online version of the Library of Congress. I just found out that this has GREATLY expanded since then, and there are tons of new resources there that are still completely FREE. In fact, I think that the Library of Congress is one of the best sites on the Internet for Religious Freedom. I think it would be easy to spend weeks just skimming over the material now.

The British invaded Washington, D.C. The Capitol was burned. President James and Dolly Madison fled the White House. On SEPTEMBER 1, 1814, President Madison wrote: "The enemy by a sudden incursion has succeeded in invading the capitol of the nation... During their possession...though for a single day only, they wantonly destroyed the public edifices.... An occasion which appeals so forcibly to the...patriotic devotion of the American people, none will forget." Madison continued: "Independence...is now to be maintained...with the strength and resources which...Heaven has blessed." Less than 3 months later, November 1814, President Madison wrote: "The two Houses of the National Legislature having by a joint resolution expressed their desire that in the present time of public calamity and war a day may be recommended to be observed by the people of the United States as a day of public humiliation and fasting and of prayer to Almighty God for the safety and welfare of these States, His blessing on their arms, and a speedy restoration of peace." Madison concluded: "I have deemed it proper...to recommend...a day of...humble adoration to the Great Sovereign of the Universe."

3,000 Americans died when Imperial Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. 20,000 Americans and Filipinos died on Bataan's Death March, where starving prisoners were marched 65 miles in heat and jungles to a disease infested camp. Over 100,000 died retaking Okinawa and Pacific islands. Though controversial, Democrat President Harry Truman's decision in 1945 to drop the Atomic Bomb is estimated to have prevented an additional one million casualties on both sides. Earlier, on SEPTEMBER 2, 1944, a torpedo-bomber was hit by anti-aircraft fire while making a run over Bonin Island, 600 miles south of Japan. The pilot headed out to sea, ejected from his burning plane and was rescued by a submarine. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, graduated from Yale, worked in the Texas oil industry and entered politics, eventually being elected the 41st U.S. President. His name was George H.W. Bush. He began his Inaugural Address, January 20, 1989, saying: "I have just repeated...the oath taken by George Washington 200 years ago, and the Bible on which I place my hand is the Bible on which he place his...My first act as President is a prayer...Heavenly Father...Make us strong to do Your work...And if our flaws are endless, God's love is truly boundless."

"In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity." Thus began the Treaty of Paris which ended the Revolutionary War. The Treaty continued: "It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of the most serene and most potent Prince George the Third...and of the United States of America, to forget all past misunderstandings and differences....Done at Paris, this THIRD DAY of SEPTEMBER, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three. The Treaty was signed by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, who later became the 2nd President, and John Jay, the first Chief Justice. On January 27, 1983, declaring a National Day of Prayer, President Ronald Reagan stated: "Prayer is the mainspring of the American spirit, a fundamental tenet of our people since before the Republic was founded. A year before the Declaration of Independence, in 1775, the Continental Congress proclaimed the first National Day of Prayer as the initial positive action they asked of every colonist." Reagan concluded: "Two hundred years ago in 1783, the Treaty of Paris officially ended the long, weary Revolutionary War during which a National Day of Prayer had been proclaimed every spring for eight years."

Rome fell on SEPTEMBER 4, 476AD. In the century preceding, Rome had been overrun with illegal immigrants: Visigoths, Franks, Anglos, Saxons, Ostrogoths, Burgundians, Lombards, Jutes and Vandals. They at first assimilated, many working as servants, but then came so fast they did not learn the Latin Language and kept their own tribal governments. Highly trained Roman Legions moved rapidly on advanced road systems but were strained fighting conflicts worldwide. Rome had a trade deficit, having outsourced its grain production to North Africa, and when the Vandals captured that area, Rome did not have the resources to retaliate. Attila the Hun, known as the “Scourge of God” committed terrorist attacks. The city of Rome was on welfare with citizens given free bread. One Roman commented: "Those who live at the expense of the public funds are more numerous than those who provide them." Tax collectors were "more terrible than the enemy." Gladiators had provided violent entertainment in the Coliseum. There had been injustice in courts, corrupt government bureaucracies, exposure of unwanted infants, infidelity, perverted bathhouses and sexual immorality as seen in the ruins of Pompeii. 5th-Century historian Salvian wrote: "O Roman people be ashamed...Let nobody think otherwise, the vices of our bad lives have alone conquered us."

Just five days after Princess Diana was killed, Mother Teresa died SEPTEMBER 5, 1997. The daughter of an Albanian grocer, she joined an order at age 18 and began working in the slums of Calcutta. Starting the Missionaries of Charity, which care for the blind, aged, lepers, crippled, and dying, Mother Teresa stated: "I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene...I serve because I love Jesus." A Nobel Prize recipient, 83-year-old Mother Teresa spoke to 3,000 attendees, including President and Mrs. Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore at the National Prayer Breakfast, February 3, 1994: "I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself, and if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?" Mother Teresa continued: "Please don't kill the child...give me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child and be loved by the child."

Born SEPTEMBER 6, 1757, his father died before he was two-years-old and his mother died when he was twelve, leaving him to inherit their fortune. At fourteen-years-old, he joined the French Military and, at age 16, became a captain. He married Marie Adrienne Francoise de Noailles, whose family was related to King Louis XVI. At 19, against the King's wishes, he purchased a ship and persuaded several French officers to accompany him to fight in the American Revolution. Washington appointed him a major general. His name was Marquis de Lafayette. He fought at Brandywine, endured the freezing winter at Valley Forge, saw action at Barren Hill and Rhode Island. He returned to France and, along with Franklin's efforts, secured troops and supplies for the American cause which helped force Cornwallis to surrender at Yorktown. Nearly fifty years later, after having lived through the French Revolution, Lafayette was guest at a ceremony at Bunker Hill, Massachusetts, along with 200 Revolutionary Veterans. Secretary of State Daniel Webster spoke: "God...has allowed you to behold the reward of your patriotic toils; and He has allowed to us...in the name of the present generation...in the name of liberty to thank you!"

The Journals of the Continental Congress record: "Wednesday, SEPTEMBER 7, 1774, 9 o'clock a.m. Agreeable to the resolve of yesterday, the meeting was opened with prayers by the Rev. Mr. Duche'. Voted, That the thanks of Congress be given to Mr. Duche'...for performing divine Service, and for the excellent prayer, which he composed and delivered on the occasion." Rev. Duche' had prayed: "O God of Wisdom...direct the counsel of this Honorable Assembly...that the scene of blood may be speedily closed...that Truth and Justice, Religion and Piety, prevail..." John Adams wrote: "Reverend Duche'...read the 35th Psalm... After this...unexpectedly to every body, struck out into an extemporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present. I must confess, I never heard a better prayer." The Library of Congress printed on an historical placard of Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia: "Washington was kneeling there with Henry, Randolph, Rutledge, Lee, and Jay, and by their side there stood, bowed in reverence the Puritan Patriots of New England... 'It was enough' says Mr. Adams, 'to melt a heart of stone. I saw the tears gush into the eyes of the old, grave, Pacific Quakers of Philadelphia.'"

On SEPTEMBER 8, 2005, President Bush declared a Day of Prayer and Remembrance: "Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst natural disasters in our Nation's history and has caused unimaginable devastation and heartbreak throughout the Gulf Coast Region... Communities...decimated... Lives...lost...Hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans are suffering great hardship." President Bush continued: "To honor the memory of those who lost their lives, to provide comfort and strength to families of the victims...I call upon all Americans to pray to Almighty God and to perform acts of service." Bush concluded: "Across our Nation, many selfless deeds reflect the promise of the Scripture: 'For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in.'" Also on SEPTEMBER 8, in 70 AD, Jerusalem fell. Historian Josephus recorded a million died as the Roman army laid siege. For centuries, many wished to pilgrimage there, including Abraham Lincoln. Mrs. Lincoln recalled the President's last words in Ford's Theater: "He said he wanted to visit the Holy Land and see those places hallowed by the footprints of the Savior. He was saying there was no city he so much desired to see as Jerusalem."

In 1769, the first Spanish missions were founded in California by Franciscan missionary Junipero Serra, whose statute is in the U.S. Capitol Statuary Hall. In 1822, Mexican Emperor Augustin Iturbide took California away from Spain and in 1833, Santa Anna's Vice President, Gomez Farias, took all mission property away from the Church with the Mexican Secularization Act. Attempting to explain this, the U.S. Board of Land Commissioners reasoned: "The Missions were intended...to be temporary...It was supposed that within that period of time the Indians would be sufficiently instructed in Christianity and the arts of civilized life." In 1849, the year the U.S. acquired California, workers building a sawmill for John Sutter on the south fork of the American River, discovered gold. Soon prospectors, called "Forty-Niners," arrived and California became the 31st State on SEPTEMBER 9, 1850. Its Constitution, which prohibits slavery, stated: "We, the People of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom...do establish this Constitution." On May 23, 1862, President Lincoln restored the mission lands taken by the Secularization Acts: "I grant unto the...Bishop of Monterrey...in trust for the religious purposes...the tracts of land described in the foregoing survey."

The Son of one of the Boston Tea Party "Indians," he graduated from Harvard and eventually became Massachusetts Speaker of the House. At age 32, he was appointed the youngest Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, where he served 34 years and helped establish the illegality of the slave trade in the Amistad case. His name was Joseph Story, and he died SEPTEMBER 10, 1845. A founder of Harvard Law School, Justice Joseph Story stated in Vidal v. Girard's Executors, 1844: "Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament?" Appointed to the Supreme Court by James Madison-the person who introduced the First Amendment, Justice Joseph Story commented on it in his Familiar Exposition of the Constitution of the United States, 1840: "At the time of the adoption...of the Amendment...the general, if not the universal, sentiment in America was, that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the State." Justice Story continued: "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."

In 1683, over 138,000 Muslim Ottoman Turks surrounded Vienna, Austria. For two months they starved the 11,000 Hapsburg-Austrian defenders. Sultan Mehmed IV sent a message to Austrian King Leopold I: "Await us in your residence...so we can decapitate you." Secretly, the Polish King Jan Sobieski gathered 80,000 Polish, Austrian and German troops and on SEPTEMBER 11, 1683, led a surprise attack causing the Turks to flee in confusion. Upon entering the abandoned Turkish tests, there were found bags of beans - coffee beans - revealing how the Turks could fight day and night. Shortly after was opened the first Vienna coffeehouse and coffee subsequently spread across Europe. Whereas Jan Sobieski was looked upon as the "Savior of Western Civilization" from Muslim Turks, the humiliated Muslim army beheaded their general Mustafa Pasha and sent his head to the Sultan in a velvet bag. President Theodore Roosevelt wrote in his 1916 book, "Fear God and Take Your Own Part": "From the hammer of Charles Martel to the sword of Jan Sobieski, Christianity owed its safety in Europe to the fact it...could and would fight as well as the Mohammedan aggressor."

He was President of the American Bar Association, Chief Justice of Michigan's Supreme Court and dean of the University of Michigan Law School. His name was Thomas Cooley and he died SEPTEMBER 12, 1898. The first Chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission, Cooley's commentaries shaped American law. He declined offers to teach at Hastings College of Law, University of Texas, Johns Hopkins University, Boston Law School, University of Pennsylvania and Cornell Law School. In his General Principles of Constitutional Law, 1890, Cooley wrote: "It was never intended by the Constitution that the government should be prohibited from recognizing religion, or that religious worship should never be provided for in cases where a proper recognition of Divine Providence in the working of government might seem to require it, and where it might be done without drawing an invidious distinction between religious beliefs, organizations, or sects." Thomas Cooley continued: "The Christian religion was always recognized in the administration of the common law of the land, the fundamental principles of that religion must continue to be recognized in the same cases and to the same extent as formerly."

Just weeks after the British burned the U.S. Capitol, they set out for Baltimore. On the way they caught an elderly physician of Upper Marlboro, Dr. William Beanes. The town feared he would be hanged, so they asked a young lawyer, Francis Scott Key, to sail with Colonel John Skinner under a flag of truce to the British flagship TONNANT and arrange a prisoner exchange. Concerned their plans of attacking Baltimore would be revealed, the British placed Francis Scott Key and Col. Skinner under armed guard aboard the H.M.S. Surprise, then on a sloop where they watched the night of SEPTEMBER 13, 1814, as Fort McHenry was bombarded. The next morning, "through the dawn's early light," Key saw the flag still flying. Elated, he penned the Star-Spangled Banner, which states in the 4th verse: "O! thus be it ever when free men shall stand, Between their loved home 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 preserved us 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!"

Son of a butcher, his family died when a plague swept England, leaving him an estate. He attended Emmanuel College, was ordained, married and sailed for Massachusetts where he pastored the First Church of Charlestown. At age 31, he died of tuberculosis on SEPTEMBER 14, 1638. His name was Rev. John Harvard. The College at Cambridge was renamed for him. Ten of the twelve Harvard presidents prior to the Revolution were ministers, as were 50 percent of 17th-century graduates. Harvard's founders wrote: "After God had carried us safe to New England, and we...rear'd convenient places for God's worship...dreading to leave an illiterate Ministry to the Churches, when our present Ministers shall lie in the Dust...it pleased God to stir up the heart of one Mr. Harvard, a godly gentleman and a lover of learning...to give the one half of his estate...towards the erecting of a college and all his Library." As 106 of the first 108 schools in America were founded on Christianity, Harvard's Rules & Precepts, September 26, 1642, stated: "Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life. Jn 17:3."

The only U.S. President to also serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he had previously been appointed by President McKinley to be the first governor of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War, and by President Theodore Roosevelt as Secretary of War. The largest President, weighing 300 lbs, a bathtub was installed for him in the White House big enough to hold four men. His name was William Howard Taft, and he was born SEPTEMBER 15, 1857. On Thanksgiving, November 7, 1912, President Taft proclaimed: "A God-fearing nation, like ours, owes it to its inborn and sincere sense of moral duty to testify its devout gratitude to the All-Giver for the countless benefits its has enjoyed." Speaking at a missionary conference, 1908, William Howard Taft stated: "No man can study the movement of modern civilization from an impartial standpoint and not realize that Christianity, and the spread of Christianity, are the basis of hope of modern civilization in the growth of popular self government." Taft concluded: "The spirit of Christianity is pure democracy. It is equality of man before God - the equality of man before the law, which is the most God-like manifestation that man has been able to make."

SEPTEMBER 16, 1620, according to the Gregorian Calendar, 102 Pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower. The 66-day journey of 2,750 miles encountered storms so rough the beam supporting the main mast cracked and was propped back in place with an iron screw of a printer's press. One youth, John Howland, was swept overboard by a wave and rescued. His descendants include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Humphrey Bogart, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George W. Bush. On the Pilgrims' voyage, a boy died, and a mother gave birth. Intending to land in Virginia, they were blown off-course. Of their landing, Governor William Bradford wrote: "Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element." Though half died that first bitter winter, Governor Bradford wrote: "Last and not least, they cherished a great hope and inward zeal of laying good foundations...for the propagation and advance of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the world."

"Done...the SEVENTEENTH DAY of SEPTEMBER, in the year of our LORD one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven." This was the last line of the U.S. Constitution. A study done by Professors Donald S. Lutz and Charles S. Hyneman, titled "The Relative Influence of European Writers on Late Eighteenth-Century American Political Thought" published in American Political Science Review, 1984, revealed after examining nearly 15,000 writings of the 55 writers of the Constitution, including newspaper articles, pamphlets, books and monographs, that the Bible, especially the book of Deuteronomy, contributed 34 percent of all direct quotes of the Founders. When indirect Bible citations were included, the percentage increased even more. Just ten days after his Inauguration, President George Washington wrote regarding the Constitution to the United Baptist Churches of Virginia, May 10, 1789: "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 to it."

A member of the Continental Congress, he led military expeditions in the Revolutionary War, paying for them at his own expense. He built ships to raid the British, signed the Constitution, and was the first President pro tem of the Senate. His name was John Langdon, and he died SEPTEMBER 18, 1819. As Governor of New Hampshire, Langdon was visited by President James Monroe in 1817, as the newspaper reported: "While at Portsmouth, the President spent that part of the Sabbath which was not devoted to public divine service, with that eminent patriot and Christian, John Langdon. His tarry...was probably longer than the time devoted to any individual in New England." A founder and the first President of the New Hampshire Bible Society, whose goal was to place a Bible in every New Hampshire home, Governor Langdon wrote in a Proclamation, October 21, 1785: "It therefore becomes our indispensable Duty, not only to acknowledge, in general with the rest of Mankind, our dependence on the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, but as a People peculiarly favoured, to testify our Gratitude to the Author of all our Mercies, in the most solemn and public manner."

"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolken, tells of man's lust for the "ring of power." George Washington had that power twice, and gave it up. He led the Continental Army to victory and resigned, then served two terms as President and returned to farming. This was like the Roman leader Cincinnatus, who twice led the Roman Republic to victory in battle and twice voluntarily gave up his power to return to his farm. In an age of political ambition, the world stood in awe as George Washington voluntarily gave up his powerful position and delivered his Farewell Address, SEPTEMBER 19, 1796. He stated: "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...Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion." Washington continued: "Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle...Morality is a necessary spring of popular government...Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?"

He helped ratify the U.S. Constitution and authored the House language of the First Amendment. At age 46, he was elected Harvard's president, but declined due to an illness which led to his death on July 4, 1808. An orator, Fisher Ames stated no one could be eloquent "without being a constant reader of the Bible and an admirer of the purity and sublimity of its language." In January 1788, Fisher Ames stated: "The known propensity of a democracy is to licentiousness which the...ignorant believe to be liberty." In his "Dangers of American Liberty," February 1805, Fisher Ames warned that democracy without morals would eventually reduce the nation to the basest of human passions, swallowing freedom: "A democracy is a volcano which conceals the fiery materials of its own destruction." In Palladium magazine, SEPTEMBER 20, 1789, Fisher Ames wrote: "We have a dangerous trend beginning to take place in our education. We're starting to put more textbooks into our schools...containing fables and moral lessons...We are spending less time in the classroom on the Bible, which should be the principal text in our schools." Fischer Ames concluded: "The Bible states these great moral lessons better than any other manmade book."

On SEPTEMBER 21, 1924, America's 30th President, Calvin Coolidge, addressed the Holy Name Society in Washington, D.C., saying: "The worst evil that could be inflicted upon the youth of the land would be to leave them without restraint and completely at the mercy of their own uncontrolled inclinations. Under such conditions education would be impossible, and all orderly development intellectually or morally would be hopeless." Coolidge continued: "The Declaration of Independence...claims...the ultimate source of authority by stating...they were...'appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of' their 'intentions.'...The foundations of our independence and our Government rests upon basic religious convictions. Back of the authority of our laws is the authority of the Supreme Judge of the World, to whom we still appeal." President Coolidge concluded: "It seems to me perfectly plain that the authority of law, the right to equality, liberty and property, under American institutions, have for their foundation reverence for God. If we could imagine that to be swept away, these institutions of our American government could not long survive."

"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country" were the last words of 21-year-old American patriot Nathan Hale, who was hanged by the British without a trial, SEPTEMBER 22, 1776. A Yale graduate, he almost became a Christian minister, as his brother Enoch did, but instead became a teacher at Union Grammar School. He fought in the siege of Boston, capturing a boat of provisions from under the gun of a British man-of-war. After the British left Boston for New York, General Washington was desperate for information. Hale volunteered to penetrate the British line at Long Island, but was captured upon return. General Howe ordered him to be hanged the next morning. He wrote a letter to his mother and brother, but the British destroyed them, not wanting it known a man could die with such firmness. Hale asked for a Bible, but was refused. He was marched out and hanged from an apple-tree in Rutgers's orchard, near the present streets of East Broadway and Market in New York City. His nephew, well-known author Edward Everett Hale, wrote: "We are God's children, you and I, and we have our duties...Thank God I come from men who are not afraid in battle."

"I have not yet begun to fight!" shouted John Paul Jones when the captain of the British ship Serapis asked if he was ready to surrender. Their ships were so close their cannon muzzles touched and masts entangled, yet the American ship Bonhomme Richard, named for Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac, refused to give up. When two cannons exploded and his ship began sinking, Jones lashed his ship to the enemy's to keep it afloat. After 3 more hours of fighting, the British surrendered. This was SEPTEMBER 23, 1779. Called the "Father of the American Navy," John Paul Jones commanded the Continental Navy's first ship, Providence, in 1775. With 12 guns, it was the most victorious American vessel in the Revolution, capturing or sinking 40 British ships. In 1778, sailing the Ranger, Jones raided the coasts of Scotland and England. On February 13, 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt wrote: "The remains of Admiral John Paul Jones were interred in a certain piece of ground in the city of Paris...used...as a burial place for foreign Protestants... The great service done by him toward the achievement of independence...lead me to...do proper honor to the memory of John Paul Jones."

"The power to tax is the power to destroy," wrote John Marshall, 4th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who was born SEPTEMBER 24, 1755. No one had a greater impact on U.S. Constitutional Law than Marshall. Sworn in on February 4, 1801, he served 34 years on the bench and helped write over 1,000 decisions, including supporting the Cherokee Indian nation in their effort to stay in Georgia. During the Revolution, he fought under Washington and endured the terrible winter at Valley Forge. According to tradition, the Liberty Bell cracked tolling at his funeral, July 8, 1835. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote to Jasper Adams, May 9, 1833: "The American population is entirely Christian, and with us Christianity and Religion are identified. It would be strange indeed, if with such a people, our institutions did not presuppose Christianity and did not often refer to it and exhibit relations with it." A hundred years after Marshall's death, the present Supreme Court Building was completed in 1935. Engraved above the Chief Justice are the Ten Commandments. Moses is included among the great lawgivers in Herman A. MacNeil's marble relief on the east portico, and every session of the Supreme Court opens with an invocation: "God save the United States and this Honorable Court."

"Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Thus began the first Ten Amendments, or Bill of Rights, which were approved SEPTEMBER 25, 1789. George Mason, known as "The Father of the Bill of Rights," wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights from which Jefferson drew to write the Declaration of Independence. George Mason was one of 55 founders who wrote the U.S. Constitution, but was also one of sixteen who refused to sign it because it did not abolish slavery and did not limit the power of the Federal Government. He joined with Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams to prevent the Constitution from being ratified, as the abuses of King George's concentrated power were still fresh. It was in large part through George Mason's insistence that in the first session of Congress ten limitations were put on the new Federal Government. George Mason had suggested the wording of the First Amendment be: "All men have an equal, natural and unalienable right to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that no particular sect or society of Christians ought to be favored or established by law in preference to others."

Daniel Boone served with George Washington in 1755 during the French and Indian War. He explored Florida in 1765 and was sent by Patrick Henry to survey Kentucky. In 1775, the Pennsylvania Company had Daniel Boone lay out lands in Kentucky and erect a fort on the Kentucky River, which he named Boonesboro. In 1778, during the Revolution, Daniel Boone went to Blue Licks to get salt for the settlement but was captured by Shawnee Indians and taken to Detroit. He learned that the British had incited Indians to attack his settlement, so he escaped and ran nearly 400 miles in 5 days to warn Boonseboro. He became a Major in the militia and served in Virginia's legislature. He bought land in Kentucky but lost it due to poorly prepared titles, so he left in 1799 and bought land from Spain west of the Mississippi River. He lost this land in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase, but six years before his death on SEPTEMBER 26, 1820, Congress gave him back the land. On October 17, 1816, Daniel Boone wrote to his sister-in-law Sarah Boone: "The religion I have is to love and fear God, believe in Jesus Christ, do all the good to my neighbor, and myself that I can, do as little harm as I can help, and trust on God's mercy for the rest."

Crying "no taxation without representation," he instigated the Stamp Act riots and the Boston Tea Party. After the "Boston Massacre," he spread Revolutionary sentiment with his Committees of Correspondence. "The Father of the American Revolution," Samuel Adams, who was born SEPTEMBER 27, 1722, called for the first Continental Congress and signed the Declaration. A cousin of second President John Adams, Samuel Adams wrote in The Rights of Colonists, 1772: "Among the natural rights of Colonists are: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to defend them...The supreme power cannot justly take from any man any part of his property, without his consent." As Governor of Massachusetts, Samuel Adams wrote to James Warren, February 12, 1779: "A general dissolution of the principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader." Samuel Adams concluded: "If we would enjoy this gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people."

He developed vaccines for rabies and anthrax, revolutionized medicine with his germ theory of disease, and laid the foundation for the control of tuberculosis, cholera, diphtheria, and tetanus. While Dean of the faculty of sciences at Lille University in France, he developed the process of "Pasteurization" of milk. This was Louis Pasteur, who died SEPTEMBER 28, 1895. President Eisenhower wrote January 8, 1954: "Pasteurization of milk has prevented countless epidemics and saved thousands of lives." President Johnson stated April 7, 1966: "Years ago Louis Pasteur said, 'I hold the unconquerable belief that science and peace will triumph over ignorance and war; that nations will come together not to destroy, but to construct; and that the future belongs to those who accomplish most for humanity.'" President George H.W. Bush stated February 13, 1989: "You know, Louis Pasteur once said: 'Chance favors only the prepared mind.'...For America to be prepared for the future, our children must be educated." Dr. Louis Pasteur wrote: "The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator...There is something in the depths of our souls which tells us that the world may be more than a mere combination of events."

Governor William Bradford called him "a special instrument sent of God." Of 102 Pilgrims that landed November 1620, only half survived till spring - then appeared Squanto. Bradford wrote: "Squanto was a native of these parts...one of the few survivors of the plague...He was carried away with others by one Hunt, a captain of a ship, who intended to sell them for slaves in Spain; but he got away for England, and was received by a merchant in London, employed in Newfoundland... and lastly brought into these parts by a Captain Dermer." Bradford continued "Squanto stayed with them and was their interpreter...He showed them how to plant corn, where to take fish and other commodities, and guided them to unknown places...Nor was there a man among them who had ever seen a beaver skin till they were instructed by Squanto." Bradford wrote that in LATE SEPTEMBER 1622: "Winds drove their boat in...they could not get round the shoals of Cape Cod...so they put into Manamoick Bay...Here Squanto fell ill of Indian fever, bleeding much at the nose, which the Indians take for a symptom of death...He begged the Governor to pray for him, that he might go to the Englishmen's God in Heaven...His death was a great loss."

American Minute for September 30th:

    Seven times he preached in the Colonies, to crowds up to 25,000, spreading the Great Awakening Revival, which helped unite the colonies prior to the Revolution. Ben Franklin wrote in his Autobiography: "He preached one evening from the top of the Court-house steps...Streets were filled with his hearers...I had the curiosity to learn how far he could be heard by retiring backwards down the street...and found his voice distinct till I came near Front-street." Who was Franklin describing but George Whitefield, who died SEPTEMBER 30, 1770. Franklin wrote of George Whitefield: "Multitudes of all denominations attended his sermons...It was wonderful to see." Printing Whitefield's sermons, Franklin financed the largest building in Philadelphia for his meetings, which later became the first building of the University of Pennsylvania. Franklin wrote to George Whitefield: "I sometimes wish you and I were jointly employed by the Crown to settle a colony on the Ohio...a strong body of religious and industrious people!...Might it not greatly facilitate the introduction of pure religion among the heathen, if we could, by such a colony, show them a better sample of Christians than they commonly see in our Indian traders?"

"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." -Congress of the United States of America.

"While just government protects all in their religious rights, true religion affords to government its surest support." -George Washington, "Father of Our Country" (The Writings of George Washington, John C. Fitzpatrick, editor (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1932), Vol. XXX, p. 432 n., from his address to the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in North America, October 9, 1789.)

"The Hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations." -George Washington's letter of August 20, 1778 to Brig. General Thomas Nelson, in John C. Fitzpatrick, editor, The Writings of George Washington, Vol. XII (Washinton: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1932), p. 343.

"Direct my thoughts, words and work, wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the lamb, and purge my heart by thy Holy Spirit, from the dross of my natural corruption, that I may with more freedom of mind and liberty of will serve thee, the everlasting God, in righteousness and holiness this day, and all the days of my life. Increase my faith in the sweet promises of the gospel; give me repentance from dead works; pardon my wanderings, and direct my thoughts unto thyself, the God of my salvation." -George Washington, non-Deist Father of our Country, Prayer for Monday Mornings.

"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 man and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice?

"And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?" -George Washington (Address of George Washington, President of the United States . . . Preparatory to His Declination (Baltimore: George and Henry S. Keatinge), pp. 22-23. In his Farewell Address to the United States in 1796.) 

"[T]he [federal] government . . . can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, an oligarchy, an aristocracy, or any other despotic or oppressive form so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the people." -George Washington (The Writings of George Washington, John C. Fitzpatrick, editor (Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1939), Vol. XXIX, p. 410. In a letter to Marquis De Lafayette, February 7, 1788.)

"Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." -Article III of the Northwest Ordinance (An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio), enacted under the Articles of Confederation July 13th, 1787, and re-enacted under the Constitution on August 7, 1789.

"Laus Deo," Latin for "Praise God." -Inscribed on the eastern face of the apex of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., so placed as to be the first thing illuminated at sunrise in our nation's capitol.

"Holiness unto the Lord," Exodus 28:36. "Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not; for such is the Kingdom of God," St. Luke 18:16. "Search the Scriptures," St. John 5:39. -Inscribed on the starircase walls inside the Washington Monument, Washington, D.C.

"Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof," Leviticus 25:10. -Inscribed on the Liberty Bell.

"In God we Trust." -The official motto of the United States of America. It is found on the wall in the well of the U.S. Congress behind the seat of the Speaker of the House. It is also found in your wallet.

"Give up money, give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all it contains rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose that in any possible situation, or under any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing, however slightly so it may appear to you. Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you, and act accordingly. Encourage all your virtuous dispositions, and exercise them whenever an opportunity arises, being assured that they will gain strength by exercise, as a limb of the body does, and that exercise will make them habitual. From the practice of the purest virtue, you may be assured you will derive the most sublime comforts in every moment of life, and in the moment of death." -Thomas Jefferson, Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Third President of the United States (The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Bergh, editor (Washington, D.C.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Assoc., 1903), Vol. 5, pp. 82-83, in a letter to his nephew Peter Carr on August 19, 1785.)

"The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend all to the happiness of mankind." -Thomas Jefferson (The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Bergh, editor (Washington, D. C.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Assoc., 1904), Vol. XV, p. 383.)

"I concur with the author in considering the moral precepts of Jesus as more pure, correct, and sublime than those of ancient philosophers." -Thomas Jefferson (The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Bergh, editor (Washington, D. C.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Assoc., 1904), Vol. X, pp. 376-377. In a letter to Edward Dowse on April 19, 1803.)

"God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. Commerce between master and slave is despotism. Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free. Establish a law for educating the common people. This it is the business of the state and on a general plan." -The Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C.

"Almighty God hath created the mind free. All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens . . . are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion . . . No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion. I know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively." -The Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C.

"Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." -John Jay, First Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and co-author of the Federalist Papers, letter to Jedidiah Morse, 28 Feb 1797.

"The Americans are the first people whom Heaven has favored with an opportunity of deliberating upon and choosing the forms of government under which they should live." -John Jay (The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, ed. (New York: G.P. Putnams Sons, 1890), Vol. I, p. 161.)

"What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with thy God," Micah 6:8. "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handywork," Psalm 19:1. "The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not," St. John 1:5. "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and withall thy getting, get understanding," Proverbs 4:7.  -On the walls of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

"One God, one Law, one element, and faroff Divine event to which the whole creation moves." -Alfred Lord Tennyson, in the rotunda of the Library of Congress.

"The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits," 2 St. Timothy 2:6. -Inscribed on the front of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.

"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 republican governments." -Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration of Independence (Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical (Philadelphia: Thomas and William Bradford, 1806), p. 8.)

"We profess to be republicans, and yet we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government, that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by the means of the Bible. For this Divine Book, above all others, favors that equality among mankind, that respect for just laws, and those sober and frugal virtues, which constitute the soul of republicanism." -Benjamin Rush (Benjamin Rush, Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical (Philadelphia: Printed by Thomas and William Bradford, 1806), pp. 93-94.)

"By renouncing the Bible, philosophers swing from their moorings upon all moral subjects. . . . It is the only correct map of the human heart that ever has been published. . . . All systems of religion, morals, and government not founded upon it [the Bible] must perish, and how consoling the thought, it will not only survive the wreck of these systems but the world itself. 'The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.' [Matthew 1:18]" -Benjamin Rush (Letters of Benjamin Rush, L. H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1951), p. 936, to John Adams, January 23, 1807.)

"Remember that national crimes require national punishments, and without declaring what punishment awaits this evil, you may venture to assure them that it cannot pass with impunity, unless God shall cease to be just or merciful." -Benjamin Rush (Benjamin Rush, An Address to the Inhabitants of the British Settlements in America Upon Slave-Keeping (Boston: John Boyles, 1773), p. 30.)

"The American population is entirely Christian, and with us Christianity and Religion are identified. It would be strange indeed, if with such a people, our institutions did not presuppose Christianity, and did not often refer to it, and exhibit relations with it." -John Marshall, in a letter to Jasper Adams, May 9, 1833, JSAC, p. 139. Marshall was Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1801-1835.

"The real object of the [First] Amendment was not to countenance, much less advance, Mahometanism, or Judaism, or infidelity by prostrating Christianity; but to exclude all rivalry among Christian sects." -Joseph Story, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1811-1845, founder of Harvard Law School, Commentaries on the Constitution, Vol. II, 1871 (1833).

"Christianity becomes not merely an auxiliary, but a guide, to the law of nature; establishing its conclusions, removing its doubts, and evaluating its precepts." -Joseph Story, "The Value and Importance of Legal Studies," a lecture delivered August 25, 1829 at his inauguration as Dane Professor of Law in Harvard University, cited in James McClellan, Joseph Story and the American Constitution (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma, 1971), p. 66.

"[P]ublic utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong entrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience." -James McHenry, Signer of the Constitution (Bernard C. Steiner, One Hundred and Ten Years of Bible Society Work in Maryland, 1810-1920 (Maryland Bible Society, 1921), p. 14.)

"No free government now exists in the world, unless where Christianity is acknowledged, and is the religion of the country." -Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 1824. Updegraph v. Commonwealth; 11 Serg. & R. 393, 406.

"…if American champions of civil liberty could all think in terms of economic freedom as the goal of their labors, they too would accept ‘workers’ democracy’ as far superior to what the capitalist world offers to any but a small minority. Yes, and they would accept — regretfully, of course — the necessity of dictatorship while the job of reorganizing society on a socialist basis is being done." -Roger Baldwin, Unitarian, Founding Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, Freedom in the USA and the USSR, 1934.

"I am for socialism, disarmament, and ultimately for abolishing the State itself as an instrument of property, the abolition of the propertied class and sole control by those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal." -Roger Baldwin, from his entry in his thirtieth anniversary Harvard University class book, 1935.

Oops! How'd he get in here?! Back to normal:

"Ignorance is the curse of God, knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven." -In the North Hall of the Library of Congress under a painting called, "Knowledge."

"t is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue." -John Adams, Signer of the Declaration of Independence (The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown, 1854), Vol. IX, p. 401, to Zabdiel Adams on June 21, 1776.)

"[W]e have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. . . . Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." -John Adams (The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co. 1854), Vol. IX, p. 229, October 11, 1798.)

"The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If 'Thou shalt not covet,' and 'Thou shalt not steal,' were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society, before it can be civilized or made free." -John Adams (The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851), Vol. VI, p. 9.)

"The law given from Sinai was a civil and municipal as well as a moral and religious code; it contained many statutes . . . of universal application-laws essential to the existence of men in society, and most of which have been enacted by every nation which ever professed any code of laws." -John Quincy Adams, Sixth President of the United States (Letters of John Quincy Adams, to His Son, on the Bible and Its Teachings(Auburn: James M. Alden, 1850), p. 61.)

"There are three points of doctrine the belief of which forms the foundation of all morality. The first is the existence of God; the second is the immortality of the human soul; and the third is a future state of rewards and punishments. Suppose it possible for a man to disbelieve either of these three articles of faith and that man will have no conscience, he will have no other law than that of the tiger or the shark. The laws of man may bind him in chains or may put him to death, but they never can make him wise, virtuous, or happy." -John Quincy Adams (Letters of John Quincy Adams to His Son on the Bible and Its Teachings (Auburn: James M. Alden, 1850), pp. 22-23.)

"[N]either the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt." -Samuel Adams, Signer of the Declaration of Independence (William V. Wells, The Life and Public Service of Samuel Adams (Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1865), Vol. I, p. 22, quoting from a political essay by Samuel Adams published in The Public Advertiser, 1749.)

“So great is my veneration for the Bible, and so strong my belief that, when duly read and meditated upon, it is of all books in the world that which contributes to make men good, wise, and happy, that the earlier my children begin to read it, and the more steadily they pursue the practice of reading it throughout their lives, the more lively and confident will be my hopes that they will prove useful citizens to their country, respectable members of society, and a real blessing to their parents.

“I have, myself, for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year. My custom is to read four or five chapters every morning, immediately after rising from bed. It employs about an hour of my time, and seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day.

“You know the difference between right and wrong. You know some of your duties, and the obligation you are under of becoming acquainted with them all. It is in the Bible you must learn them, and from the Bible how to practise them. Those duties are—to God, to your fellow-creatures, to yourself. ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself.’ On these two commandments (Jesus Christ expressly says) ‘hang all the law and the prophets.’ That is to say that the whole purpose of divine revelation is to inculcate them efficaciously upon the minds of men. Let us, then, search the Scriptures." -John Quincy Adam, Sixth President of the United States (The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States, Benjamin F. Morris (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 2007), p. 215.)

"Our liberty depends on our education, our laws, and habits . . . it is founded on morals and religion, whose authority reigns in the heart, and on the influence all these produce on public opinion before that opinion governs rulers." -Fisher Ames, Framer of the First Amendment (Fisher Ames, An Oration on the Sublime Virtues of General George Washington (Boston: Young & Minns, 1800), p. 23.)

"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime & pure, [and] which denounces against the wicked eternal misery, and [which] insured to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." -Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Signer of the Declaration of Independence (Bernard C. Steiner, The Life and Correspondence of James McHenry (Cleveland: The Burrows Brothers, 1907), p. 475. In a letter from Charles Carroll to James McHenry of November 4, 1800.)

"

• nly a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." -Benjamin Franklin, Signer of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence (Benjamin Franklin, The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore and Mason, 1840), Vol. X, p. 297, April 17, 1787.)

"I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs 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 labor in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.

"I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service." -Benjamin Franklin, Signer of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence (James Madison, The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, Max Farrand, editor (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1911), Vol. I, pp. 450-452, June 28, 1787.)

"It is certainly true that a popular government cannot flourish without virtue in the people." -Richard Henry Lee, Signer of the Declaration of Independence (The Letters of Richard Henry Lee, James Curtis Ballagh, editor (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1914), Vol. II, p. 411. In a letter to Colonel Mortin Pickett on March 5, 1786.)

IN CONGRESS, November 1, 1777

FORASMUCH as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of; And it having pleased him in his abundant Mercy not only to continue to us the innumerable Bounties of his common Providence, but also to smile upon us in the Prosecution of a just and necessary War, for the Defence and Establishment of our unalienable Rights and Liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased in so great a Measure to prosper the Means used for the Support of our Troops and to crown our Arms with most signal success:

It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive powers of these United States, to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth Day of December next, for Solemn Thanksgiving and Praise; That with one Heart and one Voice the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor; and that together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favour, and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD, through the Merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance; That it may please him graciously to afford his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public Council of the whole; to inspire our Commanders both by Land and Sea, and all under them, with that Wisdom and Fortitude which may render them fit Instruments, under the Providence of Almighty GOD, to secure for these United States the greatest of all human blessings, INDEPENDENCE and PEACE; That it may please him to prosper the Trade and Manufactures of the People and the Labour of the Husbandman, that our Land may yet yield its Increase; To take Schools and Seminaries of Education, so necessary for cultivating the Principles of true Liberty, Virtue and Piety, under his nurturing Hand, and to prosper the Means of Religion for the promotion and enlargement of that Kingdom which consisteth "in Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost."

And it is further recommended, that servile Labour, and such Recreation as, though at other Times innocent, may be unbecoming the Purpose of this Appointment, be omitted on so solemn an Occasion. -Journals of the American Congress From 1774 to 1788 (Washington: Way and Gideon, 1823), Vol. II, pp. 309-310.

"Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other. The divine law, as discovered by reason and the moral sense, forms an essential part of both." -James Wilson, Signer of the Constitution (The Works of the Honourable James Wilson (Philadelphia: Bronson and Chauncey, 1804), Vol. I, p. 106.)

"f we and our posterity reject religious instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle 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." -Daniel Webster, Early American Jurist and Senator (The Writings and Speeches of Daniel Webster (Boston: Little, Brown, & Company, 1903), Vol. XIII, p. 492. From "The Dignity and Importance of History," February 23, 1852.)

"Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or by a power without them; either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet." -Robert Winthrop, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (Robert Winthrop, Addresses and Speeches on Various Occasions (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1852), p. 172 from his "Either by the Bible or the Bayonet.")

Thanks to www.wallbuilders.com for many of the citations above!

From the Constitutions of all Fifty of the United States of America:

Alabama 1901, Preamble We the people of the State of Alabama, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution.
Alaska 1956, Preamble We, the people of Alaska, grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land…
Arizona 1911, Preamble We, the people of the State of Arizona, grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution...
Arkansas 1874, Preamble We, the people of the State of Arkansas, grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government...
California 1879, Preamble We, the People of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom…
Colorado 1876, Preamble We, the people of Colorado, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of Universe…
Connecticut 1818, Preamble The People of Connecticut, acknowledging with gratitude the good Providence of God in permitting them to enjoy…
Delaware 1897, Preamble Through Divine Goodness all men have, by nature, the rights of worshipping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences.
Florida 1885, Preamble We, the people of the State of Florida, grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty, establish this Constitution...
Georgia 1777, Preamble We, the people of Georgia, relying upon protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution...
Hawaii 1959, Preamble We, the people of Hawaii, Grateful for Divine Guidance... Establish this Constitution.
Idaho 1889, Preamble We, the people of the State of Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings…
Illinois 1870, Preamble We, the people of the State of Illinois, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors…
Indiana 1851, Preamble We, the People of the State of Indiana, grateful to Almighty God for the free exercise of the right to choose our form of government…
Iowa 1857, Preamble We, the People of the State of Iowa, grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of these blessings establish this Constitution.   
Kansas 1859, Preamble We, the people of Kansas, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges establish this Constitution.
Kentucky 1891, Preamble We, the people of the Commonwealth are grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties...
Louisiana 1921, Preamble We, the people of the State of Louisiana, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties we enjoy…
Maine 1820, Preamble We the People of Maine acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity... And imploring His aid and direction…
Maryland 1776, Preamble We, the people of the state of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty...
Massachusetts 1780, Preamble We...the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe... In the course of His Providence, an opportunity and devoutly imploring His direction…
Michigan 1908, Preamble We, the people of the State of Michigan, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom establish this Constitution.
Minnesota, 1857, Preamble We, the people of the State of Minnesota, grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings…
Mississippi 1890, Preamble We, the people of Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and invoking His blessing on our work…
Missouri 1845, Preamble We, the people of Missouri, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe,  and grateful for His goodness... establish this Constitution.
Montana 1889, Preamble We, the people of Montana, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty establish this Constitution.
Nebraska 1875, Preamble We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom... establish this Constitution.
Nevada 1864, Preamble We the people of the State of Nevada, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom establish this Constitution.
New Hampshire 1792, Part I. Art. I. Sec. V Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.

New Jersey 1844, Preamble We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God  for civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing on our endeavors…
New Mexico 1911, Preamble We, the People of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty…
New York 1846, Preamble We, the people of the State of New York, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings...
North Carolina 1868, Preamble We the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for our civil, political, and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those…
North Dakota 1889, Preamble We , the people of North Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and  religious liberty, do ordain...
Ohio 1852, Preamble We the people of the state of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and to promote our common…
Oklahoma 1907, Preamble Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessings of liberty... establish this...
Oregon 1857, Bill of Rights, Article I. Section 2  All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences…
Pennsylvania 1776, Preamble We, the people of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance
Rhode Island 1842, Preamble We the People of the State of Rhode Island, grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing…   
South Carolina, 1778, Preamble We, the people of the State of South Carolina grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution.
South Dakota 1889, Preamble We, the people of South Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberties...
Tennessee 1796, Art. XI.III That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience...
Texas 1845, Preamble We the People of the Republic of Texas, acknowledging, with gratitude, the grace and beneficence of God…
Utah 1896, Preamble Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty, we establish this Constitution.
Vermont 1777, Preamble Whereas all government ought to enable the individuals who compose it to enjoy their natural rights, and other blessings which the Author of Existence has bestowed on man...
Virginia 1776, Bill of Rights, XVI Religion, or the Duty which we owe our Creator can be directed only by Reason and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian Forbearance, Love and Charity towards each other...
Washington 1889, Preamble We the People of the State of Washington, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution.
West Virginia 1872, Preamble Since through Divine Providence we enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the people of West Virginia reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance upon God...
Wisconsin 1848, Preamble We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, domestic tranquility…
Wyoming 1890, Preamble We, the people of the State of Wyoming, grateful to God for our civil, political, and religious liberties... establish this Constitution.

There are a number of those that I don't have in my files. I just added those also.

"In the language of the Holy Writ, there is a time for all things. There is a time to preach and a time to fight." Thus ended the sermon of 30-year-old pastor John Peter Muhlenberg, as he removed his clerical robes to reveal a uniform in the Continental Army. After church, 300 men of his congregation rode off with him to join General Washington as the 8th Virginia regiment. Born OCTOBER 1, 1746, he died the same day in 1807. John Peter Muhlenberg was present when Patrick Henry spoke the famous words "give me liberty or give me death," after which he approached General Washington and enlisted. He endured the freezing winter of Valley Forge and fought at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Stonypoint, and Yorktown. Promoted to Major-General, he was elected Congressman and Senator. John's father, Henry Muhlenberg, was a founder of the Lutheran Church in America. His brother, Frederick, an ordained minister, was the first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Both John and Frederick were in the first Congress which passed the First Amendment. In 1889, Pennsylvania placed a statue of John Peter Muhlenberg in the U.S. Capitol Statuary Hall.

Historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee died OCTOBER 2, 1975. Providing foreign intelligence for the British, he was a delegate to the Paris Peace Conferences after World Wars I and II. Educated at Oxford "almost entirely in the Greek and Latin Classics," he taught at King's College, University of London and the Royal Institute of International Affairs. His 12-volume "Study of History," 1934-61, described the rise, flowering, and decline of 26 cultures, from Egypt, Greece, and Rome to Polynesia and Peru. "Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder," argued Toynbee, who saw religion as the prime motivation in history. "When I started, religion was not a prominent feature...In writing my study, I have been constantly surprised to find religion coming back to fill an even greater place." Toynbee continued: "So what does the universe look like?..It looks as if everything were on the move either toward its Creator or away from Him." Toynbee wrote: "The course of human history consists of a series of encounters...in which each man or woman or child...is challenged by God to make the free choice between doing God's will and refusing to do it. When Man refuses, he is free to make his refusal and to take the consequences."

On OCTOBER 3, 1789, from the U.S. Capitol in New York City, President George Washington issued the first Proclamation of a National Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to Almighty God," as just one week earlier the first session of the U.S. Congress approved the First Ten Amendments limiting the power of the Federal Government. The First Amendments begins: "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." In his Proclamation, President Washington stated: "Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God....we may...unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly...to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just and constitutional laws...and to bless them with...peace and concord...and the increase of science...and...to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best."

A Joint Resolution of the 97th Congress, signed by Speaker Tip O'Neil and President of the Senate Strom Thurmond, declared "A Year of the Bible." President Reagan signed the Proclamation OCTOBER 4, 1982, stating: "Now, therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, in recognition of the contributions and influence of the Bible on our Republic and our people, do hereby proclaim 1983 the Year of the Bible in the United States. I encourage all citizens, each in his or her own way, to reexamine and rediscover its priceless and timeless message." Similarly, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, January 25, 1945, wrote the prologue of a special Gideons edition of the New Testament distributed to millions of soldiers during World War II: "To the Armed Forces: As Commander-in-Chief, I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul."

He entered Yale College at age 13 and graduated with honors. He became a pastor, and his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God," started the Great Awakening, a revival that swept America, uniting the colonies prior to the Revolution. He became President of Princeton College. His name was Jonathan Edwards, born OCTOBER 5, 1703. Jonathan married Sarah Pierrepont, and, according to "A Study in Education and Heredity" by A.E. Winship (1900), their descendants included a U.S. Vice-President, 3 U.S. Senators, 3 governors, 3 mayors, 13 college presidents, 30 judges, 65 professors, 80 public office holders, 100 lawyers, and 100 missionaries. This same study examined a family known as "Jukes." In 1877, after visiting New York's prisons, Richard Dugdale found inmates with 42 different last names all descended from one man, called "Max," born 1720 of Dutch stock. Max was idle, ignorant and vulgar. His descendants included only 20 with a trade, 310 paupers, who, combined spent 2,300 years in poorhouses, 50 women of debauchery, 400 physically wrecked by indulgent living, 7 murderers, 60 thieves, and 130 other convicts. The "Jukes" cost the state more than $1,250,000.

Just 70 miles from Washington, DC, the Battle of Antietam took place on September 17, 1862, the single bloodiest day in the Civil War - the North and South each with over 10,000 men killed or wounded. This costly battle caused the British and French to not to recognize the Confederacy. A week later, President Lincoln announced he would issue an Emancipation Proclamation, effective January 1. Three weeks after the battle, OCTOBER 6, 1862, President Lincoln met with Eliza Gurney and three other Quakers, saying: "We are indeed going through a great trial...In the very responsible position in which I happen to be placed, being a humble instrument in the hands of our Heavenly Father...as we all are, to work out His great purposes." Lincoln continued: "But if, after endeavoring to do my best in the light which He affords me, I find my efforts fail, I must believe that for some purpose unknown to me, He wills it otherwise...If I had been allowed my way, this war would have ended before this. But we find it still continues; and we must believe that He permits it for some wise purpose of His own, mysterious and unknown to us." Lincoln concluded: "We cannot but believe, that He who made the world still governs it."

Henry Melchior Muhlenberg died OCTOBER 7, 1787. One of the founders of the Lutheran Church in America, his son John Peter was a pastor promoted to Major-General in the Continental Army, then elected to Congress. Another son, Frederick, was a pastor who became the first Speaker of the House. Both sons served in the first U.S. Congress and passed the First Amendment. Henry Muhlenberg pastored the German congregations near Valley Forge during the Revolution. In The Notebook of a Colonial Clergyman, Henry Muhlenberg wrote: "I heard a fine example today, namely that His Excellency General Washington rode around among his army yesterday and admonished each to fear God, to put away wickedness...and to practice Christian virtues." Rev. Muhlenberg continued: "From all appearances General Washington does not belong to the so-called world of society, for he respects God's Word, believes in the atonement through Christ, and bears himself in humility and gentleness. Therefore, the Lord God has also singularly, yea, marvelously preserved him from harm in the midst of countless perils, ambuscades, fatigues, etc., and has hitherto graciously held him in his hand as a chosen vessel."

A race car driver, he served in France during World War I as chauffeur for General Pershing. With Germany's Red Baron dominating the skies, he transferred to the 94 Aero Squadron, which shot down 69 enemy aircraft and earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor. His name was "Eddie" Rickenbacker, born OCTOBER 8, 1890. After becoming owner of Indianapolis Speedway and Eastern Airlines, he was asked by the Secretary of War in 1942 to inspect bases in the Pacific. With inadequate navigational equipment, their pilot flew hundreds of miles off-course, ran out of fuel, and ditched in the ocean. The oldest among them, 52 years old, Rickenbacker encouraged the other six for 24 days as they drifted. He once caught a sea gull that landed on his head, which he caught for food and bait, using a bent key ring as a fishing hook. Fighting off sharks and ocean swells two-feet high, they drank water wrung from their clothes from infrequent drizzles. In his book, "The Flying Circus," Eddie Rickenbacker recounted: "I am not such an egotist as to believe that God has spared me because I am I. I believe there is work for me to do and that I am spared to do it, just as you are."

Lewis Cass was born OCTOBER 9, 1782. A Brigadier-General in the War of 1812, he was Governor of the Michigan Territory where he made Indian treaties, organized townships and built roads. Appointed Secretary of War by President Andrew Jackson, he was a Senator, Secretary of State for President Buchanan and the 1848 Democrat Presidential Candidate. The State of Michigan placed his statue in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall. Lewis Cass stated: "Independent of its connection with human destiny hereafter, the fate of republican government is indissolubly bound up with the fate of the Christian religion, and a people who reject its holy faith will find themselves the slaves of their own evil passions and of arbitrary power." From Washington, D.C., 1846, Cass wrote: "God, in His providence, has given us a Book of His revealed will...to teach us what we ought to do here, and what we shall be hereafter." In a Eulogy for Daniel Webster, December 14, 1852, Lewis Cass stated: "He died in the faith of the Christian - humble, but hopeful - adding another to the long list of eminent men who have searched the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and have found it to be the word and the will of God."

Marco Polo traveled in 1271 to meet Kublai Khan, grandson of Ghengis Khan, Emperor of China, Korea, North India, Persia, Russia and Hungary. The Emperor had requested Christian teachers, but the two preaching friars sent by Pope Gregory turned back in fear. Polo was employed by Kublai Khan as an envoy for 24 years. Returning to Italy, he was captured at Genoa, where he dictated his travels. In 1492, Genoa born Christopher Columbus wrote to the King and Queen of Spain: "Concerning the lands of India, and a Prince called Gran Khan...how many times he sent to Rome to seek doctors in our Holy Faith to instruct him and that never had the Holy Father provided them...Your Highnesses...devoted to the Holy Christian Faith...resolved to send me...to the said regions of India, to see the said princes...and the manner in which may be undertaken their conversion to our Holy Faith." On OCTOBER 10, 1492, Columbus wrote in his Journal: "Here the people could stand it no longer and complained of the long voyage...but the Admiral...added that it was useless to complain. He had come to the Indies, and so had to continue until he found them, with the help of Our Lord."

On OCTOBER 11, 1798, President John Adams wrote to the 1st Brigade of the 3rd Division of the Militia of Massachusetts: "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net." Adams continued: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." British Statesman Edmund Burke told the National Assembly, 1791: "What is liberty without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils...madness without restraint. Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites." Edmund Burke continued: "Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without." U.S. Speaker of the House Robert Winthrop stated on May 28, 1849: "Men, in a word, must be controlled either by a power within them, or a power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet."

When Muslim Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453, trade was cut with India and China, so Europeans tried other routes. During Portugal's golden age of sea power, Columbus sailed down the African coast and north to Iceland, hearing stories of Irish monk St. Brendan sailing in 530 AD to "The Land of the Promised Saints which God will give us on the last day," and Columbus heard of Leif Erickson's voyage in 1000 AD to Vinland. Columbus read 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy's Guide to Geography, where a spherical earth had one ocean connecting Europe and Asia. Columbus corresponded with Florentine physician Toscanelli, who suggested China was 5,000 miles west of Portugal. On OCTOBER 12, 1492, Columbus sighted what he thought was India. He imagined Haiti was Japan and Cuba the tip of China. Naming the first island "San Salvador" or "Holy Savior," he wrote of the inhabitants "So that they might be well-disposed towards us, for I knew that they were a people to be...converted to our Holy Faith rather by love than by force, I gave to some red caps and to others glass beads...They became so entirely our friends that...I believe that they would easily be made Christians."

Margaret Thatcher was born OCTOBER 13, 1925. She was the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. While traveling through New York City in 1996, Margaret Thatcher had an interview with Joseph A. Cannon, which was printed in Human Events. She stated: "The Decalogue-Ten Commandments-are addressed to each and every person. This is the origin of our common humanity and of the sanctity of the individual. Each one has a duty to try to carry out those commandments. You don't get that in any other political creed...It is personal liberty with personal responsibility." Margaret Thatcher continued: "Responsibility to your parents, to your children, to your God. This really binds us together in a way that nothing else does. If you accept freedom, you've got to have principles about the responsibility. You can't do this without a biblical foundation." Margaret Thatcher concluded: "Your Founding Fathers came over with that. They came over with the doctrines of the New Testament as well as the Old. They looked after one another, not only as a matter of necessity, but as a matter of duty to their God. There is no other country in the world which started that way."

He was the son of the British Navy Admiral who not only captured Jamaica in 1655, but established England as a global sea power during the First Dutch Wars. He was expelled from Oxford for having religious meetings in his dorm room rather than going to the Anglican chapel. At age 24, he converted to the Society of Friends, or Quakers, and wrote the "The Sandy Foundation Shaken," for which he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for 8 months. His name was William Penn, born OCTOBER 14, 1644. While in prison, William Penn wrote his classic book, "No Cross, No Crown," stating: "Christ's cross is Christ's way to Christ's crown...The unmortified Christian and the heathen are of the same religion, and the deity they truly worship is the god of this world." William Penn continued: "It is a false notion that they may be children of God while in a state of disobedience to his holy commandments, and disciples of Jesus though they revolt from his cross." King Charles II repaid a debt owed to his father by giving Penn a land grant in America, named Pennsylvania. Penn's "Frame of Government" for his Colony became a model, not only for most State governments, but also for the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Clarence Thomas as a Justice on the Supreme Court on OCTOBER 15, 1991. When questioned by Senator Thurmond on judicial activism during the hearings, Clarence Thomas stated: "The role of a judge is a limited one. It is to...interpret the Constitution, where called upon, but at no point to impose his or her will or...opinion in that process." On OCTOBER 15, 1788, James Madison wrote: "As the courts are generally the last in making the decision, it results to them, by refusing or not refusing to execute a law, to stamp it with its final character. This makes the Judiciary department paramount in fact to the Legislature, which was never intended and can never be proper." Jefferson wrote September 11, 1804: "The opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional...not only for themselves in their own sphere of action, but for the legislature and executive...would make the judiciary a despotic branch." Abraham Lincoln stated March 4, 1861: "If the policy of the Government upon vital questions...is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made...the people will have ceased to be their own rulers."

In 1746, French Duke of d'Anville sailed for New England, commanding the most powerful fleet of its time-70 ships with 13,000 troops. He intended to recapture Louisburg, Nova Scotia, and destroy Boston and New York, down to Georgia. Massachusetts Governor William Shirley declared OCTOBER 16, 1746, a Day of Fasting to pray for deliverance. In Boston's Old South Meeting-house, Rev. Thomas Prince prayed "Send Thy tempest, Lord, upon the water...scatter the ships of our tormentors!" Historian Catherine Drinker Bowen related as he finished, the sky darkened, winds shrieked, and church bells rang "a wild, uneven sound...though no man was in the steeple." A hurricane sank and scattered the French ships. With 4,000 ill and 2,000 dead, including d'Anville, Vice-Admiral d'Estournelle threw himself on his sword. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a Ballad of the French Fleet: "Admiral d'Anville had sworn by cross and crown, to ravage with fire and steel our helpless Boston Town...From mouth to mouth spread tidings of dismay, I stood in the Old South saying humbly: 'Let us pray!'..Like a potter's vessel broke, the great ships of the line, were carried away as smoke or sank in the brine."

Her beautiful, long hair was scalped off her head by Indians after she was shot. This was the fate of Jane McCrea, whose loyalist fiancé, David Jones, had joined "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne, the British General marching with five thousand troops from Canada to Albany, New York. Capturing Fort Ticonderoga, Burgoyne headed down the Hudson River Valley, making a treaty with the Mohawk Tribe to terrorize American settlements. When Indians returned with a scalp of long hair, David Jones recognized it as his fiancée's. The resulting outrage forced Burgoyne to tell the Indians to show restraint. Insulted, the Indians left Burgoyne stranded deep in the forest. Jane McCrea's death, later immortalized in James Fenimore Cooper's novel, "The Last of the Mohicans," rallied Americans and resulted in General Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga. News of his surrender on OCTOBER 17, 1777, convinced France to join the War. Considered one of the most important battles in world history, General George Washington wrote to his brother John Augustine the next day: "I most devoutly congratulate my country, and every well-wisher to the cause, on this signal stroke of Providence."

The only Pilgrim to have a portrait, Edward Winslow was born OCTOBER 18, 1595. He joined the Separatists, a persecuted Christian group in Leyden, Holland. There, he and William Brewster printed illegal religious pamphlets which were smuggled back into England. After many hard years, at age 25, Winslow departed with 102 Pilgrims to the New World. In 1622, he cured Indian chief Massaoit of a sickness, resulting in a 50 year peace. Three times Governor of the Plymouth Colony, Edward Winslow kept the finances and often sailed to England for legal and business purposes, bringing back the colony's first cattle. For 17 weeks Anglican Bishop William Laud had him jailed. Edward Winslow served in Oliver Cromwell's army during the English Civil War and sailed with Admiral Sir William Penn, father of Pennsylvania's founder, to capture Hispaniola from Spain. After defeat at Santo Domingo, Winslow died of a fever on the way to Jamaica, which Penn captured. In Young's Chronicles, Edward Winslow wrote of the Pilgrims: "Drought and the like...moved not only every good man privately to enter into examination with his own estate between God...but also to humble ourselves together before the Lord by fasting."

British General Henry Clinton ordered General Cornwallis to move 8,000 troops to a defensive position where the York River enters Chesapeake Bay. French General Rochambeau's 6,000 troops joined General Washington in a hurried march to trap Cornwallis. French Admiral de Grasse left off fighting the British in the West Indies and sailed 24 ships to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay where, in the Battle of the Capes, he drove off 19 British ships, ending Cornwallis escape. De Grasse's 3,000 French troops then combined with General Lafayette's division, which was joined by troops of Generals Benjamin Lincoln, Baron von Steuben, Modrecai Gist, Henry Knox and John Peter Muhlenberg. All combined, 17,000 French and American troops surrounded Cornwallis and he surrendered OCTOBER 19, 1781. General Washington wrote: "To diffuse the general Joy through every Breast the General orders...Divine Service to be performed tomorrow in the several Brigades...The Commander-in-Chief earnestly recommends troops not on duty should universally attend with that gratitude of heart which the recognition of such astonishing Interposition of Providence demands."

He coordinated relief to millions when the Mississippi River levees broke during the 1927 floods, and organized feeding 300 million in 21 countries of Europe and Russia following World War I. His entire life he refused payment for public service. In 1928 he was elected 31st U.S. President by one of the largest margins. This was Herbert Hoover, who died OCTOBER 20, 1964. Born in 1874, his Quaker mother taught Sunday School and spoke at Friend's meetings before dying when he was ten. He lived on an Indian Reservation in Oklahoma before moving to Oregon. He worked his way through Stanford University doing laundry, delivering papers and working for the U.S. Geological Survey. He served under Presidents Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Truman and Eisenhower. During World War II, in a statement with the widows of Presidents Coolidge, T. Roosevelt, Taft, Harrison, Cleveland, Herbert Hoover stated: "We must seek revival of our strength in the spiritual foundations which are the bedrock of our republic. Democracy is the outgrowth of the religious conviction of the sacredness of every human life. On the religious side, its highest embodiment is The Bible; on the political side, the Constitution."

British Admiral Horatio Nelson lost his right eye capturing Corsica and his right arm attacking the Canary Islands. He captured six and destroyed seven of Napoleon's ships at the Battle of the Nile and successfully assaulted Copenhagen, Denmark. But it was on OCTOBER 21, 1805, that he won one of the greatest naval battles in history. The daring 47-year-old Nelson defeated Napoleon's combined French and Spanish fleets of 33 ships with 2,640 guns in the Battle of Trafalgar off the coast of Spain. The fifteen million dollars Napoleon received two years earlier for selling 600 million acres to the United States was not enough to assure him victory. Though 90,000 French troops had previously assembled on the coast of France to invade Britain, this defeat by Admiral Nelson abruptly ended Napoleon's power on the sea, and with it, his dreams of world conquest. During the Battle of Trafalgar, cannonades and musket shot ripped apart ships at point blank range, killing or wounding nearly ten thousand. Admiral Nelson was fatally shot in the spine. He was carried below deck to the ship's surgeon where he died. Admiral Horatio Nelson's last words were: "Thank God I have done my duty."

OCTOBER 22, 1836, General Sam Houston was sworn in as the first President of the Republic of Texas. As a teenager, after his father died, Houston ran off to live with the Cherokee Indians on the Tennessee River, being adopted by Chief Oolooteka and given the name "Raven." Three years later, Houston returned to town, opened a school, joined the army and fought in the War of 1812, being noticed by General Andrew Jackson. In 1818, wearing Indian dress, Houston led a delegation of Cherokee to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Monroe. Elected to U.S. Congress in 1823, he became Governor of Tennessee in 1827. After a failed marriage, Sam Houston moved to Texas, where he was made Commander to fight Santa Anna. The Texas Declaration of Independence stated: "When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty, and property of the people... and...becomes an instrument in the hands of evil rulers for their oppression....it is a...sacred obligation to their posterity to abolish such government, and create another in its stead." The Texas' Declaration ended: "Conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the decision of the Supreme Arbiter of the Destinies of Nations."

President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed a Day of Thanksgiving, stating: "The season is at hand in which it has been our long respected custom as a people to turn in praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for His manifold mercies and blessings to us as a nation." Wilson continued: "In the year that has just passed...we have seen the practical completion of a great work at the Isthmus of Panama... 'Righteousness exalteth a nation' and 'peace on earth, good will towards men' furnish the only foundation upon which can be built the lasting achievements of the human spirit...Now, Therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate...a day of thanksgiving and prayer, and invite the people throughout the land to cease from their wonted occupations and in their several homes and places of worship render thanks to Almighty God." Woodrow Wilson concluded: "In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington this 23RD DAY of OCTOBER, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and thirteen...William Jennings Bryan Sec. of State"

Created to prevent future wars, the United Nations, a name coined by Franklin Roosevelt, officially began OCTOBER 24, 1945. Since then there have been over 100 million casualties in nearly 150 wars: 5 in Central Asia, 11 in South Asia, 20 in Southeast Asia, 13 in Eastern Europe, 23 in the Middle East, 25 in Latin & South America and 50 in Africa. Amidst accusations of U.N. Oil for Food Scandal and U.N. Sex Scandal, the 185 member United Nations spends $20 billion annually, though it has never been independently audited. At the 1945 Charter Conference, the U.N. secretary-general was Alger Hiss, accused in a publicized 1948 trial of being a Communist agent by former Soviet spy Whittaker Chambers. The U.N. General Assembly's 4th President, elected 1949, was Philippine General Carlos Romulo, who served with General Douglas MacArthur in the Pacific and was the first Asian to win a Pulitzer Prize. General Romulo wrote: "Never forget Americans, that yours is a spiritual country. Yes, I know you're a practical people. Like others, I've marveled at your factories, your skyscrapers, and your arsenals. But underlying everything else is the fact that America began as a God-loving, God-fearing, God-worshipping people."

On OCTOBER 25, 1887, President Grover Cleveland proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer: "The goodness and the mercy of God, which have followed the American people during all the days of the past year, claim their grateful recognition and humble acknowledgment." Grover Cleveland continued: "By His omnipotent power He has protected us from war and pestilence and from every national calamity; by His gracious favor the earth has yielded a generous return...by His loving kindness the hearts of our people have been replenished... and by His unerring guidance we have been directed in the way of national prosperity. To the end that we may with one accord testify our gratitude for all these blessings, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do hereby designate and set apart...a day of thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by all the people of the land. On that day let all secular work and employment be suspended, and let our people assemble in their accustomed places of worship and with prayer and songs of praise give thanks to our Heavenly Father for all that He has done for us, while we humbly implore the forgiveness of our sins and a continuance of His mercy."

On OCTOBER 26, 1774, the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts reorganized their defenses with one-third of their regiments being "Minutemen," ready to fight at a minute's notice. These citizen soldiers drilled on the parade ground, many times led by a deacon or pastor, then went to church for exhortation and prayer. The Provincial Congress charged: "You...are placed by Providence in the post of honor, because it is the post of danger...The eyes not only of North America and the whole British Empire, but of all Europe, are upon you. Let us be, therefore, altogether solicitous that no disorderly behavior, nothing unbecoming our character as Americans, as citizens and Christians, be justly chargeable to us." The Provincial Congress issued a Resolution to Massachusetts Bay, 1774: "Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual...Continue steadfast, and with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us." Boston patriot Josiah Quincy stated: "Under God, we are determined that wheresoever, whensoever, or howsoever we shall be called to make our exit, we will die free men."

His wife and mother died on Valentine's Day, 1884. Depressed, he left to ranch in the Dakotas. Returning to New York, he entered politics and rose to Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He resigned during the Spanish-American War, organized the first Volunteer Cavalry-the "Rough Riders"-and captured Cuba's San Juan Hill. Elected Vice-President under William McKinley, he became America's youngest President in 1901. This was Theodore Roosevelt, born OCTOBER 27, 1858. In 1909, Roosevelt warned: "The thought of modern industry in the hands of Christian charity is a dream worth dreaming. The thought of industry in the hands of paganism is a nightmare beyond imagining. The choice between the two is upon us." In his book "Fear God and Take Your Part," 1916, Theodore Roosevelt wrote: "The 7th century Christians of Asia and Africa...had trained themselves not to fight, whereas the Moslems were trained to fight. Christianity was saved in Europe solely because the peoples of Europe fought the Mohammedans who invaded." Teddy Roosevelt continued: "The civilization of Europe, America and Australia exists today only because the victories of civilized man over the enemies of civilization...that is, to beat back the Moslem invader."

The Statue of Liberty was dedicated OCTOBER 28, 1886. A gift from France, it was built by Gustave Eiffel, builder of the Eiffel Tower, and designed by Auguste Bartholdi, who wrote: "The statue was born for this place which inspired its conception. May God be pleased to bless my efforts and my work, and to crown it with success, the duration and the moral influence which it ought to have." On its 50th Anniversary, OCTOBER 28, 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt stated: "The Almighty...did prepare this American continent to be a place of the second chance... Millions have...found...freedom of opportunity, freedom of thought, freedom to worship God." Dwight Eisenhower remarked April 8, 1954: "I have just come from...the dedication of a new stamp...The stamp has on it a picture of the Statue of Liberty and "In God We Trust"...It represents...a Nation whose greatness is based on a firm unshakeable belief that all of us mere mortals are dependent upon the mercy of a Superior Being." Relighting the Statue of Liberty, July 3, 1986, Ronald Reagan said: "I've always thought...that God had His reasons for placing this land here between two great oceans to be found by a certain kind of people."

OCTOBER 29, 1929, the New York Stock Exchange crashed. Panic ensued as Wall Street sold 16,410,030 shares in a single day. Billions of dollars were lost and America plunged into the Great Depression. In a drive to aid private relief agencies, October 18, 1931, President Herbert Hoover stated: "Time and again the American people have demonstrated a spiritual quality of generosity...This is the occasion when we must arouse that idealism, that spirit, from which there can be no failure in this primary obligation of every man to his neighbor." Herbert Hoover continued: "Our country and the world are today involved in more than a financial crisis. We are faced with the primary question of human relations, which reaches to the very depths of organized society and to the very depths of human conscience...This great complex, which we call American life, is builded and can alone survive upon the translation into individual action of that fundamental philosophy announced by the Savior nineteen centuries ago." Hoover concluded: "Part of our national suffering today is from failure to observe these primary yet inexorable laws of human relationship...Modern society can not survive with the defense of Cain, 'Am I my brother's keeper?'"

John Adams was born OCTOBER 30, 1735. A Harvard graduate, he was admitted to the bar and married Abigail Smith in 1764. In the Continental Congress, he recommended Thomas Jefferson pen the Declaration and George Washington be Commander-in-Chief. He authored Massachusetts' 1780 Constitution and was U.S. Minister to France, signing the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War. While U.S. Minister to Britain he helped ratify the Constitution by writing a three volume work: "Defense of the Constitution of the Government of the United States." John Adams was the first Vice-President, serving under George Washington, and in 1797 was elected 2nd President. He established the Library of Congress and Department of Navy. His son, John Quincy, became 6th President. In 1819, John Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson: "Have you ever found in history, one single example of a Nation thoroughly corrupted that was afterwards restored to virtue?...And without virtue, there can be no political liberty." Adams continued: "Will you tell me how to prevent luxury from producing effeminacy, intoxication, extravagance, vice and folly?...I believe no effort in favour of virtue is lost."

Upon signing the Declaration, Samuel Adams stated: "This day, I trust, the reign of political protestantism will commence." The 56 signers were mostly Protestant, with a notable exception being Catholic Charles Carroll. New York University Professor Emeritus Patricia U. Bonomi, in her article "Middle Colonies as the Birthplace of American Religious Pluralism" wrote: "The colonists were about 98 percent Protestant." British Statesman Edmund Burke addressed Parliament, 1775: "All Protestantism...is a sort of dissent. But the religion most prevalent in our Northern Colonies is a refinement on the principle of resistance; it is the dissidence of dissent, and the protestantism of the Protestant religion." Protestantism traces its origins to OCTOBER 31, 1517, when Martin Luther posted 95 questions on the door of Wittenberg Church. Summoned to stand trial before 21-year-old Emperor Charles V, he was declared an outlaw. Frederick of Saxony hid him in Wartburg castle where he translated the New Testament into German. Luther later wrote: "I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth."

Brother,

I don't have any of the American Minute, and I'm really enjoying them.

Here's what I'm interested in and have been thinking about:  How many folks realize that secular humanists representing the devil have stolen this part of the world from right under our noses?

It's nothing short of amazing how many lies are told every day, I assume with them thinking that folks will believe it if the lies are told often enough. It's as if they expect history to disappear.

There has been a horrible twisting and distorting that many young people don't even know about. EXAMPLE: Some people now actually believe there is a Constitutional reason why religious freedoms are being taken away. There is no such thing as Separation of Church and State - NEVER HAS BEEN - IT'S MADE UP - A LIE THAT NEVER EXISTED! The Constitution guarantees the exact opposite, and that WAS the practice and recorded HISTORY from long before 1776 to beyond 1950. SO, did the founders rise up out of their graves, go back and change the Constitution, and somehow erase all of those years in between. NO! If NOT - SOMEONE HAS BEEN FEEDING A TON OF LIES TO OUR POPULATION - GUESS WHO!

SO, how many legal and Constitutional things has the ACLU done since 1950? The ANSWER IS ZERO! NOW - go back to the REAL CONSTITUTION - THE ONE STILL IN EFFECT THAT HASN'T CHANGED - AND DETERMINE HOW OFTEN IT'S VIOLATED!

The REAL STORY is on these pages, and LIES is what's being done today! Furthermore, our Courts and Supreme Court are verifying what they KNOW TO BE LIES! There is overwhelming evidence, heavy documentation, and detailed history that provides PROOF that an entire country WITH ALL OF ITS RULES HAS BEEN STOLEN!

Amen, brother and that is the reason why it is important for this information to get out to more people.

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Copyright:
 
        All of the material which we have written has been copyrighted, but not for purposes of profit.  One of the things which the Lord showed me when He gave me the vision for this ministry in the fall of 1980 was that "freely you have received, freely give." (Matt.10:8)  As such, please feel free to download, and then reproduce on a non-profit basis all of the information you find on this site. We offer this material in this manner so as not to hinder those who are for whatever reason, unable at the present time to afford it, and at the same time not put man-made limits upon those whom the Holy Spirit may touch to abundantly give.

        Please do not misunderstand our motive in this area.  It is not our intent to criticize any sincere believer who makes his or her living by selling Christian literature, for "...the worker is worth his keep."  (Matt.10:10)  We are merely attempting to do that which the Lord has directed us to do.  As of this date none of the members of our fellowship are independently wealthy; yet, like virtually every other ministry that I am aware of, we have financial needs.  However, the Lord has promised us that if we will freely give, and then trust Him to provide in the manner in which He chooses, those needs will be met. What we have found is that we cannot out give God; therefore, on a day by day basis, those needs are being met.

    One final comment.  I continually tell the members of our fellowship not to believe anything that I tell them, but to check it out for themselves.  The Apostle Paul tells us in Acts 17:11 that the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians because, in addition to eagerly receiving the message he brought them, they compared it with the Bible in order to see if it was correct.  I therefore urge you to do the same.  It is for this reason that all the studies I have written are referenced to the appropriate Scripture.  While every effort has been made to accurately transcribe all these citations, I am sure that as you verify each point you may run across a typing error.  Should this occur, please e-mail us so that we can correct it.

        May God bless you and strengthen you as you seek Him through His Word.

Your brother in Christ,

Frederick C. Kubicek
 
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 We must never forget that this country was discovered by a man who said:

"It was the Lord who put into my mind... the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies... There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit... It is merely the fulfillment of what Isaiah prophesied... No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Savior if it is just and if the intention is purely for His Holy service... the fact that the Gospel must still be preached to so many lands in such a short time - this is what convinces me."

#1 Note, see Isaiah 40: 22, Prov.8:27, and Job 26:10

We must never forget that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the Spanish monarchs who sponsored Columbus’ voyage, clearly understood that the principal purpose for his trip was:

“To bear the light of Christ west to the heathen undiscovered lands”

#2 We must never forget that the Virginia Company, which sponsored the Jamestown expedition in 1607, stated that the first purpose for the plantation was:

"To preach and baptize into (the) Christian religion, and by propagation of the Gospel, to recover out of the arms of the devil a number of ... souls wrapped up into death."

#3 We must never forget that this country was colonized not by evolutionistic humanists, but by men who said that they undertook their voyage to plant their colony:

"... for the Glory of God and for the advancement of the Christian faith." (Mayflower Compact)

#4 We must never forget that John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony wrote in June 1630 that:

“We are a Company professing our seules fellow members of Christ… knot together by this bond of love … Wee ared entered into Covenant with Him for His worke”

#5 We must never forget that in the Charter of Maryland June 20, 1632, King Charles I recognized that the primary reason for Lord Baltimore’s desire to establish a colony in the Americas was faith related when he said:

“Our well beloved … Caecilius Calvert, Baron of Baltimore … being animated with a laudable, and pious Zeal for extending the Christian Religion … hath humbly besought Leave of Us that he may transport … a numerous Colony of the English nation, to a certain Region … in a Country heitherto uncultivated … and partly occupied by savages, having no knowledge of the Divine Being.”

# 6 We must never forget that the first written constitution in America, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, recognized in 1639 that:

"The Word of God requires that to maintain the peace and union of such people, there should be an orderly and decent Government established according to God."

#7 We must never forget that the New England Confederation of May 19, 1643 recognized that the common bond between its signers was not the philosophy of secular humanism, but the desire to

"...advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the liberties of the Gospel in purity with peace."

#8 We must never forget that in the Charter of Carolina of 1663, King Charles II recognized that the primary reason for Sir William Berkeley’s desire to establish a colony in the Americas was also faith related when he said:

“Being excited with a laudable and pious zeal for the propagation of the Christian faith…(they) have humbly besought leave of us … to transport and make an ample colony … unto a certain country… in the parts of America not yet cultivated or planted, and inhabited by some …people, who have no knowledge of Almighty God.” (parenthesis added)

# 9 Wed must never forget that the Fundamental Constitutions of the Carolinas provided in 1663 that:

“No man shall be permitted to be a freeman of Carolina, or to have any estate of habitation within it that doth not acknowledge a God, and God is publicly and solemnly to be worshiped.”

# 10 We must never forget that the Colonial Legislature of New York Colony enacted a law in1665 which stated that:

“Whereas, The public worship of God is much discredited for want of … able ministers to instruct the people in true religion, it is ordered that a church shall be built in each parish capable of holding two hundred persons; that ministers of every church shall preach every Sunday….”

# 11 We must never forget that the Charter of Pennsylvania in 1681 stated that part of its goal was:

“To reduce (civilize) the savage natives by gentle and just manners to the Love of Civil societe and Christian religion.” (parenthesis added)

# 12 We must never forget that the Rhode Island Charter of 1683 began with these words:

"We submit our persons, lives and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, to all those perfect and most absolute laws of His given to us in His Holy Word."

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# 12a We must never forget that the Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges of 1701 required the following affirmation from all prospective Colonial officers:

"... all Persons who also profess to believe in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, shall be capable ... to serve this government in any capacity..."

#13 We must never forget that on July 2, 1776, when the vote to declare independence was taken, Samuel Adams declared the sentiment of the day, not in terms of humanistic rhetoric, but by saying:

"We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom alone men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and ... from the rising to the setting sun, may His kingdom come."

#14 We must never forget the John Quincy Adam's speech commemorating the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1837 clearly acknowledged our Christian heritage when he said:

"... the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission. ...(I)t laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity ..."

#15 We must never forget that one of the rallying cries of the American Revolution was:

"No King but King Jesus."

# 16 (from the Boston, Massachusetts Committee of Correspondence)

We must never forget that General Washington issued the following general order to the Continental Army the day after he took command on July 4, 1775:

"The General most earnestly requires and expects a due observance of those articles ... which forbid profane cursing, swearing, and drunkenness. And in like manner, he requires and expects of all officers and soldiers not engaged in actual duty, a punctual attendance of Divine services to implore the blessing of heaven upon the means used for our safety and defense."

#17 We must never forget that on July 9, 1776 General George Washington issued this general order to troops directing:

“…every officer and man… to live and act as becomes a Christian Soldier defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country…

# 18 We must never forget that the pledge taken by the Minutemen Militia included these words:

"Let us be ... altogether solicitous that no disorderly behavior, nothing unbecoming our characters as Americans ... and Christians, be justly chargeable against us."

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#19 We must never forget that the families of our founding fathers generally shared their faith and trust in God, as is evidenced by a letter Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John Adams on June 20, 1776 which contained this paragraph:

"I feel no anxiety at the large armament designed against us. The remarkable interposition's of heaven in our favor cannot be to gratefully acknowledged. He who fed the Israelites in the wilderness, who clothes the lilies of the field and who feeds the young ravens when they cry, will not forsake a people engaged in so righteous a cause, if we remember His loving kindness."

#20 We must never forget that concerning the Revolutionary War itself, President John Quincy Adams noted in 1821 that:

"The highest and greatest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."

#21 We must never forget that even in the midst of the Revolutionary War, the Commander and Chief's priorities never faltered. Washington felt that:

"To the distinguished character of a Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of a Christian."

#22 We must never forget that after graduating from Princeton in 1771, James Madison, the `Father of the Constitution', spent 6 months of post-graduate study under the private tutelage of Princeton's president, John Witherspoon.

Witherspoon was one of the most prominent of the colonial ministers who took part in the Great Awakening revival which swept America between 1725 and 1760. Whitherspoon spent this time instructing Madison in the principles of civil government as set forth in the Bible.

#23 We must never forget that in 1695, John Locke expressed the following sentiment which, along with the knowledge gained from Witherspoon, formed the basis of Madison's philosophy of government:

"As men we have God for our King, and are under the law of reason. As Christians we have Jesus the Messiah for our King, and are under the law revealed by Him in the Gospel."

#24 We must never forget that even in his zeal for liberty Patrick Henry remembered the source of true freedom when he said:

"It cannot be emphasized to strongly or to often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!"

#25 We must never forget that even the elder statesman, Benjamin Franklin, who is hailed by today's humanists as being merely a deist, acknowledged the need for God's Divine guidance during the Continental Convention when, on June 28, 1787, he addressed George Washington, the Convention's President, as follows:

"How has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly appealing to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understanding. In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain when we were sensible to danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard and they were graciously answered... I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs 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 aide? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that, 'except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.' ... I firmly believe this ... I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this Assembly every morning." voluntary daily prayers were instituted thereafter)

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#26 We must never forget that James Madison, who in addition to being the Father of the Constitution, and would become our 4th President, stated in no uncertain terms on June 20, 1785 that:

Religion (is) the basis and Foundation of Government

# 27 We must never forget that shortly after Constitutional Convention in 1787, Alexander Hamilton recognized the solidifying force behind the Constitution when he stated that:

“For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system which without the Finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests.”

# 28 We must never forget that on October 12, 1816 John Jay, America’s 1st Supreme Court Justice set forth in clear and concise terms his belief that America’s leaders must be first and foremost, Christian:

Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.

# 29 We must never forget that America’s leaders outside of government also understood these concepts. In1799 Jedediah Morse, the Father of American Geography acknowledged that:

To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys… Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them.

# 30 We must never forget that in 1828, Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story acknowledged that:

"...at the time of the adoption of the Constitution and of the First Amendment to it,... the general if not the universal sentiment in America was that Christianity ought to receive encouragement by the state so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience and the freedom of religious worship. Any attempt to level all religions (that is, to make Christianity simply one of many religions) and to make it a matter of state policy to hold all in utter indifference, would have created universal disapprobation if not universal indignation..." (parenthesis added)

#31 We must never forget that the volume of evidence which points towards the Biblical underpinnings of our constitution is so overwhelming that even purely secular historians such as H.G. Wells were forced to admit that the Constitution is:

"indubitably Christian."

#32 We must never forget that this country was organized not by evolutionistic humanists, but by men who said such things as:

"No people can be found to acknowledge and adore the invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States... We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a Nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right Heaven itself ordained." (Inaugural Address of George Washington, April 30, 1789)

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#33 We must never forget that Washington's first official act after being sworn in as the first President of the United States was to join with all the members of the House and Senate in a two hour worship service.

#34 We must never forget that America's first Thanksgiving Proclamation, given by George Washington on October 3, 1789, declared that:

"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."

We must never forget that the constitutions of the original states, as late as 1876, contained statements such as those of:

Delaware's, which recognized "the duty of all men frequently to assemble together for the public worship of the Author of the Universe." And included in, its oath of office the following words, "...I do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God blessed forever more."

#35 Maryland's, which said "...the legislature may ... lay a general and equal tax for the support of the Christian religion" and required a "... declaration of belief in the Christian religion" from all of its state officers.

#36 Massachusetts', which directed local political bodies to "... make suitable provisions, at their own expense, for the institution of public worship of God..."

#37 North Carolina's, which stated that "...no person who shall deny the being of God, or the divine authority of the Old and New Testament... shall be capable of holding office or place of trust ... within this state."

#38 As did those of states which were to be added later, for example, see:

Mississippi’s, which said that “No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments shall hold any office in the civil department of the state.”

# 39 We must never forget that in 1892, in the case of Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, the Supreme Court acknowledged that:

"Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian... This is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation... We find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth... These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation."

#40 We must never forget that even though the Warren Court did much to distort this truth, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren made the following observation when he was Governor of California:

"I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the Saviour have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses... Whether we look to the First Charter of Virginia... or to the Charter of New England... or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay... the same objective is present; a Christian land governed by Christian perspectives."

#41 We must never forget that as to the Supreme Court’s distortion of various constitutional issues which have dealt with Christianity’s place in government, Thomas Jefferson warned us of this problem when he cautioned William Jarvis in a letter to Jarvis on September 28, 1820. Therein Jefferson said:

You seem... to consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions; a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the deposition of an oligarchy.

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#42 We must never forget that the phrase "separation of Church and State" is not found in the Constitution of the United States, but rather that it is found in the 'Constitution' of the former Soviet Union.

We must never forget that while those who would attempt to rewrite America’s religious history have depended upon both the Supreme Court’s judicial activism, and its misinterpretation of Jefferson’s words to the Danbury Baptist Association, they have totally ignored Jefferson’s clear guideline for interpretation of the Constitution as set forth in his June 12, 1823 letter to U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Johnson:

“On every question of construction, carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.”

# 43 We must never forget that as pointed out by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, for the first 179 years of our Constitution, the Supreme Court did not engage in the type of ‘judicial legislation’ which we have seen take place these past 40 years:

It is impossible to build sound constitutional doctrine upon a mistaken understanding of Constitutional history… The establishment clause had been expressly freighted with Jefferson’s misleading metaphor for nearly forty years…

There is simply no historical foundation for the proposition that the framers intended to build a wall of separation (between the Church and state) … The recent court decisions are in no way based on either the language or intent of the framers…

# 44 We must never forget that as our 3rd President, Thomas Jefferson extended three times a 1787 Act of Congress in which special lands were designated:

“For the sole use of Christian Indians and the Moravian Brethren missionaries for civilizing the Indians and promoting Christianity.”

#45 December 3, 1803 with the Kaskaskia Indians, 1806 with the Wyandotte Indians and 1807 with the Cherokee Indians. Yet his ‘infamous’ letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of Danbury Connecticut which contained the phrase ‘…a wall of separation between Church and State’ was dated January 1, 1802 more than 12 months BEFORE he extended the treaties. Obviously, Jefferson himself did not believe that setting aside government land for Christian purposes was a violation of the establishment clause.

We must never forget that James Kent, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New York held in the 1811 case of People v. Ruggles:

“…Whatever strikes at the root of Christianity tends manifestly to the dissolution of civil government… (such offenses are) punishable at common law… The people of this state, in common with the people of this country, profess the general doctrines of Christianity, as the rule of their faith and practice, and to scandalize the author of these doctrines is not only … impious, but … is a gross violation of decency and good order.…We are a Christian people, and the morality of the country is deeply engrafted upon Christianity, and not upon the doctrines or worship of those (other religions)…

Though the constitution has discarded religious establishments, it does not forbid judicial cognizance of those offenses against religion and morality which have no reference to any such establishment.

The (Constitutional) declaration… never meant to withdraw religion… from all consideration and notice of the law. To construe it as breaking down the common law barriers against licentious, wanton, and impious attacks upon Christianity itself would be an enormous perversion of its meaning… Christianity in its enlarged sense, as a religion revealed and taught in the Bible, is part and parcel of the law of the land.… judgment affirmed”

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# 46 (Editor’s note: Defendant tried and convicted for publicly saying “Jesus Christ was a bas- - - -, and his mother must be a w----“ He was sentenced to 3 months in jail & fined $500 which was a significant sum in 1811.

We must never forget that the authors of the First Amendment never intended for it to be interpreted so as to deny Christians access to either the government or America's schools. As noted by Associate Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story in 1851:

"The real object of the First Amendment was not to countenance, much less advance Mohammedanism, or Judaism or infidelity, by prostrating Christianity; but ... to prevent any national ecclesiastical establishment which should give to a hierarchy the exclusive patronage of the national government."

#47 We must never forget the report of Senator Baker, of Senate Judiciary Committee, on January 19, 1853 which stated that:

“They (The Founding Fathers) did not intend to spread over all the public authorities and the whole public action of the nation the dead and revolting spectacle of atheistic apathy. Not so had the battles of the Revolution been fought and the deliberations of the Revolutionary Congress been conducted.

We are a Christian people… not because the law demands it, not to gain exclusive benefits or to avoid legal disabilities, but from choice and education; and in a land thus universally Christian, what is to be expected, what desired, but that we shall pay due regard to Christianity.” (parenthesis and emphasis added)

# 48 We must never forget the March 27, 1854 report of Representative Meacham of the House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary which stated that:

“At the adoption of the Constitution … every State… provided as regularly for the support of the Church as for the support of the Government…

Down to the Revolution, every colony did sustain religion in some form. It was deemed peculiarly proper that the religion of liberty should be upheld by free people.

Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle.

The object was not to substitute Judaism or Mohammedanism, or infidelity, but to prevent rivalry among the (Christian) sects to the exclusion of others.

In this age there can be no substitute for Christianity: that, in its general principles, is the great conservative element on which we must rely for the purity and permanence of free institutions.There is a great and very prevalent error on this subject in the opinion that those who organized the Government did not legislate on religion.”

# 49 (emphasis by underlining added)

We must never forget the May 1854 Resolution of the U.S. House of Representatives which stated that:

The great and conservative element in our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and divine truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

# 50 (emphasis by underlining added)

We must never forget the March 3, 1863 Resolution of the U.S. Senate, which said:

Resolved, That devoutly recognizing the supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and nations, and sincerely believing that no people… can prosper without His favor …encouraged in this day of trouble by the assurance of His Word, to seek Him for succor according to His appointed way, through Jesus Christ, the Senate of the United States does hereby request the President of the United States … to designate … a day for national prayer… (emphasis by underlining added)

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# 51 We must never forget Abraham Lincoln's observation that:

"It is the duty of nations ... 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."

#52 We must never forget the remarks made by our 34th President, Dwight David Eisenhower, while signing into law the Resolution of Congress which added the phrase “Under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance on June 14, 1954:

“In this way we are affirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource in peace and war.”

# 53 We must never forget that even Thomas Jefferson, who is considered by many to be merely a deist, made this observation:

"Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a 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 and that His justice cannot sleep forever."

# 54 We must never forget the Presidential proclamation appointing a National Fast Day, issued by Abraham Lincoln on March 30, 1863:

"We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserves us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; as we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace; too proud to pray to the God that made us. It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended power to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness." (emphasis added)

# 55 We must never forget that after the Civil War, Robert E. Lee echoed the thoughts of his former adversary with these words:

"... Knowing that intercessory prayer is our mightiest weapon and the supreme call for all Christians today...(l)et us pray for our nation... for those who have never known Jesus Christ ... for our nation's leaders... Let prayer be our passion. Let prayer be our practice."

# 56 We must never forget that George Washington, when discussing the importance of morality and Christianity to our country's future, said that no man had the right to:

"...claim the name of Patriotism who seeks to undermine those pillars."

# 57 We must never forget that other noted colonials, such as Abigail Adams (wife of John Adams) held to the same beliefs. In a letter to her friend Mercy Warren, dated Nov 5, 1775 Mrs. Adams stated that:

A patriot without religion in my estimation is as great a paradox as an honest man without the fear of God. … Can he be a patriot who, by an openly vicious conduct, is undermining the very bonds of society? … The Scriptures tell us “righteousness exalteth a nation”

# 58 We must never forget that our forefathers had no difficulty realizing that atheistic humanism could never serve as the foundation for a system of moral values which requires absolutes. Daniel Webster noted that:

"...our ancestors established their system of government on morality and religious sentiment. Moral habits they believed, cannot safely be trusted on any foundation other than religious principle, nor any government be secure which is not supported by moral habits... Let the religious element in man's nature be neglected, let him be influenced by no higher motives than low self interest, and subjected to no stronger restraint than the limits of civil authority and he becomes the creature of selfish passion and blind fanaticism... On the other hand, the cultivation of the religious sentiment represses licentiousness... inspires respect for law and order, and gives strength to the whole social fabric at the same time that it conducts the human soul upward to the Author of its being."

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# 59 We must never forget that in the 1800’s the great French political commentator, Alexis de Tocqueville observed that:

“The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.”

# 60 We must never forget that the association between Christianity and morals and citizenship was understood well into the 20th Century. Grover Cleveland, America’s 22nd and 24th President proclaimed that:

“All must admit that the reception of the teachings of Christ result in the purest patriotism, in the most scrupulous fidelity to public trust, and in the best type of citizenship.”

# 61 We must never forget that William McKinlkey, America’s 25th President maintained that:

“The more profoundly we study this wonderful book (Bible), and the more closely we observe its divine precepts, the better citizens we will become and the higher will be our destiny as a nation.” (parenthesis added).

# 62 We must never forget that publicly, and without criticism America’s leaders have throughout our history addressed moral decline by calling us back to our Christian heritage. In 1943, former President Herbert Hover, Mrs. Calvin Coolidge, Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Mrs. William H. Taft, Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, Mrs. Grover Cleveland issued the following joint statement:

“Menaced by collectivist trends, we must seek revival of our strength in the spiritual foundations which are the bedrock of our republic. Democracy is the outgrowth of the religious conviction of the sacredness of human life. On the religious side, its highest embodiment is the Bible, on the political side, the Constitution.”

# 63 We must never forget that despite the fact that skeptics maintain that while there may have been a few Christians who influenced America’s beginnings, men like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson did not rely upon the teaching of Jesus Christ for their moral underpinnings, the facts show otherwise. For instance, in a letter dated March 9, 1790, Benjamin Franklin wrote to Ezra Stiles wherein he expressed his belief that:

“As to Jesus of Nazareth, … I think the system of morals and His religion, as he left them to us, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see.

# 64 We must never forget that Thomas Jefferson held the opinion that:

Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern, which have come under my observation, none appear to me so pure as that of Jesus.”

# 65 We must never forget that examples of America’s total dependence upon Christianity for its’ moral values, and our government’s dependency upon both can be found throughout our history. For example, while touring America in 1851, de Tocqueville noted that:

While I was in America, a witness… declared that he did not believe in God… The judge refused to admit his evidence, on the ground that the witness had destroyed beforehand all confidence of the court in what he was about to say. The newspapers related the fact without any further comment. New York Spectator of August 23rd, 1831, relates the fact in the following terms: …he (the judge) knew of no case in a Christian country where a witness had been permitted to testify without such belief. (parenthesis added)

# 66 We must never forget that de Tocqueville clearly understood that the source of America's strength was Christianity, for he acknowledged that:

 "I sought for the key to the greatness of America

... Not until I went into the Churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."

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# 67 We must never forget that even modern international statesman, such as Charles Malik, have also noted the same thing:

"The good (in the United States) would never have come into being without the blessing and the power of Jesus Christ... I know how embarrassing this matter is to politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen, and cynics; but whatever these honored men think, the irrefutable truth is that the soul of America is at its best and highest - Christian."

# 68 We must never forget that even though our children’s history books have failed to point out these facts, the vast majority of America’s President’s have attempted to both live their lives and govern this country from a Christian perspective. Note the following statements by:

William Henry Harrison  9th President – Inaugural Address March 4, 1841 (died after one month in office):

“I deem the present occasion sufficiently important and solemn to justify me in expressing to my fellow citizens a profound reverence for the Christian religion, and a thorough conviction that sound morals, religious liberty, and a just sense of religious responsibility are essentially connected with all true and lasting happiness.”

# 69 Franklin Pierce 14th President – Inaugural Address March 4, 1853:

“It must be felt that there is no national security but in the nation’s humble, acknowledged dependence upon God and His overruling providence.”

# 70 James Buchanan 15th President – February 29, 1844 – Letter to brother:

“I am a believer, but not with that degree of firmness of faith calculated to exercise a controlling influence on my conduct, I ought constantly to pray, “Help Thou my unbelief,” I trust that the Almighty Father, through the merits and atonement of His Son, will yet vouchsafe to me a clearer and stronger faith than I possess.”

# 71 Andrew Johnson 17th President:

“I do believe in Almighty God! And I believe also in the Bible.”

# 72 Rutherford B. Hayes 19th President –  Inaugural Address March 5, 1877:

“Acknowledged that he was “… Looking for the guidance of that Divine Hand by which the destinies of nations and individuals are shaped.”

#73  also

“I am a firm believer in the Divine teachings, perfect example, and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I believe also in the Holy Scriptures as the revealed Word of God to the world for its enlightenment and salvation.”

# 74 James A. Garfield 20th President (assassinated after 4 months in office)  – letter to a friend upon the death of this friend’s son in 1876:

“In the hope of the Gospel, which is so precious in this hour of affliction, I am affectionately your brother in Christ.”

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# 75 Stephen Grover Cleveland 22nd & 24th President – Inaugural Address March 4, 1885:

“And let us not trust in human effort alone, but humbly acknowledge the power and goodness of Almighty God who presides over the destiny of nations, and who has at all times been revealed in our country’s history.”

# 76 William McKinley 25th President

“The Christian religion is no longer the badge of weaklings and enthusiasts, but of distinction, enforcing respect.”

# 77 Theodore Roosevelt 26th President, stated in 1909 that:

“After a week on perplexing problems … it does so rest my soul to come into the house of the Lord and to sing and mean it, “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty” … (my) great joy that, in occupying an exhalted position in the nation, I am enabled, to preach the practical moralities of the Bible to my fellow-countrymen and to hold up Christ as the hope and Savior of the world.” (parenthesis added) 

# 78 Warren G. Harding 29th President March 4, 1921 Inaugural Address

“I have always believed in the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, whereby they have become the expression to man of the Word and Will of God.”

# 79 We must never forget Noah Webster's observation that:

"The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scripture ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws. All the miseries and evils which men suffer from - vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war - proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible."

# 80 We must never forget that as to the Bible itself, John Locke, whom we saw earlier had a profound impact upon our founding fathers felt that:

“The Bible is one of the greatest blessings bestowed by God on the children of men. It has God for its author; salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture for its matter. It is all pure, all sincere; nothing to much; nothing wanting.”

# 81 We must never forget that John Adams, our 2nd President, expressed his feeling about the potential impact of the Bible upon government in the following manner:

“Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited!  Every member would be obliged in conscience to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love and reverence toward Almighty God … What a utopia, what a paradise would this be region be…”

# 82 We must never forget that during the Revolutionary War the Continental Congress, recognized that:

"... the use of the Bible is so universal and its importance so great..." that it directed the Committee of Commerce in 1777 to "... import 20,000 copies of the Bible."

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# 83 We must never forget that John Quincy Adams said that:

"The first and almost the only book deserving of universal attention is the Bible."

# 84 We must never forget that Abraham Lincoln realized that:

"All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated through this book (Bible); but for the Book we would not know right from wrong. All the things desirable to men are contained in it."

# 85 We must never forget that Andrew Jackson was of the opinion that:

"(T)he Scriptures (form) ... the rock on which our Republic rests."

# 86 We must never forget that Horace Greely even went so far as to publicly state that:

"It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially, a Bible reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom."

# 87 We must never forget that in 1875 four term Senator Francis Marion Cockrell from Missouri stated that:

“The Bible is supreme over all other books. Beside it there is none other. Its Divine truths meet the wants of a world-wide humanity.”

# 88 We must never forget that many early American industrialists, such as Samuel Colgate held to the belief that:

“The only spiritual light in the world comes through Jesus Christ and the inspired Book; redemption and forgiveness of sin alone through Christ. Without His presence and the teachings of the Bible we would be enshrouded in moral darkness and despair.  The condition of those nations without Christ, contrasted with those where Christ is accepted, reveals so marked a difference that no arguments are needed.”

# 89 We must never forget that Woodrow Wilson viewed the Bible as:

"... the one supreme source of revelation of the meaning of life, the nature of God and spiritual nature, and the needs of men."

# 90 We must never forget that concerning the future stability of this country, and that stability's relationship to the Bible, Calvin Coolidge spoke in words which are as clear as they can be when he said that:

"The foundation of our society and our government rests so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country."

# 91 We must never forget that the Founding Fathers considered the Bible as so foundational that a review of 15,000 documents dating from this period revealed that 34% of all direct quotes contained in these writings were from the Bible, and 60% of the remaining quotes were themselves derived by their authors from Scripture. As such, an astounding 74% of all quotes found in these documents were taken directly or indirectly from the Bible!

# 92 We must never forget that the Bible was considered such an integral part of our educational heritage that Noah Webster was merely expressing a commonly accepted fact when he said:

"... education is useless without the Bible."

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# 93 We must never forget that Fisher Ames, the Founding Father who was the author of the First Amendment, # 90, expressed his belief that the Bible was to play a paramount role in public education when he said: 

"... we have a dangerous trend beginning to take place in our education. We're starting to put more and more textbooks into our schools. ... We've become accustomed of late to putting little books in the hands of children containing fables with moral lessons. We are spending less time in the classroom on the Bible, which should be the principle text in our schools. The Bible states these great moral lessons better than any other manmade book."

# 94 We must never forget that when he was President, Thomas Jefferson also served as Superintendent of Schools for Washington, D.C., and that as Superintendent he declared that the Bible was to be the primary text used for teaching reading to public school students.

# 95 We must never forget that Congress also recognized the importance of religion in American educational life when, in 1787 and again in 1789, under the terms of the Northwest Ordinance, it set aside FEDERAL land for schools using the following rationale:

"Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of learning shall forever be encouraged." (emphasis added)

# 96 Note also, that this was at a time when the vast majority of all schools in the United States were Church run. Furthermore, no portion of the Northwest territories could apply for statehood if its proposed constitution prohibit the teaching of religion and morality in its public schools. Remember also that the Congress which passed the Northwest Ordinance was the very same Congress which passed the First Amendment.

We must never forget that the preamble to one of the earliest public education laws in the colonies stated in 1647 that the purpose of education was primarily spiritual when it acknowledged that:

"... it being one chief project of ... Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of ye Scriptures ... (people must be certain) ... that learning may not be buried in ye grave." (parenthesis added)

# 97 We must never forget that some of our colonial ancestor's concepts concerning education were formed by reading the works of such men as John Locke, who made the following statement:

"There ought very early to be imprinted on his (a child's) mind a true notion of God, as the independent Supreme Being, Author and Maker of all things, from whom we receive all our good, and who loves and gives us all things... (T)he Lord's prayer, the creeds, and Ten Commandments, tis necessary he should learn perfectly by heart." (parenthesis added)

# 98 We must never forget that the philosophy of education shared by our founding fathers was best summed up by Samuel Adams on October 4, 1790, when he said:

"Let divines and philosophers, statesmen, and patriots unite their endeavors to renovate the age, by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, of inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity and universal philanthropy... In short, of leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system."

# 99 We must never forget that this educational system (mostly Church sponsored) was apparently quite successful, for John Adams noted in 1765 that:

"(A) native of America who cannot read or write is as rare as a comet or an earthquake."

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# 100 We must never forget that Gouverneur Morris, who was the Founding Father who served as head of the Committee of Style which prepared the final draft of the Constitution, and who addressed the Constitutional Convention more than any other delegate, 173 times, maintained that:

“Religion is the only solid basis of good morals; therefore education should teach the precepts of religion, and the duties of man toward God.”

# 101 We must never forget that in 1844, some 53 years AFTER the 1st Amendment was added to the Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court could find no prohibition in the Constitution against teaching either the Bible, or proclaiming its’ Divine origin. In so doing the majority opinion asked these rhetorical questions:

“Why may not the Bible, and especially the New Testament, without note or comment, be read and taught as a divine revelation in the (school) – its general precepts expounded, its evidences explained and its glorious principles of morality inculcated?…

Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament?”

#102 We must never forget that in 1848 it was noted by the French historian Alexis de Tocqueville that:

“In the United States the sovereign authority is religious,… there is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America, and there can be no greater proof of its utility and of its conformity to human nature than that its influence is powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.” (emphasis by underlining added)

# 103 We must never forget that the New England Primer, America's first textbook, taught the ABC's to our children using these examples:

 "A In Adam's fall we sinned all

B Heaven to find, the Bible mind

C Christ crucify'd for sinners dy'd"

# 104 We must never forget that in giving credit for his discoveries to God, Matthew Fontaine Maury, the American scientist known as the Pathfinder of the Seas, author of Physical Geography of the Sea, founder of the science of oceanography and discoverer of oceanic currents, he stated in 1855 that:

“As for the general system of circulation which I have been so long endeavoring to describe; the Bible tells it all in a single sentence: The wind goeth toward the South and returneth again in His circuits.”  (editor’s note: Psalm 8 is engraved on his tombstone at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD)

# 105 We must never forget that McGuffey's readers, which were used to teach 120 million Americans to read, contained this statement:

"The Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus Christ are not only basic, but plenary..." #106

We must never forget that George Washington Carver, in his testimony before the Ways & Means Committee of the United States Senate in 1921 had this exchange with one of the Senators on the committee:

“Dr. Carver, how did you learn all of these things?”

Carver answered, “From an old book.”

“What book?”, asked the senator

Carver replied, “The Bible.”

“Does the Bible tell about peanuts?”

Carver answered, “No sir, But it tells about the God who made the peanut. I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut, and He did.”

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# 107 We must also never forget that while not advocating the Bible as a replacement for true science books, Dr. Carver pointed out the source of true knowledge when he said:

“Without God to draw aside the curtain, I would be helpless.”

# 108 (Editor’s note: For more detailed information on the Christian foundations of modern science, please read the on-line book ‘Evolution: Guilty As Charged.’ It can be found at: http://www.unlimitedglory.org/evcontents.htm )

We must never forget the observation made by Mr.Charles Malik, a former President of the United Nations General Assembly, which came from a conversation he had with the then U.S. Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance. In response to a question as to what was wrong with the United States, Mr. Malik stated that,

"You have taken Jesus Christ our of your universities."

# 109 We must never forget the admonition of the founders of such great universities as Harvard, which directed its students to

"...know God and Jesus Christ ... as the only foundation for all sound knowledge and learning."

# 110 We must never forget that our system of education has failed to live up to the purpose for which institutions of higher education such as Columbia University were created; that is,

"To teach and encourage students to know God in Jesus Christ and to love and serve Him... with a perfect and willing mind."

# 111 We must never forget that major universities such as Yale were once described as

"... a little temple (where) prayer and praise seem to be the delight of the greater part of the students." (parenthesis added)

# 112 We must never forget that Jonathan Dickson, first President of Princeton University stated that:

"Cursed be all learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ."

# 113 We must never forget the fact that of the first one hundred nineteen colleges and universities founded in the United States, one hundred and four of them were created for the purpose of teaching their students about the Creator and his creations.

# 114 Regrettably however we must also never forget that in spite of all the facts which you have just read, and in spite of the fact that as late as 1973, the United States Supreme court, tacitly approved the displaying of the Ten Commandments

# 115 , as of November 17, 1980, those same 10 commandments can no longer be posted in our public schools because a slim majority of United States Supreme Court has decided that they are:

"...plainly religious (and that by being present all the time in the classroom a child may be improperly) ... induced to read, meditate upon (and) perhaps to venerate and to obey the commandments."

# 116 Under no circumstances should the foregoing information be misconstrued. Of the 102 passengers aboard the Mayflower, only half were true Pilgrims seeking religious freedom. The others were recruited by the financial backers of that venture. Furthermore, it would be wrong for us to assume that every enterprise which professed higher motives always maintained those motives (ie. Jamestown). Likewise, it would be incorrect to make the overall generalization that every person living in the colonies in 1776 was a Christian. In fact, of the 3 1/4 million people living here at that time, about 2 million claimed to be believers in Jesus Christ.

The founding fathers of our country were not perfect. Nor were they all strongly committed Christians. In point of fact, they were sinners like the rest of us, but they were the first to admit that fact. As such, as opposed to thinking that they were getting better and better, they knew that they needed to look someplace else other than within themselves to find the answers to the questions which were facing them. They did exactly that. They looked to the Bible - found the teachings of Jesus Christ - and then formed a government based upon those principles. Without a doubt, it can be said that they recognized the principles set forth in Ro.13:1, John 19:11, Dan.2:21, Dan. 4:17, and II Chron.20:6; namely, God is sovereign over the affairs of men.

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1. Columbus, Christopher, Book of Prophecies, (as found in: Irving, Washington, Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus,  (NY: The Cooperative Publication Society, Inc.) 1892, p. 41. see also: Gary deMar, God and Government Vol.1 (Atlanta, Ga: American Press 1982) p.126

2. Cecil Jane, translation & ed., The Voyages of Christopher Columbus, (London: Argonaut Press) 1930, p.146

3. Jamestown 350th Anniversary Commission, The Founding of Jamestown and the Church (Jamestown, VA: Jamestown Commission, 1957) p.3.

4. DeMar, op cit. p. 126

5. Francis W. Coker ed. Democracy, Liberty, and Property: Readings in the American Political Tradition (NY: the Macmillian Co.) 1942, pp. 18-20

6. Henry Steele Commager ed. Documents of American History, 2 Vol. (NY: F.S.Crofts and Company, 1934, Appleton Century Crofts Inc.,1948, 6th edition; Englewood Clifts, NJ; Prentice Hall, Inc. 9th edition, 1973) Vol. I p.21

7. Morris, Benjamin Franklin, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States, (Philadelphia: George W. Childs) 1864, p. 67-68.

8. ibid, p.56, see also; Commager, H.S. ed. Documents of American History, 2 Vol. (NY. F.S. Croft & Company, 1934, Apple – Century Crofts, Inc. 1948 6th ed, Englewood Cliff, NJ. Prentice Hall, Inc. 9th ed., 1973) Vol.1, pp. 26-27

9. Lefler, Talmage, ed North Carolina History, (Chapel Hill, NC, University of North Carolina Press), 1934, 1956, p.16,

10. Brewer, David Joshua, The United States – A Christian Nation, (Philadelphia, PA, The John C. Winston Co), 1905, as quoted in Millard, Catherine, The Rewriting of America’s History, p. 389 (Camp Hill, PA, Horizon House Publishers) 1991

11. Morris, op.cit. p. 88

12. Francis Newton Thorpe ed. Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories and Colonies now or heretofore forming the United States, 7 Vol. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905; 1909; St. Clair Shores MI: Scholarly Press, 1968) Vol.V, p.2743

12a. Rhode Island Colonial Records, Vol II, pp.3-20 as found in Hazard, Ebenezer, Historical Collections: Sonsisting of State Papers and other Authentic Documents – Intended as Materials for an History of the United States of America (Philadelphia: T. Dobson), Vol. II, p.612 see also Flood, Robert, The Rebirth of America (St Davids, PA: The Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation 1986) p. 31

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13. Millard, Catherine, The Rewriting of America’s History, (Camp Hill, PA: Horizon House Publishers) 1991, p. 62

14. D. James Kennedy - The Spiritual State of the Union, 1987, (Ft Lauderdale, FL: Coral Ridge Ministries, 1987) p. 4.

15. Marshall Foster & Mary E. Swanson, The American Covenant (Santa Barbara, CA: The Mayflower Institute) p. 19.

16. Shipton, Clifford, K., Sibley’s Harvard Graduates (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society) 1965, Vol. Xiii, p. 475-476

17. William Johnson, George Washington, (Milford, MI: Mott Media, 1977) pp. 69-70.

18. Eidsmoe, John – Christianity and The Constitution – The Faith of Our Founding Fathers, (Grand Rapids, MI – Baker Book House, A Mott Media Book 6th printing) 1993, p.120-121.

19. Vera Hall, Christian History of the Constitution of the United States of America (San Francisco, CA: Foundation for American Christian Education, 1975) p. 343.

20. Adams Family Correspondence, ed. by L.H. Butterfield, (Cambridge, MA. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press) 1963, Vol. II p.16

21. Kennedy, op cit. p. 5

22. Johnson, op cit. p. 112

23. World Book Encyclopedia, Vol 13, p. 28 (1985 ed); also Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol 17, p. 284 (1910 Ed)

24. Hall, op cit. p. XIII

25. Barton, David. The Myth of Separation: What Is the Correct Relationship Between Church and State? A Revealing Look at What the Founders and Early Courts Really Said. (Aldeo, TX: Wallbuilders, 1992), p. 25.

26. Robert Flood, The Rebirth of America (St Davids, PA: The Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation 1986) p. 31, see also John Whitehead. The Separation Illusion (Millford, MI: Mott Media 1977) p.19.

27. Robert Rutlend ed. The Papers of James Madison, (Chicago; University of Chicago Press) 1973, Vol. VIII p.299.

28. Diffine, D.P., One Nation Under God – How Close a Separation? (Searcy, AR, Arkansas Harding University, Bolden Center For Private Enterprise Education 6th Edition) 1992, p.9

29. The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, Henry P. Johnston, ed (NY: Burt Franklin) 1970, Vol. IV p. 393

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30. Barton, David, The Myth of Separation (Aledo, TX: Wallbuilder Press) 1991, p.128

31. Kennedy, op cit. p. 6

32. Buzzard, Lynn, R. and Ericsson, Samuel. The Battle for Religious Liberty (Elgin, IL; David C. Cook, 1982) p. 30.

33. DeMar, op cit. p. 127

34. Kennedy, D. James. What If Jesus Had Never Been Born. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1994) p. 69

35. ibid p. 164

36. ibid p. 164

37. ibid p. 164

38. ibid p. 165

39. Millard, op. cit. p. 390

40. David Josiah Brewer Justice U.S. Supreme Court – Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States 143 U.S. 471,457-458 (1892)

41. Time, February 15, 1954, p. 49

42. Jefferson’s Letters, Wilson Whitman, ed. (Eau Claire, WI; E.M. Hale & Co.) 1900, p.338

43. Jefferson Writings, Merril D. Peterson ed. (NY; Literary Classics of the United States, Inc.) 1984, p. 1475

44. Wallace v. Jafree, 472 U.S. 38, 99 (1985)

45. Drisbach, Daniel L., Real Threat and Mere Shadow: Religious Liberty and the First Amendment, (Westchester, IL; Crossway Books) 1967, p.127

46. 8 Johns 545-547 (1811) cited approvingly in Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States 143 U.S. 457, 458, 465-471(1892)

47. Robert Cord. Separation of Church and State, Historical Fact and Current Fiction. (New York, Lambeth Press, 1982) p. 13.

48. Morris, Benjamin Franklin, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States, (Philadelphia, PA, George W. Childs), 1864, pp.324-327

49. ibid

50. ibid p.328.

51. 37th Congress, Congressional Globe, 3rd Session pp. 1148-1501 see also Northrop, Stephen Abbott, A Cloud of Witnesses, (Portland, OR, American Heritage Ministries), 1987, p.453

52. Flood, op cit. p. 32

53. U.S. Marine Corp, How To Respect and Display Our Flag, (Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office) 1977, p.31.

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54. Whitehead, op cit. p. 21

55. DeMar, op cit. pp. 128-129

56. Flood, op cit. p. 150

57. Washington’s Farwell Address, September 19,1796 - Diffine, op. cit. p. 9

58. Butterfield, L.H. ed, Adams Family Correspondence, (Cambridge, MA, The Belknap Press of Harvard University), 1963,  Vol. I, p. 2,

59. Flood, op.cit. pp. 29 & 21

60. de Tocqueville, Alexis, The Republic of the United States and Its Political Institutions Reviewed and Examined, Henry Reeves translator, (Garden City, NY, A.S. Barnes & Co.) 1851, Vol. I p.335.

61 Parker, George F. ed., The Writings and Speeches of Grover Cleveland, p. 182-183 as found in Peter Marshall & David Manuel, The Glory of America, (Bloomington, MN, Garborg’s Heart’N Home, Inc), 1991 p.319

62. DeMar, Gary, America’s Christian History: The Untold Story (Atlanta, GA: American Vision Publishers, Inc), 1993, p.60

63. The Plymouth Rock Foundation, ‘Our Christian Heritage’ Letter From Plymouth Rock (Marlborough, NH, the Plymouth Rock Foundation) p. 7.

64. Edwards, Tryon, The New Dictionary of Thoughts – A Cyclopedia of Quotations, (Garden City, NY, Hanover House, 1852; revised and enlarged by C.H. Catrevas, et al. 1891, The Standard Book Company 1963), p.91.

65.Jefferson, Thomas, Writings, Vol. XIII, p. 377, as found in  Bourton Stevenson, The Home Book of Quotations – Classical & Modern, (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company) 1967, p. 266

66. de Tocqueville, op.cit.  Vol. I, p.334.

67.Flood, op. cit. p.39

68. Lacy, op cit. p. 9

69. Richardson, James D. ed. A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1897 , (Washington, DC, U.S. Government Printing Office) 1899 Vol. 4, pp.6-20

70. ibid, Vol. 5, pp.197-203

71. as quoted in, Northrop, op.cot.

72. Savage, John, The Life and Public Services of Andrew Johnson, p. 274 as quoted in, Northrop, op.cit.

73. Richardson, op. cit. Vol. 7 p446-447

74. Northrop, op. cit.p. 223

75. Linn, S.P. Golden Gleams of Thought, p.154 as quoted in Northrop, op.cit. p.164

76. Richardson, op. cit. Vol. 8 p300

77. as quoted in Northrop, op. cit. Introduction

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78. Grant, George, The Third Time Around (Brentwood, TN:, Wolgemuth & Hyatt Inc.) 1991, p.118

79. Edwards, Tryon, The New Dictionary of Thoughts – A Cyclopedia of Quotations, (Garden City, NY, Hanover House, 1852; revised and enlarged by C.H. Catrevas, et al. 1891, The Standard Book Company 1963), p.47

80. De Mar, op cit. p. 4

81. Edwards, Tryon, The New Dictionary of Thoughts – A Cyclopedia of Quotations, (Garden City, NY, Hanover House, 1852; revised and enlarged by C.H. Catrevas, et al. 1891, The Standard Book Company 1963), p.46

82. Butterfield, L.H. ed, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, Vol. III, p.9 (Cambridge, MA, The Belknap Press of Harvard University), 1961,

83. Flood op cit. p. 21

84. ibid. p. 37

85. A Speech to the Committee of Colored People from Baltimore, September 5, 1864, as reported in the Washington Chronicle. Johnson, William, Abraham Lincoln – the Christian, (NY: Abington Press) 1913, p. 157

86. as found in, Halley, Henry, Halley’s Bible Handbook, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan), 1927, 1965 p. 18

87. Greeley, Horace, Autobiography of Horace Greeley p. 70 as quoted in Northrop, op. cit p. 197.

88. ibid p.93

89. ibid p.93

90. A remark from Wilson at a rally in Denver in 1911, as recorded in Flood, op. cit. p.12, see also Dawson, Steve. C., God’s Providence in America, (Rancho Cordova, CA: Steve Dawson) 1988, p. 11:7

91. Flood, op cit. p. 37; also Sterling Lacy - Valley of Decision, (Texarkana, TX: Dayspring Productions, 1988) p. 8.

92. Focus Magazine, Vol. IV, # 1, Winter 1981, p. .34 (CBN University publication, now Regent University)

93. Annals of the Congress of the United States – First Congress, (Washington, D.C., Gales & Seaton), 1834,Vol. I, pp. 729, 731

94. Ames, Fisher, The Mercury and New England Palladium, Vol. XVII No 8, Tuesday, January 27, 1801, p. 1 see also Kubicek, Frederick C. Evolution - Guilty As Charged. (Shippensburg, PA; Treasure House, 1993) p. 125

95. Wilson, J.O., Public Schools in Washington, (Washington, D.C., Columbia Historical Society) 1897, Vol. I, p.5, Whitehead, John W., The Second American Revolution, (Elgin, IL. David C. Cook Publishing) 1982, p. 100, see also D. James Kennedy, - The Great Deception - a speech delivered December 1 1992, Ottawa, IL.

96. The Constitutions of the United States with Latest Amendments (Trenton: Moore & Lake) 1813, p. 364

97. Hefley, James C. America - One Nation Under God, (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 19975) p. 78.

98. Hall, op cit. pp. 401-402

99.Foster, op cit. p. XIV

100. Lacy, op cit. p. 37

101 Jared Sparks ed. The Life of Gouverneur Morris, with selections from His Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers 3 Vol. (Boston: Gray and Bowen) 1832, Vol. III 483.

102. Vidal v .Girard’s Executors, 43 U.S. 126, 132 (1844)

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103. de Tocqueville, op.cit.  Vol. I p.331-332.

104. Hefley, op cit. p. 74

105. As quoted in Northrop, op. cit., p. 310

106. Flood, op cit. p. 122

107. Jones, Charles E., The Books Your Read, (Harrisburg, PA, Executive Books), 1985, p. 132,

108. (Nov 19, 1924 – address to Women’s Board of Domestic Missions, Marble Collegiate Church, NYC) as found in: Edwards, Ethel, Carver of Tuskegee, p.142, (Cincinnati, OH, Ethel Edwards & James T. Hardwick) 1971, available from Carver Memorial in Locust Grove, Diamond, MO

109.CBN University Master Plan (Now 'Regent University') (Virginia Beach, VA: Regent University, 1983), p. 6.

110. ibid p. 4

111. ibid p. 4

112. ibid p. 4

113. McDowell, Stephen K. and  Beliles, Mark A., America’s Providential History, (Charlottesville, VA: Providence Press) 1988, p.93

114. CBN University, op cit. p. 4 (now Regent University)

115. Anderson v. Salt Lake City Corp, 475 F. 2d. 29, 33, 34 (10th Cir. 1973) cert, denied, 414 U.S. 879

116. Flood, op cit. p.82

On NOVEMBER 1, 1800, John Adams became the first U.S. President to move into the White House. The following day he wrote a letter to his wife, Abigail, in which he composed a beautiful prayer. A portion of that prayer was inscribed on the mantlepiece in the State Dining Room by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It reads: "I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof." The first building constructed on Lafayette Square after the White House was St. John's Episcopal Church. Because every President since James Madison worshiped there at some time, Pew 54 has been designated as the traditional seat for the First Family. Other historic Washington, D.C. area churches where Presidents worshiped include Christ Church in Alexandria, where President Washington attended; the National Presbyterian Church; the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, where President Lincoln attended and where Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall pastored from 1937-1949; and Holy Trinity Catholic Church, where John F. Kennedy attended.

After defeating the British, General George Washington was so popular that many urged him to declare himself king. Instead, on NOVEMBER 2, 1783, from Rock Hill, near Princeton, the General issued his Farewell Orders: "Before the Comdr in Chief takes his final leave of those he holds most dear, he wishes to indulge himself a few moments in calling to mind a slight review of the past...The singular interpositions of Providence in our feeble condition were such, as could scarcely escape the attention of the most unobserving; while the unparalleled perseverance of the Armies of the U. States, through almost every possible suffering and discouragement for the space of eight long years, was little short of a standing miracle." Washington continued: "To the Armies he has so long had the honor to Command, he can only again offer in their behalf his recommendations to their grateful country, and his prayers to the God of Armies. May ample justice be done then here, and may the choicest of Heaven's favours, both here and thereafter, attend those who, under Divine auspices, have secured innumerable blessings for others." A month later he publicly bid a tearful farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York.

In a Radio Address, NOVEMBER 3, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge stated: "I therefore urge upon all the voters of our country, without reference to party, that they assemble...at their respective voting places in the exercise of the high office of American citizenship, that they approach the ballot box in the spirit that they would approach a sacrament, and there, disregarding all appeals to passion and prejudice, dedicate themselves truly and wholly to the welfare of their country." Coolidge continued: "When an election is so held, it...sustains the belief that the voice of the people is the voice of God." Commenting on political candidates, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America, 1835: "If a political character attacks a sect, this may not prevent even the partisans of that very sect from supporting him; but if he attacks all the sects together, every one abandons him and he remains alone...Moreover, all the sects of the United States are comprised within the great unity of Christianity." President George W. Bush addressed Congress, September 20, 2001: "Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists...They hate our freedoms-our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote."

United States Senator Charles Carroll was unique. He was the only Roman Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence and he outlived all the other signers. At his death, he was considered the wealthiest citizen in America. His statue was chosen to represent the State of Maryland in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall. His cousin, John Carroll, founded Georgetown University and was the United States' first Catholic Bishop. Another cousin, U.S. Rep. Daniel Carroll, was one of two Catholics to sign the U.S. Constitution and gave much of the land where the U.S. Capitol is located. Charles Carroll's nephew, Robert Brent, was the first mayor of Washington, D.C., being reappointed by Jefferson and Madison. On NOVEMBER 4, 1800, Charles Carroll penned a letter to James McHenry, the signer of the Constitution for whom Fort McHenry was named. He wrote: "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 and which insures to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments."

Mercy Otis Warren and Abigail Adams were two of the most influential women of the Revolutionary War era. Mercy Warren, called The Conscience of the American Revolution, was wife of Massachusetts House Speaker, James Warren, and sister of patriot James Otis. She corresponded with Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton and John Adams. In 1805, she published a 3 volume History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American Revolution. Abigail Adams was wife of the 2nd President and mother of the 6th President. In a letter written to Mercy Warren, NOVEMBER 5, 1775, Abigail Adams wrote: "A patriot without religion in my estimation is as great a paradox as an honest Man without the fear of God. Is it possible that he whom no moral obligations bind, can have any real Good Will towards Men?" Abigail Adams continued: "Can he be a patriot who, by an openly vicious conduct, is undermining the very bonds of Society, corrupting the Morals of Youth, and by his bad example injuring the very Country he professes to patronize more than he can possibly compensate by intrepidity, Generosity and honour?" Abigail Adams concluded: "The Scriptures tell us 'righteousness exalteth a Nation.'"

Did you know basketball and volleyball were invented by YMCA instructors? The Young Men's Christian Association, founded in 1844, has a membership of 4 million in 76 countries. Founder George Williams, who died NOVEMBER 6, 1905, wrote: "My life-long experience as a business man, and as a Christian worker among young men, has taught me that the only power in this world that can effectually keep one from sin, in all the varied and often attractive forms...is that which comes from an intimate knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as a present Saviour." George Williams concluded: "And I can also heartily testify that the safe Guide-Book by which one may be led to Christ is the Bible, the Word of God, which is inspired by the Holy Ghost." On October 24, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson addressed the 70th anniversary of the Young Men's Christian Association: "Christ came into the world to save others, not to save himself; and no man is a true Christian who does not think constantly of how he can lift his brother...I do believe that at 70 it is just reaching its majority." Wilson continued: "A dream greater even than George Williams ever dreamed will be realized in the great accumulating momentum of Christian men throughout the world."

He wanted to be a baseball player, but after attending a revival at age 16, his life changed. He has addressed crowds around the world and is unprecedented in having friendships with U.S. Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush. His name is Billy Graham, born NOVEMBER 7, 1918. At a news conference, March 21, 1956, President Eisenhower stated: "This is what I see in Billy Graham-A man who clearly understands that any advance in the world has got to be accompanied by a clear realization that man is, after all, a spiritual being." Introducing Billy Graham at a California rally, Ronald Reagan said: "Why is a representative of government here? To welcome with humble pride a man whose mission in life has been to remind us that in all our seeking...the answer to each problem is to be found in the simple words of Jesus of Nazareth, who urged us to love one another." Upon receiving the Congressional Gold Medal in 1996, Billy Graham said: "As we face a new millennium, I believe America has gone a long way down the wrong road. We must turn around...If ever we needed God's help, it is now."

"Ocian in view! O! the joy," was the wording William Clark entered in his Journal NOVEMBER 7, 1805, but actually Lewis and Clark were only at Gray's Bay, still 20 miles from the Pacific. Fierce storms pinned them down for three weeks. As cold weather set in, the captains decided to let the expedition vote on where to build winter camp, even allowing Clark's slave York and the woman Indian guide Sacagawea to vote. A humble Christmas was celebrated in their new Fort Clatsop, near present-day Astoria, Oregon. By Clark's estimate, their journey, commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson, had taken them 4,162 miles from the mouth of the Missouri River. Three months earlier, Meriwether Lewis, along with three companions, George Drouillard, Private John Shields and Private Hugh McNeal, reached the headwaters of the Missouri. Lewis recorded: "The road took us to the most distant fountain of the waters of the Mighty Missouri... Private McNeal had exultingly stood with a foot on each side of this little rivulet and thanked his God that he had lived to bestride the mighty and heretofore deemed endless Missouri."

On NOVEMBER 9, 1954, President Eisenhower addressed the National Conference on the Spiritual Foundation of American Democracy at the Sheraton-Carlton Hotel, Washington D.C.: "Now Dr. Lowry said something about my having certain convictions as to a God in Heaven and an Almighty power. Well, I don't think anyone needs a great deal of credit for believing in what seems to me to be obvious...This relationship between a spiritual faith...and our form of government is...so obvious that we should really not need to identify a man as unusual because he recognizes it." Eisenhower continued "Our whole theory of government finally expressed in our Declaration...said...Man is endowed by his Creator...When you come back to it, there is just one thing...that a man is worthwhile because he was born in the image of his God...Democracy is nothing in the world but a spiritual conviction...that each of us is enormously valuable, because of a certain standing before our own God." Eisenhower concluded: "Any group that...awakens all of us to these simple things...is, in my mind, a dedicated, patriotic group that can well take the Bible in one hand and the flag in the other, and march ahead."

"Doctor Livingstone, I presume," was the greeting NOVEMBER 10, 1871, by New York Herald newspaper reporter Henry Stanley as he met David Livingstone on the banks of Lake Tanganyika. Livingstone, an internationally known missionary in Africa, had not been heard from in years and rumor was he had died. Stanley, a skeptic, set out to find him and write a story. He described Dr. Livingstone as: "A man who is manifestly sustained as well as guided by influences from Heaven... The...enthusiasm...of his life comes, beyond question, from Christ. There must, therefore, be a Christ." Trying to end slavery, and discovering the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls, Livingstone was so loved by Africans that when he died in 1873 by Lake Bangweulu, his followers buried his heart in Africa and sent his body, packed in salt, to England to be buried in Westminster Abbey. In his Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, 1857, Dr. David Livingstone wrote: "The perfect fullness with which the pardon of all our guilt is offered in God's Book, drew forth feelings of affectionate love to Him who bought us with His blood...A sense of deep obligation to Him for His mercy has influenced...my conduct ever since."

The 11th hour of the 11TH DAY OF THE 11TH MONTH of 1918, World War I ended. Though the Armistice was signed at 5 a.m., fighting continued till 11 a.m., killing nearly 11,000 more men. In 1921, President Warren Harding had the remains of an unknown soldier killed in France buried in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery. Inscribed on the Tomb are the words: "Here lies in honored glory an American soldier know but to God." Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day in 1954 to honor all U.S. Veterans. In 1958, President Eisenhower placed soldiers in the tomb from WWII and the Korean War. The soldier from Vietnam, buried by President Reagan in 1984, was identified by DNA tests as pilot Michael Blassie and was reburied in 1998 at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri. On NOVEMBER 11, 1921, President Harding stated: "On the threshold of eternity, many a soldier, I can well believe, wondered how his ebbing blood would color the stream of human life, flowing on after his sacrifice...I can sense the prayers of our people...Let me join in that prayer. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come..."

Storms blew the Pilgrims too far north to be under Jamestown's government, so they created their own, the Mayflower Compact. It was the first constitution written in America. It began: "In ye name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord, King James, by ye grace of God, of Great Britaine, France, & Ireland king, defender of ye faith, etc., having undertaken, for ye glorie of God, and advancemente of ye Christian faith, and honour of our king & countrie, a voyage to plant ye first colonie in ye Northerne parts of Virginia," the Compact continued: "doe by these presents solemnly & mutually in ye presence of God, and one of another, covenant & combine our selves togeather into a civill body politick, for our better ordering & preservation & furtherance of ye ends aforesaid; and...to enacte...such just & equall lawes...as shall be thought most meete & convenient for ye generall good of ye Colonie, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience." The Mayflower Compact ended: "In witnes wherof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cap-Codd ye 11 of NOVEMBER, Ano:Dom. 1620."

The Vietnam War Memorial was dedicated NOVEMBER 13, 1982, honoring 58,000 American troops who died. U.S. forces inflicted over 1,000,000 enemy fatalities, yet politicians did not allow a victory. A former Communist North Vietnamese colonel, Bui Tin, called the American "peace movement" essential: "Every day our leadership would listen to the world news over the radio to follow the growth of the American anti-war movement. Visits to Hanoi by people like Jane Fonda and former Attorney General Ramsey Clark gave us confidence that we should hold on in the face of battlefield reverses." In 1966, Marine Sergeant George Hutchings of 1 Battalion, 1 Marine Division, Charlie Company, had over two hundred men killed around him during an ambush by the Viet Cong. Months later, after numerous battles, he was shot three times, bayoneted and left for dead, for which he received the Purple Heart. Of the Vietnam Memorial, George Hutchings said: "On that wall is the name of Corporal Quinton Bice, who was hit in the chest with a rocket running a patrol in my place. A Christian, he had shared the Gospel with me, but I didn't understand it till he gave his life in my place."

Born a slave, he taught himself to read, and attended school after working all day. At age 25 he founded Tuskegee Institute and recruited George Washington Carver. By his death, on NOVEMBER 14, 1915, Tuskegee had over 1,500 students. His name was Booker T. Washington, and he was the first African American to have his image on both a U.S. postage stamp and coin, and was elected to the Hall of Fame. In his book, Up From Slavery, 1901, Booker T. Washington wrote: "While a great deal of stress is laid upon the industrial side of the work at Tuskegee, we do not neglect or overlook in any degree the religious and spiritual side. The school is strictly undenominational, but it is thoroughly Christian, and the spiritual training of the students is not neglected. Our preaching service, prayer-meetings, Sunday-school, Christian Endeavour Society, Young Men's Christian Association, and various missionary organizations, testify to this." Booker T. Washington continued: "While the institution is in no sense denominational, we have a department known as the Phelps Hall Bible Training School, in which a number of students are prepared for the ministry and other forms of Christian work."

He lost two sons in the Revolution, was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration and served on 120 Congressional Committees. His name was John Witherspoon, and he died NOVEMBER 15, 1794. Born in Scotland, a descendant of John Knox, he was President of Princeton, leader of a New Jersey committee to abolish slavery, and taught 9 of the writers of the U.S. Constitution, including James Madison. Other students became Vice-President, Supreme Court Justices, Cabinet Members, Governors, Senators and Congressmen. John Adams said Witherspoon was "A true son of liberty...but first, he was a son of the Cross." On May 17, 1776, the day Congress declared a Day of Fasting, Rev. Witherspoon told his Princeton students: "He is the best friend to American liberty, who is most...active in promoting true and undefiled religion...to bear down profanity and immorality of every kind. Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not to call him an enemy of his country. It is in the man of piety and inward principle that we may...find the uncorrupted patriot, the useful citizen, and the invincible soldier." John Witherspoon concluded: "God grant that in America true religion and civil liberty may be inseparable."

"My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrims' pride, From every mountainside, Let freedom ring!" This hymn was written by Samuel Francis Smith, who died NOVEMBER 16, 1895. A Harvard classmate of poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, Smith went to Andover Theological Seminary and become a Baptist minister. A student in 1832, he admired a tune while translating a German Hymnal, the same tune used for British, Canadian, Russian, Danish, Swedish and Swiss National anthems. Smith stated: "I instantly felt the impulse to write a patriotic hymn of my own, adapted to the tune. Picking up a scrap of waste paper which lay near me, I wrote at once." In proclaiming "Let Freedom Ring Day," July 3, 1986, President Ronald Reagan recited the hymn's 4th stanza, stating: "As the golden glow of the Statue of Liberty's rekindled torch calls forth...throughout our land, let every American take it as a summons to rededication, recalling those words we sang as children: 'Our father's God, to Thee, Author of Liberty, To Thee we sing, Long may our land be bright With Freedom's Holy Light. Protect us by Thy might, Great God, Our King.'"

"Bloody Mary," daughter of Henry VIII, sentenced 300 people to death during her 5 year reign. At her death, NOVEMBER 17, 1558, her half-sister Elizabeth became Queen. During Elizabeth's 45 year reign, Shakespeare wrote plays, Francis Bacon began the scientific revolution and Sir Walter Raleigh attempted to settle a colony in Virginia, which he named for the "Virgin Queen Elizabeth." When word came of a plot to assassinate her, Elizabeth executed dozens, including her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, who was mother of England's next monarch, King James I. Spain sent its Invincible Armada to conquer England, but Sir Francis Drake, aided by a hurricane, defeated them. The Anglican Church separated from Rome but retained many rituals, to which "Puritans" objected. At her Coronation in 1558, Queen Elizabeth stated: "Christ was the Word that spake it, He took the bread and brake it, And what that Word did make it, I do believe and take it." Of her epitaph, Elizabeth said: "I am no lover of pompous title, but only desire that my name may be recorded in a line or two, which shall express my name, my virginity, the years of my reign, and the reformation of religion under it."

Julius Caesar Watts, Jr., better know as J.C., was born NOVEMBER 18, 1957. A college and pro football player, he was a youth minister and, in 1994, was elected to the U.S. Congress, where he was chosen House Conference Chairman. In response to the President's 1997 State of the Union Address, Congressman J.C. Watts stated: "I was taught to respect everyone for the simple reason that we're all God's children. I was taught, in the words of Martin Luther King, to judge a man not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character. And I was taught that character is simply doing what's right when nobody's looking." Also on NOVEMBER 18, in the year 1886, President Chester Arthur died. The son of a Baptist minister from Ireland, Arthur became an abolitionist lawyer, defending the rights of African Americans, and, during the Civil War, was Inspector General. Upon the assassination of James Garfield, President Arthur wrote September 22, 1881: "The deep grief which fills all hearts should manifest itself with one accord toward the Throne of Infinite Grace...We should bow before the Almighty and seek from Him consolation in our affliction."

NOVEMBER 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address where 50,000 soldiers were killed or wounded in a 3 day battle: "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon 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." Lincoln went on: "We are met on a great battlefield...to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live...But...we cannot dedicate...this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it." Lincoln continued: "It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced...That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure." Lincoln ended: "That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

On June 25, 1962, the Supreme Court stopped school prayer. Ronald Reagan said, March 6, 1984: "From the early days of the American colonies, prayer in schools was practiced and revered as an important tradition. Indeed, for nearly 2 centuries of our history it was considered a natural expression of our religious freedom. Then in 1962, the Supreme Court declared school prayer illegal." Reagan continued: "Well, I firmly believe the loving God who has blessed our land and made us a good caring people should never have been expelled from America's classrooms." Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd, who was born NOVEMBER 20, 1917, agreed, stating: "In no other place in the United States are there so many...official evidences of...faith in God on the part of Government as there are in Washington...On the south banks of Washington's Tidal Basin, Jefferson still speaks: 'Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.'" Senator Byrd concluded: "Jefferson's words are a forceful and explicit warning that to remove God from this country will destroy it."

French author Voltaire was born NOVEMBER 21, 1694. Yale president Timothy Dwight wrote of him in "Duty of Americans at the Present Crisis," July 4, 1798, published in Encyclopedia Britannica's Annals of America: "About the year 1728, Voltaire, so celebrated for his wit and brilliancy and not less distinguished for his hatred of Christianity and his abandonment of principle, formed a systematical design to destroy Christianity and to introduce in its stead a general diffusion of irreligion and atheism... The principal parts were...compilation of the Encyclopedia in which the doctrines Christian theology were rendered absurd... Overthrow religious orders...Fabrication of books against Christianity, such as excite doubt." Timothy Dwight continued: "Formation of a secret Academy of which Voltaire was the standing president and in which books were formed, altered, forged, imputed as posthumous to deceased writers of reputation." U.S. Congressman and New York advertising executive Bruce Barton wrote: "Voltaire spoke of the Bible as a short-lived book. He said that within a hundred years it would pass from common use. Not many people read Voltaire today, but his house has been packed with Bibles as a depot of a Bible society."

Shots rang out as President John F. Kennedy was assassinated NOVEMBER 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. The youngest President ever elected, he was also the youngest to die, barely serving 1,000 days. The 46-year-old Kennedy was on his way to the Dallas Trade Mart to deliver a speech, in which he prepared to say: "We in this country, in this generation, are-by destiny rather than choice-the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of peace on earth, goodwill toward men." Kennedy continued: "That must always be our goal-and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago, 'Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.'" Just three weeks after his Inauguration, February 9, 1961, President Kennedy told a Breakfast for International Christian Leadership: "Every President of the United States has placed special reliance upon his faith in God...The guiding principle and prayer of this Nation has been, is now, and shall ever be 'In God We Trust.'"

His only son, 11-year-old Bennie, was killed when their campaign train rolled off its tracks. This happened to 14th President Franklin Pierce, who was born NOVEMBER 23, 1804. Elected to Congress at age 29, he was a Senator at 33. He resigned, enlisted as an army private and was eventually promoted to brigadier general. His leg was crushed in the Battle of Churubusco in Mexico. He served under General Winfield Scott, whom he later ran against for President. Before he died, Franklin Pierce was baptized in St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Concord. He was friends with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was with him the night he died and wrote in a biography of Pierce: "Whether in sorrow or success he has learned...that religious faith is the most valuable...of human possessions... With this sense, there has come...a wide sympathy for the modes of Christian worship and a reverence for religious belief as a matter between the Deity and man's soul." President Frank Pierce said in his Inaugural, March 4, 1853: "It must be felt that there is no national security but in the nation's humble, acknowledged dependence upon God and His overruling providence."

Sentenced as a galley slave on a French ship, he looked up as they passed St. Andrews, Scotland, and said: "I see the steeple of that place where God first in public opened my mouth to glory; and I am fully persuaded...I shall not depart this life till my tongue shall glorify his godly name in the same place." John Knox was released, met John Calvin, and returned to Scotland, where he confronted Mary, Queen of Scots, mother of England's King James I. In 1560, Knox led Scotland to establish the Presbyterian Church. Dying NOVEMBER 24, 1572, John Knox stated: "A man with God is always in the majority." A descendant, Rev. John Witherspoon, signed the Declaration and, as President of Princeton, taught James Madison. On May 26, 1789, Presbyterian Churches in the U.S. wrote to President Washington: "We...esteem it a peculiar happiness to behold in our Chief Magistrate, a steady, avowed friend of the Christian religion...who, in his private conduct, adorns the doctrines of the gospel of Christ." Washington replied, May 1789: "While I reiterate the professions of my dependence upon Heaven...I will observe that...no man who is profligate in his morals...can possibly be a true Christian."

Born a slave in New York in 1797, she spoke only Dutch until she was sold at age 11. Suffering hardships, her third master made her marry an older slave with whom she had five children. In 1827, she escaped to Canada. After New York abolished slavery, she returned as a domestic servant and helped with Elijah Pierson's street-corner preaching. In 1843, Sojourner Truth heard "a voice from Heaven" and began spreading "God's truth and plan for salvation." In Massachusetts, she worked with abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass. After the Emancipation Proclamation, she moved to Washington, D.C., met Lincoln and helped former slaves. In 1850, she dictated her biography, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave, stating: "When I left the house of bondage I left everything behind. I wanted to keep nothing of Egypt on me, and so I went to the Lord and asked him to give me a new name." Sojourner Truth continued: "I set up my banner, and then I sing, and then folks always comes up 'round me, and then...I tells them about Jesus." Her last full day on earth, NOVEMBER 25, 1883, Sojourner Truth would begin her messages "Children, I talk to God and God talks to me."

A week after Congress approved the First Amendment, President George Washington issued the first National Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1789: "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;'" Washington continued: "Now, therefore, I do recommend...Thursday, the 26TH DAY of NOVEMBER...to be devoted by the People of these United States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be;" Washington concluded: "That we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks...for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government... particularly the national one now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed...to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue."

During World War I, Britain was ineffective manufacturing explosives, until a breakthrough in synthesizing acetone was made by Jewish chemist Dr. Chaim Weizmann, who was born NOVEMBER 27, 1874. In gratitude, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration, establishing a Jewish homeland. President Woodrow Wilson wrote to Rabbi Stephen Wise, 1918: "I think all Americans will be deeply moved by the report that...the Weizmann commission has been able to lay the foundation of the Hebrew University at Jerusalem." President Harry S Truman wrote to Dr. Weizmann, November 29, 1948: "I remember well our conversations about the Negeb...I agree fully with your estimate of the importance of the area to Israel, and I deplore any attempt to take it away from Israel. I had thought that my position would have been clear to all the world, particularly in the light of the specific wording of the Democratic Party platform." Truman continued: "I have interpreted my re-election as a mandate...to carry out...the plank on Israel... In closing, I want to tell you how happy and impressed I have been at the remarkable progress made by the new State of Israel." Dr. Weizmann wrote: "I think that the God of Israel is with us."

Following the hated Stamp Act of 1765, the British committed the Boston Massacre in 1770, firing into a crowd, killing five. Colonists responded with the Boston Tea Party in 1773. The British then blocked Boston Harbor in 1774 to starve the city into submission. The President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress was James Warren, husband of Revolutionary ear author Mercy Otis Warren. Warren proposed Sam Adams form Committees of Correspondence to inform the nation of injustices in Boston. President James Warren, who died NOVEMBER 28, 1808, approved the Massachusetts Resolution: "In Provincial Congress, Watertown, June 16, 1775- As it has pleased Almighty God in his Providence to suffer the calamities of an unnatural war to take place among us...the most effectual way to escape those desolating judgments...will be that we repent." The Resolution continued: "Among the prevailing sins of this day, which threaten the destruction of this land, we have reason to lament the frequent prophanation of the Lord's Day, or Christian Sabbath...It be recommended by this Congress, to the people...that they...pay a religious regard to that day, and to the public Worship of God thereon."

His death went unnoticed, as he died the same day John F. Kennedy was shot, but his works are some of the most widely read in English literature. Originally an agnostic, he served in World War I and became a professor at Oxford and Cambridge. He credits his Catholic friend and fellow writer, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "Lord of the Rings," as being instrumental in bringing him to faith in Christ. Among his most notable books are: The Screwtape Letters; Miracles; The Problem of Pain; Abolition of Man; and The Chronicles of Narnia, which include The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe. His name was C.S. Lewis, born NOVEMBER 29, 1898. Over 200 million copies of his books have sold worldwide and, 40 years after his death, continue to sell a million copies a year. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote: "All that we call human history - money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery - is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy." C.S. Lewis wrote: "Christianity...is a religion you could not have guessed...It is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have."

"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country" was his first popular story, written while in San Francisco. He then sailed to the Holy Land and wrote Innocents Abroad. While on this trip, he saw the picture of his friend's sister, Olivia Langdon of Elmira, New York, and fell in love. Immediately upon his return, he met and married her. His name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, born NOVEMBER 30, 1835. In Innocents Abroad, 1869, Mark Twain wrote: "We dismounted on those shores which the feet of the Saviour had made holy ground...One of the most astonishing... observations is the exceedingly small portion of the earth from which sprang the new flourishing plant of Christianity." Mark Twain continued: "The longest journey our Saviour ever performed was from here to Jerusalem-about...one hundred and twenty miles....He spent His life, preaching His Gospel, and performing His miracles, within a compass no larger than an ordinary county of the United States." Mark Twaiin wrote: "In the starlight, Galilee has no boundaries but the broad compass of the heavens, and is a theatre meet for great events; meet for the birth of a religion able to save the world."

The Confederates won the Second Battle of Bull Run, crossed the Potomac River into Maryland and captured Harper's Ferry. But the Confederate drive was halted at the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day of fighting in American history. In total, over a half million lost their lives in the War. Abraham Lincoln responded by issuing his Emancipation Proclamation. In his Second Annual Message, DECEMBER 1, 1862, President Lincoln stated: "In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free...We shall nobly save-or meanly lose-the last, best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain...a way which if followed the world will forever applaud and God must forever bless." At Independence Hall, Philadelphia, February 22, 1861, Lincoln said: "The Declaration of Independence gave liberty not alone to the people of this country, but hope to all the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence...I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it."

A thirty-three year old conquistador landed in Mexico with five hundred men. He was shocked to find the Aztecs taking prisoners of the weaker tribes, ripping their hearts out atop temples, and in a frenzy eating their bodies. The conquistador freed the prisoners, knocked down idols, and erected crosses. His name was Hernando Cortez, and he died DECEMBER 2, 1547. His personal secretary, Francisco Lopez de Gomara, recorded how Cortez spoke to the Tabascan tribe through his interpreter, Jeronimo de Aguilar, a Catholic priest who had been shipwrecked on the Yucatan eight years earlier: "Cortez told them of their blindness and great vanity in worshiping many gods and making sacrifices of human blood to them, and in thinking that those images, being mute and soulless, made by the Indians with their own hands, were capable of doing good or harm. He then told them of a single God, Creator of Heaven and earth and men, whom the Christians worshiped and served, and whom all men should worship and serve." Gomara's report on Cortez continued: "In short, after he had explained the Mysteries to them, and how the Son of God had suffered on the Cross, they accepted it and broke up their idols."

President Thomas Jefferson, author of the phrase "Separation of Church and State," asked Congress to ratify a treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians, which they did DECEMBER 3, 1803. Negotiated shortly after the Louisiana Purchase by future President William Henry Harrison, the Kaskaskia Indian Treaty stated: "And whereas the greater part of the said tribe have been baptized and received into the Catholic Church, to which they are much attached, the United States will give annually, for seven years, one hundred dollars toward the support of a priest of that religion, who will engage to perform for said tribe the duties of his office, and also to instruct as many of their children as possible, in the rudiments of literature, and the United States will further give the sum of three hundred dollars, to assist the said tribe in the erection of a church." Later in 1806 and 1807, two similar treaties were made with the Wyandotte and Cherokee tribes. On April 26, 1802, Thomas Jefferson extended a 1787 act of Congress in which special lands were designated: "For the sole use of Christian Indians and the Moravian Brethren missionaries for civilizing the Indians and promoting Christianity."

Father Jacques Marquette arrived in Quebec from France to be a missionary among the Indians. Governor Frontenac commissioned him to explore the unknown Mississippi River. He traveled by canoe from Lake Michigan, across Green Bay, up Fox River to the Wisconsin River and down to the Mississippi, where they floated as far as the Arkansas River, deciding not to go further for fear of Spaniards. On their return trip up the Illinois River, Father Marquette founded a mission among the Illinois Indians. Caught by the winter weather on DECEMBER 4, 1674, Father Marquette and two companions erected a rough log cabin near the shore of Lake Michigan. The settlement would afterwards grow into the city of Chicago. In an account written by Father Dablon of the Society of Jesus, 1678, Marquette met with over 500 chiefs and "explained to them the principal mysteries of our religion, and the end for which he had come to their country; and especially he preached to them Christ crucified, for it was the very eve of the great day on which he died on the cross for them." In 1895, the State of Wisconsin placed a statue of Father Jacques Marquette in the U.S. Capitol Statuary Hall.

A signer of the Constitution licensed to preach? This was Hugh Williamson, delegate from North Carolina, born DECEMBER 5, 1735. At age 24 he studied theology in Connecticut, was admitted to the Presbytery of Philadelphia and preached two years, visiting and praying for the sick, till a chronic chest weakness caused him to seek another career. He traveled to London to study medicine, but not before seeing the Boston Tea Party, of which he testified before a Privy Counsel that if Britain did not change its policy, the Colonies would rebel. Dr. Hugh Williamson was a Surgeon General, caring for wounded North Carolina troops during the Revolution. He helped Ben Franklin conduct electrical experiments. In 1784, during the Congress of the Confederation, Williamson helped write the Northwest Territory laws, forbidding slavery and "reserving the central section of every township for the maintenance of public schools and the section immediately to the northward for the support of religion." In 1811, Hugh Williamson wrote "Observations of the Climate in Different Parts of America," giving scientific explanation for Noah's flood and the events of Moses' exodus. He was buried at Trinity Church.

Greek Orthodox history tells of Nicholas being born to a wealthy, elderly couple in what is now Turkey in the year 280 AD. When his parents died, he generously gave to the poor. Upon hearing that a merchant went bankrupt and that creditors were planning on taking the merchant's daughters, Nicholas threw some money in the window at night to provide a dowry for the daughters to get married, thus saving them from a life of forced prostitution. When the father discovered who gave the money, Nicholas made him promise not to tell, thus inspiring the tradition of secret gift-giving on the anniversary of Nicholas' death, which was DECEMBER 6, 343 AD. Nicholas became the Bishop of Myra, was imprisoned during Emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians, and was freed by Constantine. He attended the Council of Nicaea, helped write the Nicene Creed and preached against the worship of the fertility goddess "Diana" at Ephesus, resulting in her temple being torn down. In the 12th century, when Muslims Seljuks invaders killed Christians and turned churches into mosques, the bones of Nicholas were shipped to Italy, thus introducing the traditions of Saint Nicholas to Western Europe and eventually America.

"DECEMBER 7, 1941- a date which will live in infamy- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." Thus spoke President Franklin D. Roosevelt following the attack on Pearl Harbor by over 350 Japanese aircraft. Five American battleships and three destroyers were sunk, 400 planes were destroyed and over 4000 were killed or wounded. President Roosevelt concluded: "No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory...We will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us." FDR continued: "Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces- with the unbounding determination of our people- we will gain the inevitable triumph- so help us God." (As a note, FDR's phrase "So help us God" is not on the new World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Of the over 500 words inscribed, the designers chose not to include any mention of God.)

On DECEMBER 8, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln announced his plan to accept back into the Union those who had been in the Confederacy. He wrote: "Whereas it is now desired by some persons heretofore engaged in said rebellion to resume their allegiance to the United States...Therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do proclaim, declare, and make known to all persons who have, directly or by implication, participated in the existing rebellion...that a full pardon is hereby granted to them...with restoration of all rights of property...upon the condition that every such person shall take and subscribe an oath...to wit: "I, ____ ____, do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union of the States thereunder, and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves...and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the existing rebellion having reference to slaves....So help me God."

The Play, "Fiddler on the Roof," tells the story recounted by President Benjamin Harrison on DECEMBER 9, 1891: "This Government has found occasion to express...to the Government of the Czar its serious concern because of the harsh measures now being enforced against the Hebrews in Russia. By the revival of anti-semitic laws, long in abeyance, great numbers of those unfortunate people have been constrained to abandon their homes and leave the Empire by reason of the impossibility of finding subsistence within the pale to which it is sought to confine them." President Harrison continued: "The immigration of these people to the United States-many others countries being closed to them-is largely increasing...It is estimated that over 1,000,000 will be forced from Russia within a few years." Harrison went on: "The Hebrew is never a beggar; he has always kept the law-life by toil-often under severe and oppressive civil restrictions. It is also true that no race, sect, or class has more fully cared for its own than the Hebrew race." President Benjamin Harrison concluded: "This consideration, as well as the suggestion of humanity, furnishes ample ground for the remonstrances which we have presented to Russia."

After slavery ended in the U.S., President Grant spoke to Congress, December 1, 1873, of "several thousand persons illegally held as slaves in Cuba...by the slaveholders of Havana, who are vainly striving to stay the march of ideas which has terminated slavery in Christendom, Cuba only excepted." In February 1898, the U.S.S. Maine blew up in Havana's Harbor, killing 266 sailors. In April, Congress wrote: "The abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the Island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civilization...Resolved...the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free." In May, Commodore Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. In July, Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders captured Santiago, Cuba. On July 6, 1898, President William McKinley stated: "With the nation's thanks let there be mingled the nation's prayers that our gallant sons may be shielded from harm alike on the battlefield and in the clash of fleets...while they are striving to uphold their country's honor." The Treaty ending the Spanish-American War was signed DECEMBER 10, 1898.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn was born in Russia, DECEMBER 11, 1918. He was arrested for writing a letter criticizing Joseph Stalin and spent eleven years in prisons and labor camps. He began writing and eventually received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Solzhenitsyn wrote: "At the height of Stalin's terror in 1937-38...more than 40,000 persons were shot per month...Over there people are groaning and dying and in psychiatric hospitals. Doctors are making their evening rounds, injecting people with drugs which destroy their brain cells." Solzhenitsyn continued: "You know the words from the Bible: 'Build not on sand, but on rock'.... Lenin's teachings are that anyone is considered to be a fool who doesn't take what's lying in front of him. If you can take it, take it. If you can attack, attack. But if there's a wall, then go back. And the Communist leaders respect only firmness and have contempt and laugh at persons who continually give in to them." Solzhenitsyn concluded: "America...they are trying to weaken you; they are trying to disarm your strong and magnificent country...I call upon you: ordinary working men of America...do not let yourselves become weak."

Pennsylvania - The Continental Congress met there, the Declaration of Independence was signed there, the Liberty Bell was rung there, and the Continental Army spent the freezing winter of 1777 at Valley Forge there.The Constitution was written there, and for awhile the United States Capitol was there. It became the 2nd State to join the Union on DECEMBER 12, 1787. The first Colonial Legislative Act, called the Great Law of Pennsylvania, December 7, 1682, stated: "That no person...who shall confess and acknowledge one Almighty God to be the Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the World...shall in any case be molested or prejudiced for his, or her Conscientious persuasion or practice." Benjamin Franklin helped write Pennsylvania's 1776 Constitution, which stated in Frame of Government, Chapter 2, Section 10: "Each member of the legislature, before he takes his seat, shall make and subscribe the following declaration: 'I do believe in one God, the Creator and Governour of the Universe, the Rewarder of the good and Punisher of the wicked, and I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine Inspiration.'"

Phillips Brooks was born DECEMBER 13, 1835. The bishop of the Episcopal Church in Massachusetts, Brooks is probably best remembered for a song he wrote two years after the Civil War, which goes: "O little town of Bethlehem! How still we see thee lie; Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, The silent stars go by; Yet in thy dark streets shineth, The everlasting Light; The hopes and fears of all the years, Are met in thee tonight." At Harvard, Phillips Brooks was taught by Oliver Wendell Holmes and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. President Jimmy Carter, seeking U.N. sanctions against Iran, December 21, 1979, stated: "Henry Longfellow wrote a Christmas carol in a time of crisis, the War Between the States, in 1864. Two verses of that carol particularly express my thoughts and prayers and, I'm sure, those of our Nation in this time of challenge...I would like to quote from that poem 'And in despair I bowed my head. There is no peace on earth, I said. For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men. Then pealed the bells, more loud and deep, God is not dead, nor does he sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men.'"

He caught a chill riding horseback several hours in the snow while inspecting his Mount Vernon farm. The next morning it developed into acute laryngitis and the doctors were called in. Their response was to bleed him heavily four times, a process of cutting one's arm to let the "bad blood" out. They also had him gargle with a mixture of molasses, vinegar and butter. Despite their best efforts, the doctors could not save former President George Washington and he died DECEMBER 14, 1799, at the age of sixty-seven. After saying "Doctor, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go" and "I should have been glad, had it pleased God, to die a little easier, but I doubt not it is for my good," George Washington, at about 11pm, uttered his last words: "Father of mercies, take me unto thyself." On Washington's tomb at Mount Vernon is engraved: "I am the Resurrection and the Life; sayeth the Lord. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., which is 555 feet tall, has engraved on its metal cap the Latin phrase "Laus Deo," which means "Praise be to God."

Newly independent, the thirteen States were concerned their new government may become too powerful, as King George's was. They insisted handcuffs be place on the power of the Federal Government. We call these the First Ten Amendments or Bill of Rights, ratified DECEMBER 15, 1791. The First states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Regarding this, Thomas Jefferson wrote to Samuel Miller, January 23, 1808: "I consider the government of the U.S. as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises. This results not only from the provision that no law shall be made respecting the establishment or free exercise of religion, but from that also which reserves to the states the powers not delegated to the U.S." Jefferson continued: "Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the times for these exercises, and the objects proper for them, according to their own particular tenets."

The Boston Tea Party took place DECEMBER 16, 1773, just three years after the Boston Massacre, where the British fired into a crowd, killing five. The British passed unbearable taxes: 1764 Sugar Act -taxing sugar, coffee, wine; 1765 Stamp Act -taxing newspapers, contracts, letters, playing cards and all printed materials; 1767 Townshend Acts -taxing glass, paints, paper; and 1773 Tea Act. While American merchants paid taxes, British allowed the East India Tea Company to sell a half million pounds of tea in the Colonies with no taxes, giving them a monopoly by underselling American merchants. Disguised as Mohawk Indians, a band of patriots called Sons of Liberty, led by Sam Adams, left the South Meeting House toward Griffin's Wharf, boarded the ships Dartmouth, Eleanor and Beaver, and threw 342 chests of tea into the harbor. The men of Marlborough, Massachusetts, declared: "Death is more eligible than slavery. A free-born people are not required by the religion of Jesus Christ to submit to tyranny, but may make use of such power as God has given them to recover and support their liberties...We implore the Ruler above the skies that He would bare His arm...and let Israel go."

A peer of Mozart and Haydn, he started becoming deaf at age 28, yet incredibly wrote some of the world's most beautiful symphonies, concertos and sonatas. This was Ludwig van Beethoven, baptized DECEMBER 17, 1770, in Bonn, Germany. President Jimmy Carter noted while visiting Bonn, July 14, 1978: "As the world's people speak and work and live together, we all could well remember the poem of Friedrich Schiller, immortally put to music by the great Beethoven, a son of Bonn, the "Ode to Joy": "Alle Menschen werden Bruder Wo dein sanfter Flitgel weilt." ("All mankind shall be brothers where thy gentle wings abide.") Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" is also used as the tune of Princeton professor Henry Van Dyke's hymn "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee." In 1801, Beethoven, being deaf, wrote: "No friend have I. I must live by myself alone; but I know well that God is nearer to me than others in my art, so I will walk fearlessly with Him." Supreme Court Justice Jackson wrote in McCollum v. Board of Education, 1948: "It would not seem practical to teach...the arts if we are to forbid exposure of youth to any religious influences. Music without sacred music...would be...incomplete, even from a secular point of view."

"Hark the Herald Angels Sing" was a carol written by Charles Wesley, born DECEMBER 18, 1707, at Epworth, England. The 18th child of Rev. Samuel and Susanna Wesley, he excelled in school and came to the attention of Garret Wesley, or Wellesley, a Member of Parliament with a large fortune in Daugan, Ireland. Having no child, he offering to adopt Charles as his heir, but Charles declined. After graduating from Oxford, Charles sailed to the colony of Georgia with his brother, John, who was the colony's Anglican minister. Charles was secretary to the colony's founder, General James Oglethorpe. Their desire to minister to Indians never materialize so they returned to England where their preaching started the Great Awakening Revival. John founded the Methodist Church and Charles wrote over 6,000 hymns. In 1753, around the time 21-year-old George Washington was fighting in the French and Indian War, Charles Wesley penned the famous words: "Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Glory to the new-born King, Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled. Joyful all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies; With th' angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem."

Driven into Pennsylvania by the British, the Continental Army set up camp at Valley Forge, DECEMBER 19, 1777, just 25 miles from British occupied Philadelphia. Lacking food and supplies, soldiers died at the rate of twelve per day. Of 11,000 soldiers, 2,500 died of cold, hunger and disease. A Committee from Congress reported "feet and legs froze till they became black, and it was often necessary to amputate them." Soldiers were there from every State in the new union, some as young as 12, others as old as 60, and though most were white, some were African American and American Indians. Quaker farmer Isaac Potts observed General Washington kneeling in prayer in the snow. Hessian Major Carl Leopold Baurmeister noted the only thing that kept the American army from disintegrating was their "spirit of liberty." In a letter written to John Banister, Washington recorded: "To see men without clothes to cover their nakedness, without blankets to lay on, without shoes, by which their marches might be traced by the blood from their feet...and at Christmas taking up their...quarters within a day's march of the enemy...is a mark of patience and obedience which in my opinion can scarce be paralleled."

Ronald Reagan stated in his Christmas Address, DECEMBER 20, 1983: "Sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of holiday preparations we forget the true meaning of Christmas...the birth of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ...During this glorious festival let us renew our determination to follow His example." Franklin Roosevelt said in his Christmas Message, 1942: "I say that loving our neighbor as we love ourselves is not enough- that we as a Nation and as individuals will please God best by showing regard for the laws of God. There is no better way of fostering good will toward man than by first fostering good will toward God. If we love Him we will keep His Commandments." Franklin Roosevelt continued: "In sending Christmas greetings to the armed forces and merchant sailors...we include our pride in their bravery on the fighting fronts...It is significant that Christmas Day our plants and factories will be stilled. That is not true of the other holidays." Franklin Roosevelt concluded: "On all other holidays work goes on- gladly- for the winning of the war. So Christmas becomes the only holiday in all the year. I like to think that this is so because Christmas is a holy day. May all it stands for live and grow throughout the years."

"Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see." These were the words of John Newton, a former slave ship captain, who died DECEMBER 21, 1807. At age 11, his mother died and he went to sea with his father. He fell in love with Mary Catlett while on shore leave, but overstaying his visit, he missed his ship's departure and was pressed by a gang onto the HMS Harwich. His reckless behavior caused him to be traded to a slave ship. While on a West African plantation buying slaves, his employer enslaved him. He was rescued, but continued his immoral life, deriding Christians with blasphemy that shocked even sailors. During a storm that nearly sank them, he first prayed. He read Thomas a Kempis' 'Imitation of Christ,' left the slave-trade and became a minister, preaching the rest of his life against slavery. Having encouraged William Wilberforce to end slavery in England, his tombstone read, "John Newton, Clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy."

Battle of the Bulge- Nazi's amassed three armies for an enormous attack against the Allies in the Ardennes Forest and soon surrounded the 101 Airborne Division in southern Belgium, demanding their surrender. U.S. General Anthony McAuliffe answered in one word: "Nuts." This response confused the Nazi commander, causing him to hesitate. Three days later, after General Patton directed the entire Third Army to pray, weather cleared and Allies counterattacked. In his order, DECEMBER 22, 1944, General Eisenhower stated: "By rushing out from his fixed defenses the enemy may give us the chance to turn his great gamble into his worst defeat. So I call upon every man, of all the Allies, to rise now to new heights of courage...with unshakable faith in the cause for which we fight, we will, with God's help, go forward to our greatest victory." Two days later President Franklin Roosevelt stated: "It is not easy to say 'Merry Christmas' to you, my fellow Americans, in this time of destructive war...We will celebrate this Christmas Day in our traditional American way...because the teachings of Christ are fundamental in our lives...the story of the coming of the immortal Prince of Peace."

After the Continental Army was driven out of New Jersey, an article titled "The American Crisis" was published in the Pennsylvania Journal, DECEMBER 23, 1776. Written by an aide-de-camp to General Nathanael Greene named Thomas Paine, General Washington ordered it read to the troops: "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country...Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." Thomas Paine continued: "What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly....Heaven knows how to put a price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated...God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction...who have so earnestly...sought to avoid the calamities of war." Paine concluded: "The whole English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France, was driven back...by a few broken forces headed by a woman, Joan of Arc. Would that heaven might inspire some Jersey maid to spirit up her countrymen...'Show your faith by your works,' that God may bless you...I thank God, that I fear not."

On Christmas eve, DECEMBER 24, 1492, Columbus' ship, the Santa Maria, ran aground on the island of Haiti. Columbus left 40 men and named the settlement la Navidad, promising to return the next year. He wrote that day to Spain's King and Queen: "In all the world there can be no better or gentler people. Your Highnesses should feel great joy, because presently they will be Christians, and instructed in the good manners of your realms." On DECEMBER 24, 1946, lighting the National Christmas Tree, President Truman said: "Our...hopes of future years turn to a little town in the hills of Judea where on a winter's night two thousand years ago the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled. Shepherds keeping watch by night over their flock heard the glad tidings of great joy from the angels of the Lord singing, 'Glory to God in the Highest and on Earth, peace, good will toward men.'" President Truman continued: "If we will accept it, the star of faith will guide us into the place of peace as it did the shepherds on that day of Christ's birth long ago...Through all the centuries, history has vindicated His teaching." Truman concluded: "In this great country of ours has been demonstrated the fundamental unity of Christianity and democracy."

President Hoover wrote in 1932: "Your CHRISTMAS Service held each year at the foot of a living tree which was alive at the time of the birth of Christ...should be continued as a further symbol of the unbroken chain of life leading back to this great moment in the spiritual life of mankind." President Eisenhower remarked in 1960: "Through the ages men have felt the uplift of the spirit of CHRISTMAS. We commemorate the birth of the Christ Child by...giving expression to our gratitude for the great things that His coming has brought about in the world." President Carter commented in 1977: "CHRISTMAS has a special meaning for those of us who are Christians, those of us who believe in Christ, those of us who know that almost 2,000 years ago, the Son of Peace was born." President Reagan stated in 1983: "CHRISTMAS is a time...to open our hearts to...millions forbidden the freedom to worship a God who so loved the world that He gave us the birth of the Christ Child so that we might learn to love." Reagan continued: "The message of Jesus is one of hope and joy. I know there are those who recognize CHRISTMAS DAY as the birthday of a wise teacher...then there are others of us who believe that he was the Son of God, that he was divine."

The first six months of the Revolution saw the Continental Army chased from New York, New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. Ranks dwindled from 20,000 to 2,000 exhausted soldiers- most leaving at year's end when their six-month enlistment was up. Expecting British invasion, the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia and sent the word "until Congress shall otherwise order, General Washington be possessed of full power to order and direct all things." In an operation with the password "Victory or Death," Washington's troops crossed the ice-filled Delaware River at midnight Christmas Day. Trudging in a blinding blizzard, one soldier freezing to death, they attacked the feared Hessian troops at daybreak DECEMBER 26, 1776, capturing nearly a thousand in just over an hour. A few Americans were shot, including James Monroe, the future 5th President. Washington wrote August 20, 1778: "The Hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this-the course of the war-that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more wicked that has not gratitude to acknowledge his obligations; but it will be time enough for me to turn Preacher when my present appointment ceases."

An attack of smallpox when he was four-years-old left him with crippled hands and poor eyesight. Overcoming those handicaps, he studied Copernicus' works and at age 23 became a professor of astronomy. His name was Johannes Kepler, born DECEMBER 27, 1571. His laws of planetary motion, known as Kepler's Laws, helped Newton formulate the theory of gravity. In his work, "The Harmonies of the World," book five, Kepler stated: "O, Almighty God, I am thinking Thy thoughts after Thee!...The book is written, to be read either now or by posterity, I care not which. It may be well to wait a century for a reader, as God has waited six thousand years for an observer." In comparing celestial orbits of the planets with polyphonic harmonies in music, Kepler wrote: "Holy Father, keep us safe in the concord of our love for one another, that we may be one just as Thou art with Thy Son, Our Lord, and with the Holy Ghost, and just as through the sweetest bonds of harmonies Thou hast made all Thy works one," Kepler continued: "and that from the bringing of Thy people into concord, the body of Thy Church may be built up in the Earth, as Thou didst erect the heavens themselves out of harmonies."

Armenia was the first nation to become Christian, with its capitol of Ani called the "city of a 1,001 churches." Muslim Turks began invading in the 11th century, making Christian second-class citizens called "dhimmi" and forcing boys to convert and serve the Muslim army as "Janissaries." When the Ottoman Empire declined in the 1800's, Greeks, Serbs and Romanians won independence, but Armenians were trapped by Sultan Abdul Hamid, who killed 100,000. During World War I, "Young Turks" murdered over a million men, women and children in a jihad, marching them into the desert without water, throwing them off cliffs or burning them alive. Armenian cities of Kharpert, Van and Ani were leveled. Russia came to their aid till the Bolshevik revolution began. Armenia's pleas at the Paris Peace Conference led President Wilson in a failed effort to make Armenia a U.S. protectorate. Woodrow Wilson, who was born DECEMBER 28, 1856, told Congress, May 24, 1920: "The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has established the truth of the reported massacres and other atrocities from which the Armenian people have suffered... Sympathy for Armenia among our people has sprung from untainted consciences, pure Christian faith and an earnest desire to see Christian people everywhere succored in their time of suffering."

The first President to light the National Menorah, Jimmy Carter, speaking of hostages held by Islamic terrorists in Iran, 1979, said: "Commitments to be free are ever present in the hearts of all Americans because 50 of our fellow citizens are not free." Ronald Reagan, the second President to give a HANUKKAH Message, 1983, remarked: "Whether we be Americans or Israelis, we are all children of Abraham, children of the same God. The bonds between our two peoples are growing stronger, and they must not and will never be broken." In his 1991 HANUKKAH Message, George H.W. Bush stated: "When Judah Maccabee and his followers prepared to rededicate the Temple in Jerusalem, they found...only enough oil to light the menorah for one night. Miraculously, it lasted eight." Bill Clinton, in his 1993 HANUKKAH Message, said: "The eternal lesson of HANUKKAH-that faith gives us the strength to work miracles and find light in times of darkness." President George W. Bush said in his 2001 HANUKKAH Message: "For the first time in American history, the HANUKKAH menorah will be lit at the White House residence...America and Israel have been through much together...A better day is coming when this Festival will be celebrated in a world free from terror."

"Oh, East is East, and West is West, And never the twain shall meet, Till earth and sky stand presently, At God's great judgment seat" wrote Rudyard Kipling in Ballad of East and West. Born DECEMBER 30, 1865, in Bombay, India, he was sent back to England at age 5 for schooling. Poor eyesight ended hopes of a military career, so at age 16 he returned to India as a journalist, winning acclaim for his poems. He fell in love with his friend's sister, Caroline Balestier, while visiting in America. They married and settled in Vermont, where two of their children were born. There he wrote Captains Courageous and The Jungle Books. Once back in England, he declined King George V's offer of knighthood, Poet Laureate and Order of Merit, though accepting the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. His works include: Kim, Wee Willie Winkie, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and Gunga Din. President Reagan said, December 13, 1988: "As I prepare to lay down the mantle of office...I cannot help believe that what Rudyard Kipling said of another time and place is true today for America: 'We are at the opening verse of the opening page of the chapter of endless possibilities.' Thank you, and God bless you."

On DECEMBER 31, 1955, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led a nonviolent protest by boycotting the city buses of Montgomery, Alabama. Rev. King stated: "If you will protest courageously, and yet with dignity and Christian love, when the history books are written in future generations, the historians will have to pause and say, 'There lived a great people...who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization.'" At the end of the year, 1962, President John F. Kennedy stated: "We mark the festival of Christmas which is the most sacred and hopeful day in our civilization. For nearly 2,000 years the message of Christmas, the message of peace and good will towards all men, has been the guiding star of our endeavors...the birthday of the Prince of Peace." President Kennedy continued: "To the one million men in uniform who will celebrate this Christmas away from their homes...and to all of you I send my very best wishes for a blessed and happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year."

Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon Portland Chase, reported that September 1862, President Lincoln commented to his Cabinet after the
Confederate Army lost the Battle of Antietam: “The time for the annunciation of the emancipation policy can no longer be delayed. Public sentiment will sustain it, many of my warmest friends and supporters demand it, and I have promised God that I will do it.” When asked about the last statement, Lincoln replied: “I made a solemn vow before God, that if General Lee were driven back from Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by the declaration of freedom to the slaves.” The Emancipation Proclamation stated: “I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in-chief...do, on the FIRST DAY OF JANUARY, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three...publicly proclaim...that all persons held as slaves...are, and henceforward shall be, free... And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence... and... recommend... they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.” Lincoln concluded: “And upon this act...I invoke...the gracious favor of Almighty God.”

JANUARY 2nd is Betsy Ross Day. Born a day earlier, January 1, 1752, to a Quaker family in Philadelphia, she was 8th of 17 children. Apprenticed as a seamstress, she fell in love with upholsterer John Ross, son of an Episcopal rector at Christ Church and nephew of George Ross, signer of the Declaration of Independence. As Quakers forbade interdenominational marriage, John and Betsy eloped, being married by New Jersey Governor William Franklin, Ben Franklin's son. Attending Christ's Church with Jefferson, Hamilton and Franklin, their pew number 12 was near George Washington's. During the Revolution, John Ross died when a munitions depot he was guarding blew up. Shortly after, in June 1776, General Washington reportedly asked Betsy Ross to sew the American Flag. In 1777, Betsy married sea captain Joseph Ashburn at the Old Swedes Church. That winter the British forcibly quartered in their home. Joseph Ashburn sailed to the West Indies to get war supplies, but was captured by the British and sent to Old Mill Prison, where he died in 1782. Another prisoner there was John Claypoole, who married Betsy in May 1783 at Christ Church and together they had 5 children.

Frederick the Great of Prussia called these ten days "the most brilliant in the world's history." After winning the Battle of Trenton, Christmas night, George Washington's small force met General Cornwallis' 8,000 man British army. The night before the battle, Washington left his campfires burning and silently marched his army around the back of the British camp at Princeton, New Jersey. At daybreak, JANUARY 3, 1777, Washington attacked, capturing three regiments of British troops. Enthusiasm swept America. Yale President Ezra Stiles stated in an Election Address before the Governor and General Assembly of Connecticut: "In our lowest and most dangerous state, in 1776 and 1777, we sustained ourselves against the British Army of 60.000 troops, commanded by...the ablest generals Britain could procure throughout Europe, with a naval force of 22,000 seamen in above 80 men-of-war. Who but a Washington, inspired by Heaven, could have conceived the surprise move upon the enemy at Princeton-or that Christmas eve when Washington and his army crossed the Delaware?" Ezra Stiles continued: "The United States are under peculiar obligations to become a holy people unto the Lord our God."

Called the "Father of American Medicine," he signed the Declaration of Independence, was Surgeon General of the Continental Army, and a staff member of the Pennsylvania Hospital, where he opened the first free medical clinic. His name was Benjamin Rush, and he was born JANUARY 4, 1745. He founded the Philadelphia Bible Society, a Sunday School Union and a Society for the Abolition of Slavery. A proponent of public education, Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote his Thoughts Upon the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic, 1786: "I proceed...to inquire what mode of education we shall adopt so as to secure to the state all of the advantages that are to be derived from the proper instruction of the youth; and here I beg leave to remark that the only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid on the foundation of 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 republican governments." Benjamin Rush continued: "But the religion I mean to recommend in this place is that of the New Testament...Its doctrines and precepts are calculated to promote the happiness of society and the safety and well-being of civil government."

Kidnapped after the Civil War, he was ransomed with a horse. Raised by German immigrants, Moses and Susan Carver, he left home at eleven and attended school in Neosho, Missouri, paying tuition by doing odd jobs. He drifted from Kansas to Iowa, working as a cook and doing laundry. He studied at Simpson College, then received a bachelor's and master's degree from Iowa State. Booker T. Washington recruited him to teach at Tuskegee Institute, where he introduced hundred of uses for the peanut, soybean and sweet potato, revolutionizing the South's economy. This was George Washington Carver, who died JANUARY 5, 1943. He addressed Congress, met with Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge and Franklin Roosevelt, was offered jobs by Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, and received correspondence from world leaders, including Gandhi and Stalin. In 1928, Dr. Carver stated: "Human need is really a great spiritual vacuum which God seeks to fill...With one hand in the hand of a fellow man in need and the other in the hand of Christ, He could get across the vacuum...Then the passage, 'I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me,' came to have real meaning."

In 567 AD, the Council of Tours ended a dispute. Western Europe celebrated Christmas, December 25, and Eastern Europe celebrated Epiphany, JANUARY 6, recalling the Wise Men's visit and Jesus' baptism. The Council made all 12 days from December 25 to January 6 "holy days" or "holidays," thus the "Twelve Days of Christmas." A song from 1625, "In Those Twelve Days," assigned meanings to each day: "What are they that are but one? We have one God alone...What are they which are by two? Two testaments, Old and New...What are they which are but three? Three persons in the Trinity...What are they which are but four? Four sweet Evangelists there are...What are they which are but five? Five senses...What are they which are but six? Six days to labor...What are they which are but seven? Seven liberal arts hath God sent down...What are they which are but eight? Eight Beatitudes...What are they which are but nine? Nine Muses...with sacred tunes...What are they which are but ten? Ten statutes God to Moses gave...What are they which are but eleven? Eleven thousand virgins...suffered death for Jesus' sake. What are they which are but twelve? Twelve attending on God's son."

Becoming the 13th President when Zachary Taylor died unexpectedly, he sent Commodore Perry to Japan and admitted California, which just began the Gold Rush, into the Union. This was Millard Fillmore, born JANUARY 7, 1800. When the Library of Congress caught fire, he formed a bucket brigade to extinguish the flames. On July 10, 1850, Millard Fillmore stated: "I dare not shrink; and I rely upon Him who holds in His hands the destinies of nations to endow me with the requisite strength for the task." In his Annual Message, December 2, 1850, Millard Fillmore stated: "I can not bring this communication to a close without invoking you to join me in humble and devout thanks to the Great Ruler of Nations for the multiplied blessings which He has graciously bestowed upon us. His hand, so often visible in our preservation, has stayed the pestilence, saved us from foreign wars and domestic disturbances, and scattered plenty throughout the land." In his Annual Message, December 6, 1852, President Fillmore stated: "We owe these blessings, under Heaven, to the Constitution and Government...bequeathed to us by our fathers, and which it is our sacred duty to transmit...to our children."

American Minute for January 8th:

    Though the War of 1812 had ended two weeks earlier, news had not yet reached New Orleans and on January 8, 1815, five thousand British soldiers charged in a frontal assault against General Andrew Jackson's Tennessee and Kentucky sharpshooters. French pirate Jean Lafitte and his men aided the Americans. In just a half-hour, over two thousand British were killed and only 8 Americans. On JANUARY 8, 1815, General Andrew Jackson wrote to Robert Hays regarding the victorious Battle of New Orleans: "It appears that the unerring hand of Providence shielded my men from the shower of balls, bombs, and rockets, when every ball and bomb from our guns carried with them a mission of death." Known as "Old Hickory," Andrew Jackson commented to Major Dravezac on his confidence before the Battle: "I was sure of success, for I knew that God would not give me previsions of disaster, but signs of victory. He said this ditch can never be passed. It cannot be done." Andrew Jackson wrote to Secretary of War James Monroe: "Heaven, to be sure, has interposed most wonderfully in our behalf, and I am filled with gratitude, when I look back to what we have escaped."

He lost his first presidential race to John F. Kennedy by the smallest margin to that date. A Lieutenant Commander in the Navy during WWII, he was a Congressman, Senator, and Vice-President under Eisenhower. His name was Richard Milhous Nixon, born JANUARY 9, 1913. He was the 37th U.S. President before becoming the only one to resign. He ended the draft, established the EPA, was the first President to visit Red China, sent the first astronauts to the moon, whom he addressed via radio telephone, and began the Space Shuttle program. He appointed Supreme Court Justices Warren Burger, Harry Blackmun, Lewis Powell and William Rehnquist. In 1972 he was re-elected in one of the biggest landslides in history. A proponent of Civil Rights, President Nixon stated in his Inaugural Address, 1969: "No man can be fully free while his neighbor is not. To go forward at all is to go forward together. This means black and white together, as one nation, not two. The laws have caught up with our conscience. What remains is to give life to what is in the law: to ensure at last that as all are born equal in dignity before God, all are born equal in dignity before man."

His daughter was Harriet Beecher Stowe, who wrote the abolitionist novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin." His son was Henry Ward Beecher, a famous New York preacher known for denouncing slavery, government corruption, and for supporting women's suffrage. His name was Lyman Beecher and he died JANUARY 10, 1863. A renowned New England clergyman, Lyman Beecher was quoted in McGuffey's Eclectic Sixth Reader, 1907: "While most nations trace their origin to barbarians, the foundations of our nation were laid by civilized men, by Christians." In The Spirit of the Pilgrims, 1831, Lyman Beecher wrote: "The Government of God is the only government which will hold society against depravity within and temptation without." In his Plea for the West, 1835, Lyman Beecher wrote: "If this nation is, in the providence of God, destined to lead the way in the moral and political emancipation of the world, it is time she understood her high calling, and were harnessed for the work. For mighty causes, like floods from distant mountains, are rushing with accumulating power to their consummation of good or evil, and soon our character and destiny will be stereotyped forever."

Grandson of Princeton president Jonathan Edwards, he could read at age 4 and entered Yale at 13. He was a chaplain in the Continental Army until his father died, when, as the eldest of 13, he worked the family farm to pay off debts. He was in Massachusetts' first State Legislature. This was Timothy Dwight, who was Yale's 4th president. In 22 years he created departments of chemistry, geology, law, medicine, and founded Andover Theological Seminary. He pioneered women's education, and was critical of slavery and encroachment on Indian lands. Originally a Puritan college, Yale students became enticed by France's deistic "cult of reason," which birthed the bloody French Revolution. Dwight answered their questions on faith and by his death, JANUARY 11, 1817, Yale had grown from 110 to 313 students, a third professing Christians and 30 entering ministry. Timothy Dwight wrote in 1798: "Religion and liberty are the meat and drink of the body politic. Withdraw one of them and it dies...Without religion we may possibly retain the freedom of savages, but not the freedom of New England...If our religion were gone, our state of society would perish with it and nothing would be left worth defending."

"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." This famous quote was from British statesman Edmund Burke, who was born JANUARY 12, 1729. Considered the most influential orator in the House of Commons, Burke stands out in history, for, as a member of the British Parliament, he defended the rights of the American colonies and strongly opposed the slave trade. In "A Letter to a Member of the National Assembly," 1791, Edmund Burke wrote: "What is liberty without wisdom and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without restraint. Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites; in proportion as they are disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good in preference to the flattery of knaves." Edmund Burke continued: "Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters."

Educated at Oxford, James Oglethorpe joined the Austrian army at age 17 and helped free Belgrade from Muslim Turks. Returning to England, he unintentionally killed a man in a brawl and went to prison. Upon release, he followed his father's footsteps and served in Parliament. He opposed slavery and, as a result of a friend diying debtors' prison, decided to found a colony for debtors and religious refugees to start anew. He secured Georgia's Charter, named for King George II, and on JANUARY 13, 1733, his ship "Ann" arrived with 115 settlers. Minister Herbert Henry offered prayer at the ship's arrival. A year later, Salzburgers Protestant refugees from Austria arrived and settled the town of Ebenezer. More immigrants came, including Moravian missionaries, John Wesley, and his brother Charles, who was Oglethorpe's secretary. Georgia's Charter, 1732, stated: "There shall be a liberty of conscience allowed in the worship of God...and that all such persons, except papists, shall have a free excerise of their religion." Georgia's first State Constitution, 1777, required: "Representatives...shall be of the Protestant religion." Georgia's Constitution, 1877, stated: "Relying upon the protection and guidance of Almighty God...All men have the natural and inalienable right to worship God, each according to the dictates of his own conscience."

Albert Schweitzer was born JANUARY 14, 1875, in a village in Alsace, Germany. A Lutheran pastor's son and acclaimed for playing the organ, he earned doctorates in philosophy and theology, was pastor of St. Nicholai's Church, principal of St. Thomas College, and professor at University of Strasbourg. Then, at age 30, he read a Paris Missionary Society article on the desperate need for physicians in Africa. To everyone's dismay, he enrolled in medical school and became a medical missionary, founding a hospital in the jungle village of Lambarene, Gabon, west central Africa. A friend of Albert Einstein, Albert Schweitzer won the Nobel Peace Prize and used the prize money to build a leper colony. He visited the United States in 1949 and his daughter married an American doctor volunteering at the hospital. Overcoming innumerable difficulties, Dr. Albert Schweitzer wrote: "One day, in my despair, I threw myself into a chair in the consulting room and groaned out: 'What a blockhead I was to come out here to doctor savages like these!' Whereupon his native assistant quietly remarked: 'Yes, Doctor, here on earth you are a great blockhead, but not in heaven.'"

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born JANUARY 15, 1929. A minister like his father and grandfather, he pastored Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery and Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. He formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. On April 16, 1963, King wrote: "As the Apostle Paul carried the gospel of Jesus Christ...so am I compelled to carry the gospel...I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers...I stand in the middle of two opposing forces...One is a force of complacency...The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups...the largest being Elijah Muhammad's Muslim movement. Nourished by frustration over racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America...I have tried to stand between these two forces...for there is the more excellent way of love." Martin Luther King concluded: "One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters they were standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judeo-Christian heritage."

Jefferson's Article of Religious Freedom, which he commemorated on his tombstone, was passed JANUARY 16, 1786, in the Virginia Assembly. In it, Jefferson wrote: "Almighty God hath created the mind free, and...all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments...tend only to begat habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of religion, who being Lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do, but to extend it by its influence on reason alone." In his Second Inaugural Address, 1805, Jefferson wrote: "In matters of religion I have considered that its free exercise is placed by the Constitution independent of the powers of the General Government." In 1808, Jefferson wrote to Samuel Miller: "I consider the government of the United States as prohibited by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or exercises...Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the times for these exercises, and the objects proper for them, according to their own particular tenets."

Mel Gibson's movie "The Patriot" depicted the Battle of Cowpens, JANUARY 17, 1781, where American General Daniel Morgan had a line of militia fire into British General Cornwallis' and Colonel Tarleton's dragoons, regulars, Highlanders and loyalists. When the Americans retreated, the British pursued, only to be surprised by American Continentals waiting over the hill. In the confusion, the Americans killed 110 British and captured 830. Cornwallis regrouped and chased the Americans, arriving at the Catawba River just two hours after the Americans had crossed, but a storm made the river impassable. He nearly overtook them as they were getting out of the Yadkin River, but rain flooded the river. This happened again at the Dan River. British Commander Henry Clinton wrote: "Here the royal army was again stopped by a sudden rise of the waters, which had only just fallen (almost miraculously) to let the enemy over." In March of 1781, General Washington wrote to William Gordon: "We have...abundant reasons to thank Providence for its many favorable interpositions in our behalf. It has at times been my only dependence, for all other resources seemed to have failed us."

One of the five greatest Senators in U.S. history, New Hampshire placed his statue in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall. His career spanned almost four decades, serving as Secretary of State for Presidents William Harrison, John Tyler and Millard Fillmore. His name was Daniel Webster, born JANUARY 18, 1782. From a New Hampshire farm, he attended Dartmouth College and became the highest paid attorney of his day. He fought the slave trade, negotiated the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, setting the country's Northeast boundary, and when South Carolina threatened nullification, he stated: "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!" Addressing the New York Historical Society, 1852, Daniel Webster stated: "If we and our posterity...live always in the fear of God and shall respect His Commandments...we may have the highest hopes of the future fortunes of our country....But if we...neglect religious instruction and authority; violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the constitution which holds us together, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity."

William Orville Douglas died JANUARY 19, 1980. He was a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court for 36 years, after having taught law at Yale and Columbia University. In the 1952 case of Zorach v. Clauson, Justice Douglas wrote: "The First Amendment, however, does not say that in every and all respects there shall be a separation of Church and State...Otherwise the state and religion would be aliens to each other- hostile, suspicious, and even unfriendly...We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being...When the state encourages religious instruction...it follows the best of our traditions. For it then respects the religious nature of our people and accommodates the public service to their spiritual needs. To hold that it may not would be to find in the Constitution a requirement that the government show a callous indifference to religious groups. That would be preferring those who believe in no religion over those who do believe." Justice William Douglas concluded: "We find no constitutional requirement which makes it necessary for government to be hostile to religion...We cannot read into the Bill of Rights such a philosophy of hostility to religion."

The 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1933, changed the date of Presidential Inaugurations from March 4th to JANUARY 20th. Franklin Roosevelt stated in his Inaugural Address, 1945: "Almighty God has blessed our land." Harry S Truman, 1949: "We believe that all men are created equal because they are created in the image of God." Dwight Eisenhower, 1953: "This is the work that awaits us all, to be done with bravery, with charity, and with prayer to Almighty God." John F. Kennedy, 1961: "The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God." Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965: "The judgment of God is harshest on those who are most favored." Richard Nixon, 1969: "As all are born equal in dignity before God, all are born equal in dignity before man." Gerald Ford, 1974: "To do what is right as God gives me to see the right." Jimmy Carter, 1977: "'What does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.'" Ronald Reagan, 1981: "With God's help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. And after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans."

He produced epic films in Hollywood for almost five decades and started Paramount Pictures. His name was Cecil B. DeMille and he died JANUARY 21, 1959. His best-known films include: Samson and Delilah, The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Show on Earth, for which he won an Academy Award. At the opening of The Ten Commandments, 1956, Cecil B. DeMille stated: "Man has made 32 million laws since the Commandments were handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai...but he has never improved on God's law...They are the charter and guide of human liberty, for there can be no liberty without the law." President Harry S Truman stated in his address to the Attorney General's Conference, February 1950: "The fundamental basis of this nation's laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days." Truman concluded: "If we don't have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except for the State."

JANUARY 22, 1973, the Supreme Court decision in the case of Roe v. Wade allowed abortions in the first six months of pregnancy. 23 years later, Norma McCorvey, who was the "Jane Roe" in the Roe v. Wade suit, was interviewed by USA Today. She stated that once, while employed at a clinic when no one was in: "I went into the procedure room and laid down on the table...trying to imagine what it would be like having an abortion...I broke down and cried." On ABC's World News Tonight, Norma McCorvey said: "I think abortion's wrong. I think what I did with Roe v. Wade was wrong." On November 3, 2005, President Jimmy Carter stated to reporters at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC, regarding his latest book, "Our Enduring Values-America's Moral Crisis": "I never have felt that any abortion should be committed-I think each abortion is the result of a series of errors...I've never been convinced, if you let me inject my Christianity into it, that Jesus Christ would approve abortion...I have always thought it was not in the mainstream of the American public to be extremely liberal on many issues." Jimmy Carter concluded: "I think our party's leaders-some of them-are overemphasizing the abortion issue."

JANUARY 23, 1789, John Carroll founded Georgetown University. He was brother of Daniel Carroll, who signed the U.S. Constitution and gave the land where the Capitol is built. He was cousin to Charles Carroll, the wealthiest man in America and the Declaration's longest living signer. John's nephew Robert Brent, was Washington, DC's first mayor, reappointed by Jefferson and Madison. John Carroll, America's first Catholic bishop, founded the nation's first Catholic seminary and parochial school system. He persuaded Elizabeth Seton to start a girls school in Baltimore. In 1776, the Congress asked him to go with Ben Franklin to try to enlist Canada's support of the Revolution. His influence led several States to give Catholics equality. Bishop John Carroll wrote: "Freedom and independence, acquired by...the mingled blood of Protestant and Catholic fellow-citizens, should be equally enjoyed by all." President Washington wrote to John Carroll, March 1790: "Your fellow-citizens will not forget the patriotic part which you took in the accomplishment of their Revolution...May the members of your society in America, animated alone by the pure spirit of Christianity...enjoy every temporal and spiritual felicity."

James Madison's defense of religious freedom began when he stood with his father outside a jail in the village of Orange and heard Baptists preach from their cell windows. He wrote of another incident to William Bradford, JANUARY 24, 1774: "There are at this time in the adjacent Culpepper County not less than 5 or 6 well meaning men in jail for publishing their religious sentiments which in the main are very orthodox." Madison helped pass the Virginia Bill of Rights, which stated: "Religion, or the Duty which we owe our Creator, and the Manner of discharging it, can be directed only by Reason and Convictions, not by Force or Violence; and therefore all Men are equally entitled to the free exercise of Religion, according to the Dictates of Conscience; and that it is the mutual Duty of all to practice Christian Forbearance, Love, and Charity towards each other." As President, Madison wrote July 23, 1813: "If the public homage of a people can ever be worthy of the favorable regard of the Holy and Omniscient Being to whom it is addressed, it must be...guided only by their free choice...as proving that religion, that gift of Heaven for the good of man, is freed from all coercive edicts."

In his State of the Union Address, JANUARY 25, 1984, President Reagan stated: "Each day your members observe a 200-year-old tradition meant to signify America is one nation under God. I must ask: If you can begin your day with a member of the clergy standing right here leading you in prayer, then why can't freedom to acknowledge God be enjoyed again by children in every school room across this land?" A month later in a radio address, February 25, 1984, President Reagan stated: "The First Amendment of the Constitution was not written to protect the people from religion; that amendment was written to protect religion from government tyranny...But now we're told our children have no right to pray in school. Nonsense. The pendulum has swung too far toward intolerance against genuine religious freedom. It is time to redress the balance." President Reagan continued: "Former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart noted if religious exercises are held to be impermissible activity in schools, religion is placed at an artificial and state-created disadvantage...Refusal to permit religious exercises is seen not as the realization of state neutrality, but rather as the establishment of a religion of secularism."

Douglas MacArthur was born JANUARY 26, 1880. He commanded in World War I, was superintendent of West Point, and the youngest Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. A four-star general, he retired in 1939, but returned in 1941 to defend the Philippines. When Japan invaded, President Roosevelt ordered him to Australia, but not before he promised "I shall return." In 1944, he returned with an American army and freed the Philippines. Promoted to Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific, he received Japan's surrender on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Harbor. Promoted to five-star general, he was Supreme U.N. Commander during the Korean War until he became at odds with President Truman over wanting to confront the Communists. Truman made the unpopular decision to remove him. Douglas MacArthur told West Point cadets, May 1962: "The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training-sacrifice. In battle and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those Divine attributes which his Maker gave when He created man in His own image. No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of Divine help which alone can sustain him."

After Spain's monarchs sent Columbus on his voyage they drove Muslim forces out of Spain, and also Jews, many to Portugal, then to Amsterdam, from where some sailed with Dutch merchants to South America. When Spain and Portugal attacked there, many fled again, and in 1654, twenty-three refugees on the French ship Sainte Catherine arrived in New Amsterdam. Governor Stuyvesant tried to evict them, not letting them worship outside their homes. In 1664, New Amsterdam became New York and the first synagogue was built there in 1730. Jewish population grew to 2,000 in the colonial era with 7 synagogues from New York to Savannah. Beginning 1830, Ellis Island saw 250,000 Jews immigrate to escape persecution in Bavaria, and beginning in 1881 over 2 million fled Russia's pogroms to America. As of 2006, Jews comprised 2 percent of the U.S. population. President Woodrow Wilson wrote: "Whereas in countries engaged in war there are 9 million Jews, the majority of whom are destitute of food, shelter, and clothing; driven from their homes without warning...causing starvation, disease and untold suffering-Whereas the people of the U.S. have learned with sorrow of this terrible plight, I proclaim JANUARY 27, 1916, a day to make contributions for the aid of the stricken Jewish people to the American Red Cross."

Seventy-three seconds after lift-off, on JANUARY 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, killing its entire seven member crew, which included a high school teacher-the first private citizen to fly aboard the craft. In his address to the nation, President Ronald Reagan stated: "Today is a day for mourning...a national loss...The members of the Challenger crew were pioneers...The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future." President Reagan continued: "There's a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, 'He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it.' Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete." Reagan concluded: "The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"

"I shall be telling this with a sigh, Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference" wrote Robert Frost in "The Road Not Taken." He first published poems in his high school bulletin and graduated co-valedictorian with the woman he was to marry. Farming in New Hampshire, Frost wrote poetry and taught at several schools. After a brief time in England, he taught at Amherst College, the University of Michigan and Harvard. Robert Frost won four Pulitzer prizes, the U.S. Senate honored him with a resolution, Eisenhower invited him to the White House and he read a poem at Kennedy's inauguration. Frost was a consultant to the Library of Congress and received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1960. In "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," Frost wrote "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." Robert Frost died JANUARY 29, 1963. In a 1956 interview on station WQED, Pittsburgh, Robert Frost stated "Ultimately, this is what you go before God for: You've had bad luck and good luck and all you really want in the end is mercy."

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born JANUARY 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, NY. The 32nd President, he was in office longer then any other, over 12 years, serving during the Great Depression and World War II. On October 6, 1935, FDR stated: "We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a nation, without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic...Where we have been the truest and most consistent in obeying its precepts, we have attained the greatest measure of contentment and prosperity." In a Fireside Chat, March 9, 1937, FDR stated: "I hope that you have re-read the Constitution of the United States in these past few weeks. Like the Bible, it ought to be read again and again." In a Campaign Address, November 1, 1940, FDR stated: "Those forces hate democracy and Christianity as two phases of the same civilization." In a Radio Address, November 4, 1940, FDR stated: "Democracy is the birthright of every citizen, the white and the colored; the Protestant, the Catholic, the Jew." In a Radio Address, May 27, 1941, FDR stated: "The Nazis are as ruthless as the Communists in the denial of God."

Jacob Duche' was born JANUARY 31, 1738. An Anglican minister, the Continental Congress had requested he open their first session with prayer. Conscious of impending British attack, Rev. Jacob Duche' read Psalm 35: "Plead my cause, Oh, Lord, with them that strive with me, fight against them that fight against me...Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me." John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail: "Rev. Duche' appeared with his clerk and in his pontificals, and read several prayers in the established form, and read...the 35th Psalm...I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning." John Adams continued: "After this, Mr. Duche', unexpectedly to every body, struck out into an extemporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present. I must confess, I never heard a better prayer, or one so well pronounced...with such fervor, such ardor, such earnestness and pathos, and in language so elegant and sublime, for America, for the Congress, for the province of Massachusetts Bay, and especially the town of Boston. It has had an excellent effect upon everybody here. I must beg you to read that Psalm."

Five dollars was all she was paid by the Atlantic Monthly Magazine for her poem, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, published FEBRUARY 1, 1862. The Union's theme song during the Civil War, Julia Ward Howe wrote it while visiting Washington, D.C., and seeing the teeming military, galloping horses and countless campfires. Sleeping unsoundly one night, she penned: "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He has loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword: His truth is marching on." Julia Ward Howe continued: "I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel; 'As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal'; Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel, Since God is marching on." The next verse stated: "He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgement-seat: Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on." Julia Ward Howe's poem concluded: "In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea; With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me: As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While God is marching on."

FEBRUARY 2, 1848, the U.S. Congress ratified the peace treaty which ended the Mexican War. In exchange for 15 million dollars the territories of California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming, were brought into the Union. The treaty stated: "In the Name of Almighty God-the United States and the United Mexican States animated by a sincere desire to put an end to the calamities of the war....have, under the protection of Almighty God, the Author of Peace, arranged, agreed upon, and signed the following Treaty of Peace." The Treaty continued: "If (which is not to be expected, and which God forbid) war should unhappily break out between the two republics, they do now...solemnly pledge themselves to each other and to the world to observe the following rules...All churches, hospitals, schools, colleges, libraries, and other establishments for charitable and beneficent purposes, shall be respected, and all persons connected with the same protected in the discharge of their duties, and the pursuit of their vocations. The Treaty concluded: "Done at the city of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the 2nd day of February, in the year of the Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight."

On the frigid night of FEBRUARY 3, 1943, the Allied ship Dorchester plowed through the waters near Greenland. At 1:00am, a Nazi submarine fired a torpedo into its flank, killing many in the explosion and trapping others below deck. It the ensuing chaos, four chaplains: a priest, a rabbi and two protestant ministers; distributed life jackets. When there were none left, the four chaplains ripped off their own jackets and put them on four young men. Standing embraced on the slanting deck, the chaplains bowed their heads in prayer as they sank to their icy deaths. Congress honored them by declaring this "Four Chaplains Day." On February 7, 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower remarked: "And we remember that, only a decade ago, aboard the transport Dorchester, four chaplains of four faiths together willingly sacrificed their lives so that four others might live. In the three centuries that separate the Pilgrims of the Mayflower from the chaplains of the Dorchester, America's freedom, her courage, her strength, and her progress have had their foundation in faith." Eisenhower concluded: "Today as then, there is need for positive acts of renewed recognition that faith is our surest strength, our greatest resource."

Jimmy Carter, in his book Sources of Strength, 1997, wrote: "Rev. Niebuhr urged Dietrich Bonhoeffer to remain in America for his own safety. Bonhoeffer refused. He felt he had to be among the other Christians persecuted in Germany. So he returned home, and...in resistance to Hitler...preached publicly against Nazism, racism, and anti-Semitism...Bonhoeffer was finally arrested and imprisoned, and FEBRUARY 4, 1945, just a few days before the allied armies liberated Germany, he was executed on orders of Heinrich Himmler. He died a disciple and a martyr." Jimmy Carter concluded: "The same Holy Spirit...that gave Bonhoeffer the strength to stand up against Nazi tyranny is available to us today." On February 16, 2002, Dr. James Dobson told the National Religious Broadcasters: "Those of you who feel that the church has no responsibility in the cultural area...What if it were 1943 and you were in Nazi Germany and you knew what Hitler was doing to the Jews...Would you say, 'We're not political-that's somebody else's problem'?" Dobson concluded: "I thank God Dietrich Bonhoeffer did not give that answer, and he was arrested by the Nazis and hanged in 1945, naked and alone because he said, 'This is not right.'"

Guilty of preaching religious liberty in England, Roger Williams fled to Boston, FEBRUARY 5, 1631. He pastored briefly before being banished by Puritan John Cotton, who himself had been persecuted by Anglicans in England. Roger Williams befriended the Narragansett Indians, who gave him land for Providence Plantation, Rhode Island-the first place where church government was not controlled by the state government. In 1639, Williams organized the first Baptist Church in America. His "notorious disagreements" with Cotton led to his publishing "Mr. Cotton's Letter Lately Printed, Examined and Answered," 1644, in which Roger Williams wrote: "The church of the Jews under the Old Testament in the type, and the church of the Christians under the New Testament in the anti-type, were both separate from the world; and when they opened a gap in the hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world, God hath ever broken down the wall...therefore if He will ever please to restore His garden and paradise again, it must of necessity be walled in peculiarly unto Himself from the world." In 1802, Jefferson referred to Roger Williams' "wall of separation" in his letter to the Danbury Baptists.

A graduate of Eureka College, IL, 1932, he announced for radio stations in Iowa. He married Jane Wyman and had children Maureen and Michael. He was a Captain in the U.S. Army Air Corp during World War II, then became an actor, appearing in over 50 films. He was President of the Screen Actors Guild, switched from Democrat to Republican, and became Governor of California. His second marriage, to Nancy Davis, 1952, had children Patti and Ron. His name was Ronald Reagan, born FEBRUARY 6, 1911, and died June 5, 2004. At age sixty-nine, he was the oldest person elected U.S. President, and sixty-nine days after his inauguration, he survived an assassination attempt. At the Alfred M. Landon Lecture Series, 1982, Ronald Reagan stated: "We can't have it both ways. We can't expect God to protect us in a crisis and just leave Him over there on the shelf in our day-to-day living. I wonder if sometimes He isn't waiting for us to wake up, He isn't maybe running out of patience." At Reunion Arena in Dallas, 1984, Ronald Reagan stated: "America needs God more than God needs America. If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a Nation gone under."

Frederick Baily was born FEBRUARY 7, 1817. Though against the law for a slave, he learned to read. At age 20, he escaped to Massachusetts and changed his name to Frederick Douglass to hide from slave catchers. He began debating, developing oratory skills and exposing the injustices of slavery. William Lloyd Garrison hired him to sell subscriptions to the Liberator Newspaper. Frederick Douglass published his best-selling autobiography, but with his identity now known, to avoid slave-catchers he fled to England. He was enthusiastically received and met with reformer Daniel O'Connell. English friends raised money to buy his freedom and he returned to New York, founding the North Star newspaper. Writing for abolition and women's suffrage, his motto was "Right is of no sex-Truth is of no color-God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren." An advisor to President Lincoln, Frederick Douglass told the story of his conversion: "I loved all mankind, slaveholder not excepted, though I abhorred slavery more than ever. I saw the world in a new light...I gathered scattered pages of the Bible from the filthy street gutters, and washed and dried them, that...I might get a word or two of wisdom from them."

The Boys Scouts of America was incorporated FEBRUARY 8, 1910. Sir Robert Baden-Powell began the movement in England two years prior. A hero of the South African Boer Wars, Sir Baden-Powell's troops were besieged 200 days by an overwhelming army, but his resourcefulness saved his men. The Boy Scouts are now the largest voluntary youth movement in the world, with membership over 25 million. In the pamphlet "Scouting & Christianity" 1917, Baden-Powell wrote: "Scouting is nothing less than applied Christianity." The Scout Oath states: "On my honor, I will do my best: To do my duty to God and my country, and to obey the Scout Law, To help other people at all times. To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight." In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge addressed a gathering of Boy Scouts in New York: "The three fundamentals of scouthood are reverence for nature...reverence for law...and reverence for God. It is hard to see how a great man can be an atheist. Doubters do not achieve." President Coolidge concluded: "No man realizes his full possibilities unless he has the deep conviction that life is eternally important, and that his work, well done, is part of an unending plan."

"Tippecanoe and Tyler too" was the campaign slogan of 9th President William Henry Harrison, born FEBRUARY 9, 1773. He was the first President to die in office, serving the shortest term of only 30 days. The son of Benjamin Harrison, signer the Declaration, and grandfather of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President, William Henry Harrison was aide-de-camp to General "Mad Anthony" Wayne, who defeated the British and Indian forces at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Harrison became Secretary of the Northwest Territory - 260,000 square miles from which was formed Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. He was the area's first delegate to Congress and in 1801 became Governor of the Indiana Territory. Harrison disrupted Chief Tecumseh's confederation at the Battle of Tippecanoe. In his Inaugural Address, 1841, William Henry Harrison stated: "I deem the present occasion sufficiently important and solemn to justify me in expressing to my fellow citizens a profound reverence for the Christian religion, and a thorough conviction that sound morals, religious liberty, and a just sense of religious responsibility are essentially connected with all true and lasting happiness."

Cortez ordered his ships sunk. There was no turning back. With 500 men Cortez set out FEBRUARY 10, 1519, toward Mexico City. Cortez' secretary, Francisco Lopez de Gomara, recorded that after they triumphantly entered the city, Montezuma proudly showed them the grand buildings, including a theater made of human bones, wherein was counted 136,000 skulls... a tower was made of skulls too numerous to count...walls and steps covered with human blood, pits where the human bodies were thrown after people had eaten off the arms and legs...black-robed priests with hair matted down with human blood. Soldier Bernal Diaz del Castillo recorded that Cortez' remarked: "'Senor Montezuma, I do not understand how such a great Prince and wise man as you are has not come to the conclusion...that these idols of yours are not gods, but...devils'...He explained to him very clearly about creation of the world, and how we are all brothers, sons of one father and one mother who were called Adam and Eve....That a cross (when they asked why we worshipped it) was a sign of the other Cross on which our Lord God was crucified...for the salvation of the whole human race."

On FEBRUARY 11, 1861, newly elected President Abraham Lincoln left Springfield, Illinois for Washington-never to return. In his Farewell Speech he said: "I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well...Let us all pray that the God of our fathers may not forsake us now.." Forty-five days before his assassination, Lincoln stated in his Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865: "Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God...The prayers of both could not be answered...If God will that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsmen's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said 'the Judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'"

Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the exact same day, FEBRUARY 12, 1809, but their lives had completely different effects. Lincoln is best known for freeing the slaves by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, affirming in his Gettysburg Address, 1863: "Our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Darwin is best known for the theory of evolution, arguing that men are not only not "created" but they are not "equal" as some are more evolved. In his Descent of Man, 1871, Darwin wrote: "Civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate the savage races throughout the world...The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilized state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian and the gorilla." Whereas Darwin's theory has been used by atheists to explain away belief in God, the last act of Congress signed by Abraham Lincoln before he was shot was to place the phrase "In God We Trust" on all national coin.

"Man has forgotten God, that is why this has happened" was Solzhenitsyn's response when questioned about the decline of modern culture. A Russian author, Solzhenitsyn was imprisoned for eight years by Joseph Stalin, as he described in his autobiography, Les Prix Nobel: "I was arrested on the grounds of what the censorship had found in my correspondence with a school friend, mainly because of certain disrespectful remarks about Stalin, although we referred to him in disguised terms. A further basis for the 'charge' were drafts of stories and reflections which had been found in my map case." He wrote "The Gulag Archipelago" for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, 1970, but the Communist government did not allowed him to leave the country to accept it. Finally, under international pressure, the Soviet Union expelled him on FEBRUARY 13, 1974. The following year in Washington, D.C., Alexander Solzhenitsyn warned: "I...call upon America to be more careful...because they are trying to weaken you...to disarm your strong and magnificent country in the face of this fearful threat-one that has never been seen before in the history of the world."

In the 3rd century, Emperor Claudius II was faced with defending the Roman Empire from the invading Goths. He believed single men made better soldiers so he temporarily forbade marriage. He also forced the Senate to deify the former Emperor Gallienus, including him with the Roman gods to be worshipped. Legend has it that Valentine was a bishop in Italy who risked the Emperor's wrath by refusing to worship idols and for secretly marrying young couples. Saint Valentine was dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and have his head cut off, FEBRUARY 14, 269AD. While awaiting execution, it is said he prayed for the jailers' sick daughter, who miraculously recovered. He wrote her a note and signed it, "from your Valentine." In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius designated February 14th as "Saint Valentine's Day." Signing an X for a kiss began in Medieval times where those who could not write marked a criss-cross or "Christ's cross" in the presence of witnesses and kissed it to show sincerity. The X, or Chi symbol, was the Greek letter used to represent the name of Christ, as X-Mas for Christmas, and was used as a written form of the oath "So help me God."

Slave trade in Cuba began earlier and lasted longer than anywhere else in the Americas, 1521 to the late 1870's. In 1868, a Creole farmer began a revolt for racial equality, freedom of speech and association. Spain spent ten years putting down the insurgency. The independence movement grew and in 1895 Spain sent 200,000 soldiers who put tens of thousands of Cubans in concentration camps. Many died of starvation, disease and exposure. The American public demanded President William McKinley intervene for peace, but on FEBRUARY 15, 1898, the U.S.S. Maine blew up in Havana Harbor. President McKinley approved the Resolution of Congress: "Whereas the abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a United States battle ship, with 266 of its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and cannot longer be endured...Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives...That the people of the island of Cuba are and of right ought to be free."

"From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli"-the Marine anthem recalls when Muslim Barbary Pirates of North Africa committed terrorist acts on American ships, selling crews into slavery. Tripoli demanded tribute and a treaty was attempted, but it was not honored as the Koran prohibited friendship with infidels: "Infidels are those who declare 'God is Christ, the son of Mary'"-Surah 5:17; "Infidels are those that say 'God is one of three in a Trinity'"-Surah 5:73; "Infidels are your sworn enemies"-Sura 4:101. The Koran continued: "Make war on the infidels"-Sura 9:123; "When you meet the infidel in the battlefield strike off their heads"-Surah 47:4; "Muhammad is Allah's apostle, those who follow him are ruthless to the infidels"-Surah 48:29; "Take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends"-Surah 5:51. President Jefferson finally sent in the Marines, and in what Admiral Horatio Nelson described as the "most bold and daring act of the age," Lieut. Stephen Decatur sailed his ship, the Intrepid, on the night of FEBRUARY 16, 1804, into the pirate harbor, burned a ship and escaped unharmed amidst fierce enemy fire. The Marines captured Tripoli and forced the Pasha to make peace on U.S. terms.

A baseball star, Billy Sunday played for the Chicago White Stockings (Sox) in the 1890's. Born during the Civil War in a log cabin in Iowa, his father, a Union Army soldier, died of pneumonia when Billy was a month old. At age 15, he struck out on his own, working several jobs before playing baseball. His career took off and he became one of the most popular athletes in the nation. While recovering from a baseball injury in 1887, he heard a group of gospel singers after leaving a Chicago saloon. They invited him to their mission where he experienced a conversion. He began attending YMCA meetings, quit drinking and got married. A national sensation occurred FEBRUARY 17, 1889, when Billy Sunday preached his first sermon as an evangelist in Chicago. He went on to pioneer radio broadcasting so enthusiastically that the FCC was formed in response. During the next 46 years, till his death November 6, 1935, over 100 million people would hear him. In his animated style, Billy Sunday said: "Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile."

Pilgrim's Progress was published FEBRUARY 18, 1678. An allegory of a pilgrim's journey to the Celestial City, it was written by John Bunyan, born in Bedford, England. At age 29, Bunyan became a Baptist minister and was imprisoned over 12 years for preaching without a license. While in jail, he supported his family by making shoelaces. His book, found in nearly every colonial New England home, was the world's best-seller for centuries. Benjamin Franklin wrote in his Autobiography: "From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. Pleased with the Pilgrim's Progress, my first collection was of John Bunyan's works in separate little volumes." Franklin continued: "My old favorite author, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress...has been translated into most of the languages of Europe, and suppose it has been more generally read than any other book, except perhaps the Bible." In it, John Bunyan wrote: "Christian ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending, and upon that place stood a cross...So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back."

The groans of a dying man kept him awake in the little inn outside New York. He was hardened to the cries because a college friend at Brown University had persuaded him to be an atheist. The next morning he learned the man who died in the night was none other than his college friend. This rude awakening led him to become America's first foreign missionary. His name was Adoniram Judson, born in Massachusetts, August 9, 1788. At age 23, and his wife 22, they sailed from New England on FEBRUARY 19, 1812, for Calcutta, India, but were forced by the British East India Tea Company to Rangoon, Burma. They preached in Burmese, translated Scriptures and started schools. Enduring hardships, Adoniram was imprisoned during the Burmese War. He later gained respect from the Burmese and British officials, translating his English-Burmese Dictionary and the Bible. By his death, there were 63 churches, 123 ministers and over 7,000 baptized Christians in Burma. Adoniram wrote: "How do Christians discharge this trust committed to them? They let three fourths of the world sleep the sleep of death, ignorant of the simple truth that a Savior died for them."

A Revolutionary War Colonel, he built the fortifications at Breed's Hill and commanded the militia at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. He fought in the battles of Long Island in 1776 and Saratoga in 1777. His name was William Prescott, born FEBRUARY 20, 1726. After the Boston Tea Party, where colonists threw 342 chests of British East India tea overboard, Parliament passed the Boston Port Bill, blockading the harbor and starving the inhabitants. The Committee of Correspondence sent word to the other Colonies, who called a Day of Fasting and Prayer, June 1, 1774, "to seek divine direction and aid." In August 1774, William Prescott led the men of Pepperell, Massachusetts, to deliver many loads of rye, telling Boston's inhabitants: "We heartily sympathize with you, and are always ready to do all in our power for your support, comfort and relief, knowing that Providence has placed you where you must stand the first shock. We consider that we are all embarked in (the same boat) and must sink or swim together." Prescott continued: "Let us all be of one heart, and stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. And may He, of His infinite mercy, grant us deliverance of all our troubles."

The Uniform Holiday Bill, signed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968, moved the celebration of Washington's Birthday to the third Monday in FEBRUARY. Sometime after this, with Lincoln's birthday also in the month of February, people began referring to the holiday as "Presidents' Day." Of note is that virtually every President swore into office with their hand upon a Bible, ended their oath with "So help me God" and acknowledged a Supreme Being in their address upon assuming the Presidency. Eisenhower, Reagan and George H.W. Bush included prayers. President Eisenhower began his Inaugural, 1953: "My friends, before I begin...would you permit me the privilege of uttering a little private prayer of my own. And I ask that you bow your heads. Almighty God, as we stand here at this moment..." Ronald Reagan began his Inaugural, 1985: "I wonder if we could all join in a moment of silent prayer..." George H.W. Bush began his Inaugural Address, 1989: "My first act as President is a prayer. I ask you to bow your heads. Heavenly Father, we bow our heads and thank you for your Love. Accept our thanks for the peace..."

George Washington was born FEBRUARY 22, 1732. He was unanimously chosen as the Army's Commander-in-Chief, unanimously chosen as President of the Constitutional Convention, and unanimously chosen as the first U.S. President. After the Declaration of Independence was read to his troops, General Washington ordered chaplains placed in each regiment, stating: "The General hopes and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavour so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier, defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country." In his Inaugural Address, Washington said: "It would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe...No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of Providential agency." After his Inauguration, Washington attended a service conducted by Congress' chaplains in New York City's St. Paul's Chapel.

The Panama Canal Zone was acquired by the U.S. for ten million dollars on FEBRUARY 23, 1904. Planned by President McKinley, construction on the canal began under President Theodore Roosevelt. President Taft stated in his Address to Congress, December 6, 1912: "Our defense of the Panama Canal, together with our enormous world trade and our missionary outposts on the frontiers of civilization, require us to recognize our position as one of the foremost in the family of nations, and to clothe ourselves with sufficient naval power to give force to our reasonable demands, and to give weight to our influence in those directions of progress that a powerful Christian nation should advocate." President Wilson, in his Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 23, 1913, stated: "We have seen the practical completion of a great work at the Isthmus of Panama which not only exemplifies the nation's abundant capacity of its public servants but also promises the beginning of a new age...of co-operation and peace. 'Righteousness exalteth a nation' and 'peace on earth, good will towards men' furnish the only foundation upon which can be built the lasting achievements of the human spirit."

"Remember the Alamo!" The battle began FEBRUARY 24, 1836, when General Santa Ana's 3,000 troops attacked 189 Texans and Tejanos at San Antonio. In 13 days, all defenders were dead, including William Travis, Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie. Only Susanna Dickenson, her baby, and Travis' servant survived. Fifteen years earlier, Mexico won independence from Spain and set up a democratic Federal Constitution. In 1833, Santa Ana rejected the Constitution, became dictator and suppressed Federal States who rebelled: San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Durango, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Yucatán and Jalisco. In Zacatecas, Santa Ana defeated Francisco Garcia, took 3,000 prisoners and let his army ransack the city 48 hours. Federal General José Antonio Mexía marched from New Orleans to Tampico to fight Santa Ana, but was defeated. Every prisoner was executed. The Texas Declaration of Independence stated "General Antonio Lopez Santa Ana...having overturned the constitution of his country, now offers, as the cruel alternative, either abandon our homes...or submit to the most intolerable of all tyranny...He denies us the right of worshipping the Almighty according to the dictates of our own conscience."

"Our institutions reflect the belief of our founders that all men were endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights...They believed that human institutions ought primarily to help men develop their God-given possibilities," thus stated Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, who was born FEBRUARY 25, 1888, in the home of his Civil War general grandfather. A graduate of Princeton, John Foster Dulles studied law at George Washington University, was an Army Major in WWI and a U.S. Senator. He was advisor to Truman and Secretary of State for Eisenhower. A Presbyterian pastor's son, Dulles negotiated the Peace Treaty with Japan and was U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., is named for him. Speaking on Communism, John Foster Dulles remarked at the Jesuit Alumni Dinner, April 11, 1955: "Man, we read in the Holy Scriptures, was made a little lower than the angels. Should man now be made little higher than domesticated animals which serve the purpose of their human masters? So men face the great dilemma of whether to use force to resist aggression which imposes conditions which violate the moral law and the concept that man has his origins and his destiny in God."

"God is behind everything, but everything hides God," wrote Victor Hugo in his classic Les Miserables, Book 5, Chapter 4. Born FEBRUARY 26, 1802, Victor Marie Hugo was hailed as the greatest of the Romanticists poets. He is best know for writing Cromwell, 1827, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1831, and Les Miserables, 1862, an epic story of redemption set in Paris during the French Revolution. Hugo's father was a general in Napoleon's army, and Hugo supported his heir, until he turned out to be a tyrant. Hugo opposed him and was forced into exiled for 19 years. Over 3 million people attended Hugo's funeral in Paris. In his Preface to Cromwell, 1827, Victor Hugo wrote: "Lastly, this threefold poetry flows from three great sources-The Bible, Homer, Shakespeare...The Bible before the Iliad, the Iliad before Shakespeare." Victor Hugo stated: "England has two books, the Bible and Shakespeare. England made Shakespeare, but the Bible made England." George H.W. Bush stated at the Dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Dallas, Texas, November 11, 1989: "Victor Hugo said 'Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.' Well, my fellow veterans, the idea is democracy."

"Listen my children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere...Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch...One if by land, two if by sea..." These lines are from the poem, Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, born FEBRUARY 27, 1807. An American poet and Harvard Professor, Longfellow wrote such American classics as: The Song of Hiawatha; The Courtship of Miles Standish and Evangeline, in which he penned: "Man is unjust, but God is just; and finally justice triumphs." In A Psalm of Life, 1838, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote: "Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul...In the world's broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife! Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act,-act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o'erhead! Lives of great men all remind us, We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us, Footprints on the sands of time;-Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again."

His grandson, Robert, was the U.S. Navy Commodore who helped freed slaves found Liberia, West Africa, and in 1846 captured California-the city of Stockton named for him. His brother-in-law, Elias Boudinot, was a Continental Congress President and founder of the American Bible Society. His daughter married Declaration Signer Benjamin Rush. His name was Richard Stockton. After he signed the Declaration of Independence, the British invaded New Jersey forcing him to move his family for safety. Richard Stockton was betrayed, dragged from his bed at night and imprisoned in New York. His farm was pillaged and his library, one of the best in the country, was burned. His health broken from over a year in the British prison, Richard Stockton died bankrupt at age 51, FEBRUARY 28, 1781. New Jersey placed his statue in the U.S. Capitol Statuary Hall. Richard Stockton wrote in his Will: "As my children...may be peculiarly impressed with the last words of their father, I think proper here, not only to subscribe to the entire belief of the great leading doctrine of the Christian religion...but also in the heart of a father's affection, to exhort them to remember 'that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.'"

FEBRUARY 29 is Leap Day. In 45 B.C., Julius Caesar replaced the calendars used throughout the Roman Empire based on the moon's cycles with a calendar based on the sun, having 365 days and a "leap" day every 4th year. It was modified by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 to omit leap days in years divisible by 100 but not divisible by 400. This was a closer approximation to a tropical year-the time the Earth takes to orbit the Sun. Protestant Europe did not adopted the Gregorian reform till the 1700's. England and its colonies waited till 1752, but by that time the calendar trailed the seasons by 11 days. When America finally adjusted its calendar and the day after September 2 became September 14, there were riots. Another interesting event occurred on this day during Christopher Columbus' last voyage. Driven by storms around the Caribbean Sea, two of his ships were abandoned and the remaining two were worm-eaten and sinking. Columbus was shipwrecked on Jamaica. Indians brought food for a while, but then became hostile. Columbus predicted a lunar eclipse on FEBRUARY 29, 1504, and the frightened Indians quickly made peace. Columbus wrote: "My hope in the One who created us all sustains me: He is an ever-present help in trouble."

What was the government in the United States before the U.S. Constitution was written? It was the Articles of Confederation, ratified by the States MARCH 1, 1781. Signed by such statesmen as Ben Franklin and Roger Sherman, it was an attempt to loosely knit the thirteen States together. The Articles of Confederation declared: "Whereas the delegates of the United States of America in Congress assembled did on the fifteenth day of November in the Year of Our Lord 1777, and in the second year of the independence of America agree on certain Articles of Confederation and perpetual union between the States...The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force...or attacks made upon them...on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense." The Articles end with the line: "It has 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."

The Alamo mission at San Antonio was in its 7th day of being assaulted by thousands of Santa Ana's troops. By the 13th day, Santa Ana's "take-no-prisoner" policy had all 189 defenders killed, including Jim Bowie and former U.S. Congressman Davy Crockett. The only Texas army left in the field was Col. James Fannin's. It departed Goliad to rescue the Alamo but was surrounded in open ground and captured. Santa Ana ordered all 350 prisoners executed. When the Mexican officer hesitated, Santa Ana sent another officer who carried out the order. Had Fannin's troops been left in prison, Texas would have been disheartened, but instead Santa Ana's cruelty aroused world outrage. The Texas Declaration of Independence, signed MARCH 2, 1836, stated: "General Antonio Lopez Santa Ana...demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essential to our defense-the rightful property of freemen-and formidable only to tyrannical governments...has, through its emissaries, incited the merciless savage, with the tomahawk and scalping knife, to massacre the inhabitants of our defenseless frontiers...We fearlessly...commit the issue to the...Supreme Arbiter of the destinies of nations."

"O thus be it ever when free men shall stand, Between their loved home and the war's desolation; Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land, Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us 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 Over the land of the free and the home of the brave!" This 4th verse of the National Anthem inspired Congress, MARCH 3, 1865, to place the motto on the nation's coins. House Speaker Schuyler Colfax noted: "The last act of Congress ever signed by President Lincoln was one requiring that the motto...'In God We Trust' should hereafter be inscribed upon all our national coin." Truman stated October 30, 1949: "When the U.S. was established...the motto was IN GOD WE TRUST. That is still our motto and we still place our firm trust in God." JFK stated February 9, 1961: "The guiding principle of this Nation has been, is now, and ever shall be IN GOD WE TRUST." Reagan stated March 19, 1981: "Our Nation's motto...reflects a basic recognition that there is a divine authority in the universe to which this nation owes homage."

Until 1937, MARCH 4th was Inauguration Day. Each President acknowledged faith upon assuming office, for example, John Adams in 1797 gave: "Veneration for the religion of a people who profess and call themselves Christians...to consider a decent respect for Christianity among the best recommendations for the public service." In 1809, James Madison referred to the: "Guidance of that Almighty Being." John Quincy Adams stated in 1825: "'Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain.'" In 1841, William Harrison said: "I deem the present occasion sufficiently important...in expressing to my fellow citizens a profound reverence for the Christian religion." Franklin Pierce, in 1853, stated: "There is no national security but in the nation's humble, acknowledged dependence upon God." President James Buchanan, 1857, said: "Cultivate peace...with all nations...in a spirit of Christian benevolence." In 1861, Abraham Lincoln wrote: "Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty." President Calvin Coolidge said in 1925: "America...cherishes no purpose save to merit the favor of Almighty God."

Colonists were forced to house British soldiers. On MARCH 5, 1770, a crowd protested and in the confusion British soldiers fired, killing five, one being Crispus Attucks, the most famous African America who participated in the Revolution. Paul Revere's popular engraving of the Boston Massacre fanned flames of anti-British sentiment. Joseph Warren, the President of the Massachusetts Congress who sent Paul Revere on his midnight ride, stated on the 2nd anniversary of the Massacre, 1772: "If you perform your part, you must have the strongest confidence that the same Almighty Being who protected your pious and venerable forefathers...will still be mindful of you...May our land be a land of liberty...until the last shock of time shall bury the empires of the world in one common undistinguishable ruin!" John Hancock, first to sign the Declaration of Independence, stated on the 4th anniversary of the Boston Massacre, 1774: "Let us play the man for our GOD, and for the cities of our GOD...By a faithful discharge of our duty to our country, let us joyfully leave her important concerns in the hands of HIM who raiseth up and putteth down empires and kingdoms of the world as HE pleases."

MARCH 6, 1776, General Washington ordered: "Thursday...being set apart by the Legislature of this Province as a day of fasting, prayer and humiliation, 'to implore the Lord and Giver of all victory to pardon our manifold sins and wickedness, and that it would please Him to bless the Continental army with His divine favor and protection,' all officers and soldiers are strictly enjoined to pay all due reverence on that day to the sacred duties of the Lord of hosts." Colonel Henry Knox moved 59 cannons from Fort Ticonderoga 300 hundred miles to a position overlooking Boston Harbor, wrapping wagon wheels with straw so the British would not hear. Amidst a violent storm, British General Howe was forced on March 17, to evacuate his ships and 3,000 men from Boston. General Washington wrote his brother, John Augustine Washington, March 31, 1776: "Upon their discovery of the works next morning, great preparations were made for attacking them; but not being ready before the afternoon, and the weather getting very tempestuous, much blood was saved, and a very important blow...was prevented. That this most remarkable Interposition of Providence is for some wise purpose, I have not a doubt."

On MARCH 7, 1774, the British passed the Boston Port Act, closing the harbor to all commerce to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party. Surrounding towns rallied by sending food. William Prescott, commander at Bunker Hill, wrote: "Providence has placed you where you must stand the first shock...If we submit to these regulations, all is gone." Prescott continued: "Our forefathers passed the vast Atlantic, spent their blood and treasure, that they might enjoy their liberties, both civil and religious, and transmit them to their posterity...Now if we should give them up, can our children rise up and call us blessed?" Upon hearing of the Boston Port Act, the Virginia House of Burgesses stated May 24, 1774: "This House, being deeply impressed with apprehension...from the hostile invasion of the city of Boston in our Sister Colony of Massachusetts Bay, whose commerce and harbor are, on the first day of June next, to be stopped by an armed force, deem it highly necessary that the said first day of June be set apart, by the members of this House, as a Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, devoutly to implore the Divine interposition, for averting the heavy calamity which threatens destruction to our civil rights."

The three-masted frigate USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned ship in the world still afloat. It fought the Muslim Barbary Pirates of North Africa in 1803, sailed against the British in the War of 1812, and caught slave traders off the coast of Africa in the 1850's. The U.S.S. Constitution was saved from being broken into scrape by a poem titled "Old Ironsides," written by Oliver Wendell Holmes. "Her deck, once red with heroes' blood, Where knelt the vanquished foe, When winds were hurrying o'er the flood, And waves were white below..." Holmes' son, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., was born MARCH 8, 1841. A graduate of Harvard, he fought in the Civil War, edited the American Law Review and was a Harvard Law professor before becoming Chief Justice of Massachusetts' Supreme Court. In 1902, Theodore Roosevelt appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court. Known as "The Great Dissenter" for of his unconventional opinions, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., served over 30 years, to a more advanced age than any other Justice. He replied to a reporter, on his 90th birthday, MARCH 8, 1931: "Young man, the secret of my success is that at an early age I discovered I was not God."

The Confederate iron-plated ship Merrimac destroyed two Union boats during the Civil War. The Union responded with the ironclad Monitor. Dedicating a statue to the Monitor's designer, May 29, 1926, President Calvin Coolidge stated: "When the ironclad Merrimac went out on the morning of MARCH 9, 1862, to complete its work of destruction it was at once surprised by this new naval innovation...After a battle lasting four hours in which the Monitor suffered no material damage...the Merrimac...badly crippled, withdrew, never to venture out again...The London Times stated that the day before this battle England had 149 first-class warships. The day after she had but two, and they were iron-plated only amidships. Naval warfare had been revolutionized." When offered payment in 1882, John Ericsson replied: "Nothing could induce me to accept any remuneration for the Monitor...it was my contribution to the glorious Union cause...which freed 4 million bondsmen." John Ericsson wrote to President Lincoln: "Attachment to the Union alone impels me to offer my services at this frightful crisis -my life if need be- in the great cause which Providence has caused you to defend."

26-year-old William Penn received from King Charles II the charter to Pennsylvania on MARCH 10, 1681, as repayment of a debt owed to his deceased father Admiral Sir William Penn, who captured Jamaica and defeated the Dutch navy. A student at Oxford, William Penn was expelled for having his own prayer services in his dorm room instead of attending the Anglican chapel. He converted to Quakerism and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. His colony was a "holy experiment" for persecuted Europeans, one of the few original colonies to accept Mennonites, Amish, Catholics and Jews. Emphasizing his plan of Christian tolerance, he named the city "Philadelphia," Greek for "Brotherly Love." History records that since William Penn insisted on treating the Delaware Indians honestly, paying a fair sum for the land, Philadelphia was spared the Indian attacks and scalpings that other colonial settlements experienced. Before arriving, Penn wrote to the Delaware chiefs: "My Friends, There is one...God...and He hath made...the king of the country where I live, give...unto me a great province therein, but I desire to enjoy it with your...consent, that we may always live together as...friends."

Ben Franklin was the first president of the first anti-slavery society in the United States. Richard Bassett, a Signer of the Constitution, converted to Methodism, freed all his slaves and paid them as hired labor. John Quincy Adams fought to end slavery by removing Congress' Gag Rule. But it was Senator Charles Sumner's vehement stand against slavery that resulted in enraged Congressman Preston S. Brooks of South Carolina violently beating him on the head with a cane while he was seated at his desk on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Charles Sumner died MARCH 11, 1874, having never fully recovered from those injuries. A founder of the Republican Party, Sumner served as a Senator from Massachusetts for 23 years. He stated: "Familiarity with that great story of redemption, when God raised up the slave-born Moses to deliver His chosen people from bondage, and with that sublimer story where our Saviour died a cruel death that all men, without distinction of race, might be saved, makes slavery impossible." Charles Sumner continued: "There is no reason for renouncing Christianity, or for surrendering to the false religions; nor do I doubt that Christianity will yet prevail over the earth as the waters cover the sea."

Juliette Low began the Girls Scouts, MARCH 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia. Chronic ear infections as a child made one ear deaf. A grain of rice thrown at her wedding lodged in her other ear, which was punctured by the procedure to remove it. Her father, a U.S. Army General, was previously a Civil War Confederate captain. In the Spanish-American War, Juliette and her mother organized a convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers returning from Cuba. After her husband's death in 1905, Juliette traveled to England where in 1911 she met Boar War hero Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts. They were engaged, but the wedding was cancelled. Returning to America, she founded Girl Guides. Dying of breast cancer in 1927, she was buried in her uniform. The Girl Scout oath was "On my honor, I will try: to do my duty to God and my country, to help other people at all times, to obey the Girl Scout laws." In 1995, Patti Garibay, a former Girl Scout leader, founded the family-friendly American Heritage Girls, serving thousands of girls with troops in 32 states. The American Heritage Girls' Oath is "I promise to love God, Cherish my family, Honor my country, and Serve in my community."

Susan B. Anthony, whose face is on a U.S. dollar coin, died MARCH 13, 1906. Raised a Quaker, her father owned a cotton mill and refused to buy cotton from farmers who owned slaves. Her religious upbringing instilled in her the concept that every one is equal before God and motivated her to crusade for freedom for slaves and a woman's right to vote. Opposing liquor, drunkenness and abortion, she encountered mobs, armed threats, objects thrown at her and was hung in effigy. After the Civil War, Susan B. Anthony worked hard for the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. She succeeded in having women admitted to the University of Rochester and was arrested for voting in the 1872 Presidential Election. Fourteen years after her death, women won the right to vote. "I deplore the horrible crime of child-murder," wrote Susan B. Anthony in The Revolution (July 1869), "No matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed. It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death; but oh! Thrice guilty is he who...drove her to the desperation which impels her to the crime."

Born in Germany MARCH 14, 1879, he began teaching himself calculus at age 14. With a doctorate from the University of Zurich, he wrote papers on electromagnetic energy, relativity, and statistical mechanics. He predicted a ray of light from a distant star would appear to bend as it passed near the Sun. When an eclipse confirmed this, the London Times headline ran November 7, 1919, "Revolution in science-New theory of the Universe-Newtonian ideas overthrown." This was Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein. His first visit to the U.S. was to raise funds for Jerusalem's Hebrew University. On his 3rd visit, 1932, Albert Einstein took a post at Princeton. When Nazis took over Germany, he stayed in the U.S., becoming a citizen in 1940. Einstein's theory of relativity is the basis for applying atomic energy. Einstein's warning that Nazis could create an atom bomb led FDR to set up the Manhattan Project. Three years before he died, he was asked to be Israel's 2nd President, but declined due to age. The periodic table's 99th element, discovered shortly after his death in 1955, was named "einsteinium". Princeton University's Fine Hall has inscribed Einstein's words: "God is clever, but not dishonest."

On MARCH 15, 1984, the Senate voted down voluntary prayer in public schools. President Reagan said: "I am deeply disappointed that, although a majority of the Senate voted for it, the school prayer amendment fell short." On September 25, 1982, Ronald Reagan said: "Unfortunately, in the last two decades we've experienced an onslaught of such twisted logic that if Alice were visiting America, she might think she'd never left Wonderland. We're told that it somehow violates the rights of others to permit students in school who desire to pray to do so. Clearly this infringes on the freedom of those who choose to pray, the freedom taken for granted since the time of our Founding Fathers...To prevent those who believe in God from expressing their faith is an outrage...The relentless drive to eliminate God from our schools...should be stopped." Ronald Reagan said February 25, 1984: "Sometimes I can't help but feel the First Amendment is being turned on its head." Reagan told the Alabama Legislature, March 15, 1982: "The First Amendment was not written to protect the people of this country from religious values; it was written to protect religious values from government tyranny."

Called the "Chief Architect of the Constitution," he wrote many of the Federalist Papers, which helped convince States to ratify the Constitution. He introduced the First Amendment in the first session of Congress. This was James Madison, born MARCH 16, 1751. During the War of 1812, he proclaimed two National Days of Prayer, 1812 and 1813. When the British marched on Washington, D.C., citizens evacuated, along with President and Dolly Madison. As the British burned the Capitol, White House, and public buildings, August 25, 1814, dark clouds rolled in and a tornado sent debris flying, blew off roofs and knocked over chimneys on the British. Two cannons lifted off the ground and dropped yards away. A British historian wrote "More British soldiers were killed by this stroke of nature than from all the firearms the American troops had mustered." British fled the city and rains extinguished the fires. Madison then proclaimed a National Day of Public Humiliation, Fasting & Prayer to Almighty God, November 16, 1814. Two weeks after the War ended, Madison proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving & Devout Acknowledgement to Almighty God, March 4, 1815.

MARCH 17, around 461 AD, St. Patrick died. As a teenager, the Roman Legions guarding his community in Britain were withdrawn to defend Rome from invading tribes such as the Huns. Unprotected, Britain was attacked by raiders, who carried away thousands. Patrick was captured and sold as a slave in Ireland, which was ruled by the Druids, who practiced human sacrifice. For six years Patrick herded animals until he escaped. In his forties he had a dream calling him back to Ireland. In his Confession, he wrote: "In the depth of the night, I saw a man named Victoricus coming as if from Ireland, with innumerable letters, and he gave me one and while I was reading I thought I heard the voice of those near the western sea call out: 'Please, holy boy, come and walk among us again.' Their cry pierced my very heart, and I could read no more, and so I awoke." Patrick returned to Ireland, confronted the Druids, converted Chieftains, and used the three-leaf clover to teach the Trinity. Baptizing 120,000 and founding 300 churches, he wrote: "Patrick the sinner, an unlearned man to be sure. None should ever say that it was my ignorance that accomplished any small thing, it was the gift of God."

70-years-old, he visited his friend William Worth one evening, ate some milk and bread, read out loud from the Bible, laid down on the floor to sleep and never woke up. This was how John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, died on MARCH 18, 1845. His father, Nathaniel, was a Minuteman who fought the British at Concord in 1775. Johnny Appleseed collected apple seeds from cider presses in western Pennsylvania and planted nurseries from the Alleghenies to central Ohio, giving thousands of seedlings to pioneers. He lived at harmony with Indians, bringing them medicinal plants. During the War of 1812, he heard the British had incited an Indians attack, so he ran 30 miles from Mansfield to Mount Vernon, Ohio, to warn settlers. Bare foot, wearing a mush pan over his eccentric long hair and an old coffee sack over his shoulders, Johnny had a unique devotion to nature and the Bible, calling an apple blossom a "living sermon from God" and often quoting the Sermon on the Mount. Poet William Henry Venable wrote: "Remember Johnny Appleseed-All ye who love the apple-He served his kind by word and deed-In God's grand greenwood chapel."

When Shakespeare was 26-years-old, William Bradford was born, MARCH 19, 1590. At age 17, Bradford fled for Holland with persecuted Pilgrims. At age 30 he sailed with them to America. He was chosen governor in 1621 and reelected 30 times till his death. In his History of the Plymouth Plantation, 1650, William Bradford wrote: "Since ye first breaking out of ye lighte of ye gospell in our Honourable Nation of England...what warrs and opposissions...Satan hath raised...against the Saints...by bloody death and cruell torments... imprisonments, banishments...What could now sustaine them but ye spirite of God and His grace?...Ought not the children of these fathers rightly say: Our fathers...came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto ye Lord, and He heard their voyce." William Bradford continued: "All great and honourable actions are accompanied with great difficulties...Out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing...and, as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise."

Sir Isaac Newton died MARCH 20, 1727. With his mother widowed twice, he had been raised by his grandmother before being sent off to grammar school and later Cambridge. He discovered calculus, the laws of gravity and built the first reflecting telescope. Using a prism, he demonstrated that a beam of light contained all the colors of the rainbow. President of the Royal Society from 1703 till his death, Sir Isaac Newton wrote in Principia, 1687: "This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent Being...All variety of created objects which represent order and life in the universe could happen only by the willful reasoning of its original Creator, whom I call the Lord God." In Optics, 1704, Newton wrote: "God in the beginning formed matter." Regarding the Bible, Newton wrote: "The system of revealed truth which this Book contains is like that of the universe, concealed from common observation yet the labors of the centuries have established its Divine origin." In A Short Scheme of the True Religion, Sir Isaac Newton wrote: "Atheism is so senseless and odious to mankind that it never had many professors."

Johann Sebastian Bach was born MARCH 21, 1685. By age 10 his parents had died. At 18 he was a church organist, followed by positions in royal courts. Once he was imprisoned because a duke did not want him employed elsewhere. Widowed with 7 children, he remarried and had 13 more. Considered the "master of masters," his works include "Passion According to St. Matthew," and "Jesus, Meine Freude" (Jesus, My Joy!). Bach stated: "The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul. If heed is not paid to this, it is not true music but a diabolical bawling and twanging." On February 22, 1990, President George H.W. Bush stated: "The Bible has had a critical impact upon the development of Western civilization. Western literature, art, and music are filled with images and ideas that can be traced to its pages." Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson wrote in McCollum v. Board of Education, 1948: "It would not seem practical to teach either practice or appreciation of the arts if we are to forbid exposure of youth to any religious influences. Music without sacred music would be incomplete, even from a secular point of view."

On MARCH 22, 1758, Princeton University President Jonathan Edwards died as a result of a smallpox inoculation. A Yale graduate, being valedictorian of his class, Jonathan Edwards' preaching helped begin the Great Awakening, a revival of such proportions that history credits it with uniting the colonies prior to the Revolution. Of this awakening, Benjamin Franklin wrote: "It was wonderful to see...From being thoughtless or indifferent...it seemed as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in...every street." Edwards' grandson was Yale President Timothy Dwight, who wrote July 4, 1798: "Voltaire...formed a systematical design to destroy Christianity and to introduce...atheism." Dwight continued: "The fabrication of books of all kinds against Christianity, especially such as excite doubt...written as to catch the feelings, and steal upon the approbation, of every class of men...Books were formed, altered, forged, imputed as posthumous to deceased writers of reputation, and sent abroad with the weight of their names. These were printed and circulated at the lowest price through all classes of men in an uninterrupted succession."

Britain imposed the 1764 Currency Act, 1764 Sugar Act, 1765 Stamp Act, 1765 Quartering Act, 1766 Declaratory Act, 1767 Townshend Act, 1773 Tea Act, 1774 Boston Port Act, 1774 Justice Act, 1774 Massachusetts Government Act, 1774 Quartering Act, 1774 Quebec Act, and 1775 Proclamation of Rebellion. On MARCH 23, 1775, Patrick Henry spoke to the 2nd Virginia Convention, meeting at Richmond's St. John's Church due to British hostilities: "I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery...We have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated...We have prostrated ourselves before the throne...Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence." Patrick Henry continued: "There is a just God who presides over the destines of nations...who will raise up friends to fight our battle for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave...Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death."

William Jay, son of the First Supreme Court Chief Justice, helped found New York City's Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. His son, John Jay, was manager of New York Young Men's Anti-Slavery Society in 1834. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story helped establish the illegality of the slave trade in the 1844 Amistad case. Salmon P. Chase, appointed Chief Justice by Lincoln, defended so many escaped slaves in his career he was nicknamed "Attorney-General of Fugitive Slaves." Cassius Marcellus Clay, diplomat to Russia for Lincoln and Grant, founded the anti-slavery journal True American in 1845 and helped found the Republican party in 1854. Rufus King, born MARCH 24, 1755, was one of the youngest signers of the U.S. Constitution, only 32 years old. A Harvard graduate, Rufus was an aide to General Sullivan during the Revolutionary War. He later served as U.S. Minister to England and was a Senator from New York. In a speech made before the Senate at the time Missouri was petitioning for statehood, Rufus King stated: "I hold that all laws or compacts imposing any such condition as slavery upon any human being are absolutely void because they are contrary to the law of nature, which is the law of God."

"Old Hickory." During the Revolution, young Andrew Jackson refused to polish the boots of a British officer and was slashed on the arm with a sword and jailed. His mother died of prison fever while caring for captured American soldiers. Jackson carried a bullet in his body from a duel defending his wife's honor. In the War of 1812, General Jackson defeated over 2,000 British in the Battle of New Orleans. In January of 1835, President Andrew Jackson survived an assassination attempt when a bearded man fired two pistols at him at point blank range. On MARCH 25, 1835, Andrew Jackson wrote in a letter: "I was brought up a rigid Presbyterian, to which I have always adhered. Our excellent Constitution guarantees to every one freedom of religion, and charity tells us (and you know Charity is the real basis of all true religion)...judge the tree by its fruit. All who profess Christianity believe in a Saviour, and that by and through Him we must be saved." Andrew Jackson concluded: "We ought, therefore, to consider all good Christians whose walks correspond with their professions, be they Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist or Roman Catholic."

Richard Allen was born to slave parents in Philadelphia and sold with his family to a plantation in Dover, Delaware. With the permission of his master, he began attending the Methodist meetings and learned to read and write. Richard Allen was converted at age 16 and is said to have worked harder to prove that Christianity did not make slaves worse servants. He then invited a minister to visit and preach to his master, resulting in his master's conversion after hearing that on the Day of Judgment slaveholders would be "weighed in the balance and found wanting." His repentant master made arrangements for Richard, now 26, to become free. Richard Allen became a licensed exhorter and founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Their first church building was dedicated in 1794 by America's first Methodist Bishop, the circuit-riding preacher Francis Asbury. Richard Allen stated: "This land, which we have watered with our tears and our blood, is now our mother country, and we are well satisfied to stay where wisdom abounds and Gospel is free." By the time of Richard Allen's death, MARCH 26, 1831, the African Methodist Episcopal Church had grown to over 10,000 members.

President John Adams' son, John Quincy Adams, was U.S. Minister to Russia. In September 1811, John Quincy Adams wrote from St. Petersburg to his son, Charles: "My dear Son...You mentioned that you read to your aunt a chapter in the Bible...every evening." John Quincy Adams continued: "This information gave me real pleasure; for so great is my veneration for the Bible, and so strong my belief, that when duly read and meditated on, it is of all books in the world, that which contributes most to make men good, wise, and happy-that the earlier my children begin to read it...the more lively and confident will be my hopes that they will prove useful citizens of their country." This correspondence was published after his death as "Letters of John Quincy Adams to his son, on the Bible and its Teachings." President John Quincy Adams' grandson, Henry Adams, was an American historian, writing from his unique perspective the 9-volume work "History of the United States." Henry Adams, who died MARCH 27, 1918, wrote: "The Pilgrims of Plymouth, the Puritans of Boston, the Quakers of Pennsylvania, all avowed a moral purpose, and began by making institutions that consciously reflected a moral idea."

On MARCH 28, 1885, the Salvation Army was organized in the United States. It was begun in England by "General" William Booth in 1865, who conducted meetings among the poor in London's East End slums. Originally named the Christian Mission, he designed uniforms and adopted a semi-military system of leadership. On December 1, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson remarked to the Salvation Army in New York: "For a century now, the Salvation Army has offered food to the hungry and shelter to the homeless-in clinics and children's homes, through disaster relief, in prison and welfare work, and a thousand other endeavors. In that century you have proved time and again the power of a handshake, a meal, and a song. But you have not stopped there. You have demonstrated also the power of a great idea." President Lyndon Johnson continued: "The voice of the Salvation Army has reminded men that physical well-being is just not enough; that spiritual rebirth is the most pressing need of our time and of every time; that the world cannot be changed unless men change. That voice has been clear and courageous-and it has been heard. Even when other armies have disbanded, I hope that this one will still be on the firing line."

Tenth President John Tyler was born MARCH 29, 1790. He was the first Vice-President ever to assume the Presidency when William Henry Harrison died after only one month in office. To mourn his death, President John Tyler's first act was to proclaim a National Day of Fasting and Prayer, in which he stated: "When a Christian people feel themselves to be overtaken by a great public calamity, it becomes them to humble themselves under the dispensation of Divine Providence, to recognize His righteous government over the children of men...and to supplicate His merciful protection for the future." In his 2nd Annual Message to Congress, December 6, 1842, President Tyler stated: "The schoolmaster and the missionary are found side by side." In his 4th Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1844, President Tyler stated: "The guaranty of religious freedom, of the freedom of the press, of the liberty of speech, of the trial by jury, of the habeas corpus...will be enjoyed by millions yet unborn....Our prayers should evermore be offered up to the Father of the Universe for His wisdom to direct us in the path of our duty so as to enable us to consummate these high purposes."

During the Civil War, after issuing his Emancipation Proclamation, President Abraham Lincoln set a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer, MARCH 30, 1863, stating: "It is the duty of nations...to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins...with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy...The awful calamity of civil war...may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins." Lincoln continued: "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven...We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own." Lincoln concluded: "Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray for...forgiveness."

Henry Opukahai'a was an orphan raised by his uncle to be a pagan priest but he became disillusioned with rituals and chants and left Hawaii for New England with a friend, Thomas Hopu. They were befriended by Yale students and became the first Hawaiian Christians. Henry studied Greek and Hebrew and translated parts of the Bible. In his memoirs, which sold 500,000 copies after his death in 1818, Henry Opukahai'a wrote: "My poor countrymen, without knowledge of the true God, and ignorant of the future world, have no Bible to read, no Sabbath." This inspired Thomas Hopu and Hiram Bingham to be the first missionaries to Hawaii, arriving MARCH 31, 1820. Devising a 12-letter alphabet, they translated the Bible, set up a school, a church, a newspaper and convinced women to wear dresses. Idolatry and human sacrifice had previously been ended by King Kamehameha II and his Queen mother Ka'ahumanu. Just prior to her death, Queen Ka'ahumanu, who had helped spread the Gospel in the islands, was presented with the newly completed version of the New Testament in the Hawaiian language. Her last words were: "I am going where the mansions are ready."

Hello Pastor Roger,

Brother, I just wanted to thank you again. These are great, and I plan to send copies to my kids. I hope that many are proud to claim a Christian heritage - I am. I also hope that most Christian parents know that these things ARE NOT taught in school these days. Things like this have been removed from school texts.

I think that it's important to know about our Christian way of life, not forget it, and maintain our Christian way of life. After all, this is part of our living testimony for CHRIST, and it's nothing to be ashamed of. If someone doesn't like me teaching my kids and grandkids the things of the LORD and our Christian heritage, it's too bad and none of their business. For those who want to poke fun, it's also an opportunity to witness.

Love In Christ,
Tom

You're most welcome. I have enjoyed reading them as i post them myself. It is indeed great material for teaching our young ones. I am using them extensively, including the ones that you have posted here.

60,000 U.S. troops landed on the Island of Okinawa, APRIL 1, 1945, in the largest amphibious attack by the U.S. in the Pacific war. 12,000 Americans died, 36,000 were wounded and 400 ships were sunk or damaged. Though Japan's casualties exceeded 100,000, their kamikaze suicide attacks grew more intense, not relenting until the bombing of Hiroshima. The U.S. entered the war after President Roosevelt addressed Congress, December 8, 1941: "The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage...lives have been lost...ships have been reported torpedoed between San Francisco and Honolulu...the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya...Hong Kong... Guam...Philippine Islands... Wake Island...and Midway Island." FDR stated January 6, 1942: "Japan's...conquest goes back half a century...war against China in 1894...occupation of Korea...war against Russia in 1904...fortification of the mandated Pacific islands following 1920...seizure of Manchuria in 1931...invasion of China in 1937." President Roosevelt continued "Our enemies are guided...by unholy contempt for the human race...We are fighting...to uphold the doctrine that all men are equal in the sight of God."

The world of communication was revolutionized by a man who died APRIL 2, 1872. His name was Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph and the Morse Code. An outstanding portrait artist in his own right, founding the National Academy of Design, Morse erected the first telegraph lines between Baltimore and the U.S. Supreme Court chamber in Washington, D.C. The first message over this new communication system, sent in 1844, was only four words, a verse from the Bible, Numbers 23:23: "What hath God Wrought!" Samuel F.B. Morse graduated in 1810 from Yale College, having studied under President Timothy Dwight, who stated in 1798: "Without religion we may possibly retain the freedom of savages, bears, and wolves, but not the freedom of New England." Timothy Dwight continued "If our religion were gone, our state of society would perish...Nothing would be left which would be worth defending." Four years before his death, Samuel F.B. Morse wrote: "The nearer I approach to the end of my pilgrimage, the clearer is the evidence of the divine origin of the Bible, the grandeur and sublimity of God's remedy for fallen man are more appreciated, and the future is illumined with hope and joy."

"A Man Without a Country" was a classic book written by Edward Everett Hale, born APRIL 3, 1822. It was partially based on the life of Aaron Burr, the 3rd Vice President, who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel and was indicted for treason. Edward Everett Hale was the son of the editor of the Boston Daily Advertiser and grandnephew of Revolutionary hero Nathan Hale. Edward Everett Hale entered Harvard at age 13 and later taught at the Boston Latin School. He published over 50 books, opposed slavery and pastored Boston's South Congregational Church for 45 years. In 1903 he became Chaplain of the United States Senate. Edward Everett Hale wrote: "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I should do and, with the help of God, I will do." Near the end of the book, "A Man Without a Country," 1863, Hale wrote: "He could not stand it...he beckoned me down into our boat...'Youngster, let that show you what it is to be without a family, without a home, and without a country. And if you are ever tempted...to...put a bar between you and your family, your home, and your country, pray God in his mercy to take you that instant home to his own heaven.'"

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated APRIL 4, 1968. Pastor of Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, he rose to national prominence through the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Awarded the Nobel Prize in 1964, Congress set aside his birthday as a National Holiday. Rev. King said August 28, 1963: "Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children...Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity...We must not allow our...protest to degenerate into physical violence...We cannot walk alone." Rev. King continued: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.' I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood." Martin Luther King finished: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Born in a slave hut APRIL 5, 1856, was Booker T. Washington. In dire poverty after the Civil War, he moved to West Virginia to work in a salt furnace and coal mine. At age 16 he walked 500 miles to attend Hampton Institute. He taught in West Virginia until he founded Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where he recruited George Washington Carver as a professor. At his death, the school had 1,500 students and a faculty of 200 teaching 38 trades. The first African American to have his image on a U.S. coin and postage stamp, Booker T. Washington wrote in Up From Slavery, 1907: "If no other consideration had convinced me of the value of the Christian life, the Christlike work which the Church of all denominations in America has done during the last 35 years for the elevation of the black man would have made me a Christian." Of his speech in Atlanta, 1895, Booker T. Washington wrote: "The afternoon papers had forecasts of the next days' proceedings in flaring headlines...I did not sleep much that night...The next morning...I also kneeled down and asked God's blessing...I make it a rule never to go before an audience...without asking the blessing of God upon what I want to say."

APRIL 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I by declaring war on Germany. Within the next two years, America enlisted 4 million soldiers and spent 35 billion dollars, resulting in an Allied victory. In a Day of Prayer Proclamation, October 19, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson stated: "In view of the entrance of our nation into the vast and awful war which now afflicts the greater part of the world...I set apart...a day upon which our people should...offer concerted prayer to Almighty God for His divine aid in the success of our arms." On May 11, 1918, President Wilson wrote: "Whereas it has always been the reverent habit of the people of the United States to turn in humble appeal to Almighty God...Therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim...a day of public humiliation, prayer and fasting, and do exhort my fellow-citizens of all faiths and creeds to assemble on that day in their several places of worship...to pray Almighty God that He may forgive our sins...and purify our hearts...to accept and defend all things that are just and right...beseeching Him that He will give victory to our armies as they fight for freedom."

The "Greatest Show on Earth" was owned by P.T. Barnum, who died APRIL 7, 1891. Selling millions of tickets, his big draws were General Tom Thumb, a man only 25 inches tall, and elephant "Jumbo," whose name entered the dictionary. Barnum, who was received by President Lincoln and gave a command performance for Queen Victoria, stated: "Most persons, on the whole, are humbugged by believing too little, than by believing too much." The circus not open Sundays, Barnum let his New York Great Roman Hippodrome be used by Dwight L. Moody for evangelistic campaigns. When Barnum's show began traveling, Moody, with help from J.P. Morgan and Cornelius Vanderbilt, transformed the Hippodrome into a revival tabernacle. Services began February 7, 1876, with 7,000 people in the main hall, 4,000 in overflow, thousands outside, 500 ushers and 1,200 singers directed by Ira Sankey. Sunday attendance hit 25,000. It was perhaps Moody's most important campaign, for impacting New York impacted the nation. D.L. Moody said: "Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody; 40 years learning he was nobody; and 40 years discovering what God can do with a nobody."

Five-Star General Omar Bradley died APRIL 8, 1981. Born 1893, in a cabin near Clark, Missouri, he was a star player on his high school baseball team. He worked for Wabash Railroad, until his Sunday School superintendent recommended he apply to West Point. President Eisenhower said, April 29, 1954: "I thank General Bradley, my old comrade in arms, my classmate from West Point, my great associate in World War II." Bradley commanded the 2nd Army Corps in North Africa, was Senior Commander of U.S. Ground Forces for the invasion of France, and in August 1944 led the 12th Army Group in France and Germany, consisting of a million men in four armies. President Johnson stated, May 23, 1964: "General Bradley, you were the field commander of more American fighting troops than any commander in any era." Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, 1948-49, and first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1950, General Omar Bradley stated, November 11, 1948: "We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount...The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants."

The Civil War began on Wilmer McLean's farm in Manassas Junction, Virginia, with the First Battle of Bull Run. A Union shell exploded in his kitchen. He moved to get away from the conflict, yet almost four years later his new home near Appomattox Court House, Virginia, was the agreed location for General Robert E. Lee to surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant on APRIL 9, 1865. Ken Burn's documentary film of the Civil War stated that the war began in Wilmer McLean's front yard and ended in his front parlor. The War resulted in approximately 258,000 Confederate deaths and 360,000 Union deaths. General Lee took off his sword and handed it to General Grant, and Grant handed it back. The next day, General Lee issued his final order: "After four years of arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude...I have determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen. By the terms of the agreement, officers and men can return to their homes." Robert E. Lee concluded: "I earnestly pray that a merciful God will extend to you His blessing and protection."

Millions of people in 91 countries are helped by The Salvation Army, founded by William Booth, who was born APRIL 10, 1829. He began by ministering to the poor, drunk and outcast, and fought to end teenage prostitution in England. Awarded an honorary degree from Oxford, he traveled the United States, met President Theodore Roosevelt and opened a session of the United States Senate with prayer. Booth wrote: "While there is a drunkard left, while there is a lost girl upon the streets, where there remains one dark soul without the light of God-I'll fight! I'll fight to the very end." Years after his death, William Booth's daughter, Evangeline, became the new leader. President Franklin Roosevelt sent her a telegram, September 4, 1934: "Please accept my sincere congratulations on your election as General of the Salvation Army throughout the world. In these troubled times it is particularly important that the leadership of all good forces shall work for the amelioration of human suffering and for the preservation of the highest spiritual ideals." FDR concluded "Your efforts as Commander-in-Chief of the Salvation Army...have earned the gratitude and admiration of millions of your countrymen."

"Houston, we've had a problem" were the words sent from Apollo 13, which was launched for the moon APRIL 11, 1970. Mission control identified that an oxygen tank had exploded, irreparably damaging the craft. Special prayer services were held at the Chicago Board of Trade, at St. Peter's Basilica by the Pope, at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem and reported in The New York Times. Even the U.S. Senate adopted a resolution urging prayer. In sub-zero temperature, the crew pieced together an oxygen filter, jump-charged the command module batteries, and manually steered the ship to land in the ocean near a raging hurricane. On April 19, 1970, President Nixon spoke at Kawaiahao Church, the oldest Christian Church in Hawaii: "When we learned of the safe return of our astronauts, I asked that the Nation observe a National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving today...This event reminded us that in these days of growing materialism, deep down there is still a great religious faith in this Nation." Nixon concluded: "I think more people prayed last week than perhaps have prayed in many years in this country...We pray for the assistance of God when...faced with...great potential tragedy."

Less than two months after Lincoln was inaugurated President, the Civil War began APRIL 12, 1861, with Confederate troops in Charleston, South Carolina, firing upon Fort Sumter. The Confederate Army was unstoppable, twice winning battles at Bull Run, Virginia, just twenty miles from Washington, D.C., forcing the Union troops to retreat to the fortifications of the Capitol. It was not until the Battle of Gettysburg, over two years into the war, that the tide began to turn. President Lincoln confided: "I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." In his General Order, November 15, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln stated: "The President, Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the officers and men in the military and naval service. The importance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, a becoming deference to the best sentiment of a Christian people, and a due regard for the Divine Will demand that Sunday labor in the Army and Navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity."

He drafted the Declaration of Independence and was Governor of Virginia. As the 3rd U.S. President, he approved the Louisiana Purchase and had Lewis and Clark explore it. His name was Thomas Jefferson, born APRIL 13, 1743. Excerpts of his writings are inscribed on the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC: "God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever." In his Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, January 16, 1796, Jefferson wrote: "Almighty God hath created the mind free...All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments...tend only to begat habits of hypocrisy...and are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of religion, who being Lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in His Almighty power to do, but to extend it by its influence on reason alone." In his 2nd Inaugural, Jefferson wrote: "I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old."

Noah Webster first published his Dictionary on APRIL 14, 1828. This 26-year project with 30,000 new definitions, standardized spelling and gave American English its identity. Proving unprofitable, the rights to were purchased after his death by George and Charles Merriam. In the preface of his original edition, Noah Webster wrote: "In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed...No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people." Webster concluded: "To that great and benevolent Being...who has borne me and my manuscripts in safety across the Atlantic, and given me strength and resolution to bring the work to a close, I would present the tribute of my most grateful acknowledgments." Noah Webster's Dictionary defined "Property" as "The exclusive right of possessing, enjoying and disposing of a thing; ownership. In the beginning of the world, the Creator gave to man dominion over the earth...It is one of the greatest blessings of civil society that the property of citizens is well secured."

On APRIL 15, 1865, President Lincoln died. He was shot the night before in Ford's Theater. On APRIL 15, 1912, the Titanic sank. It struck an iceberg the night before. In 1954, APRIL 15 became the deadline for Income tax returns. Though the Constitution banned a Federal Income Tax (Art.1,Sec.9), Lincoln passed an emergency income tax to pay for the Civil War. It was repealed in 1872. An income tax was attempted in 1895, but the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in Pollock v Farmers' Loan. In 1913, with World War I threatening, Woodrow Wilson promoted the 16th Amendment, which was a 1 percent tax on the top 1 percent richest people. In 1942, with World War II, Franklin Roosevelt passed "the greatest tax bill in American history." John F. Kennedy stated April 20, 1961: "In meeting the demands of war finance, the individual income tax moved from a selective tax imposed on the wealthy to the means by which the great majority of our citizens participate in paying." In 1988, President Reagan said: "I believe God did give mankind unlimited gifts to invent, produce and create. And for that reason it would be wrong for governments to devise a tax structure that suppresses those gifts."

On APRIL 16, 1859, French historian Alexis de Tocqueville died. After nine months of traveling the United States, he wrote Democracy in America in 1835, which has been described as "the most comprehensive...analysis of character and society in America ever written." Alexis de Tocqueville wrote: "Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention...In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions. But in America I found they were intimately united." De Tocqueville continued: "The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other...They brought with them into the New World a form of Christianity which I cannot better describe than by styling it a democratic and republican religion." In Book Two of Democracy in America, de Tocqueville wrote: "Christianity has therefore retained a strong hold on the public mind in America...In the United States...Christianity itself is a fact so irresistibly established, that no one undertakes either to attack or to defend it."

On APRIL 17, 1790, the son of a poor candle-maker died. The 15th of 17 children, he apprenticed as a printer, and published a popular almanac. He retired at age 42, then taught himself five languages, invented the rocking chair, bifocal glasses, and the lighting rod, which earned him degrees from Harvard and Yale. He helped found the University of Pennsylvania, a hospital, America's first postal system and fire department. He became the governor of Pennsylvania, signed the Declaration of Independence and called for prayer at the Constitutional Convention. He was also president of America's first anti-slavery society. His name was Ben Franklin. In his Poor Richard's Almanac, May 1757, Ben Franklin wrote: "Work as if you were to live 100 years; pray as if you were to die tomorrow." In a pamphlet for Europeans titled "Information to Those Who Would Remove to America," 1754, Benjamin Franklin wrote: "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...pleased to favor the whole country."

William Brewster died APRIL 18, 1644. His position as a leader of the Pilgrim church in England led to his capture and imprisonment. Fleeing to Holland, he later sailed with the Pilgrims to America, signed the Mayflower Compact and was elected an elder. Governor William Bradford wrote of Brewster: "(In England) on the Lord's day they generally met at his house, which was a manor...and he entertained them with great kindness...providing for them at heavy expense to himself. He was the leader of those who were captured in Lincolnshire, suffering the greatest loss, and was one of the seven who were kept longest in prison and afterwards bound over to the assizes. After he came to Holland he suffered much hardship, having spent most of his means... Towards the latter part of those twelve years spent in Holland, his circumstances improved...for through his knowledge of Latin he was able to teach many foreign students English." Bradford continued to say of William Brewster: "He labored in the fields as long as he was able; yet when the church had no other minister he taught twice every Sabbath, and that both powerfully and profitably, to the great edification and comfort of his hearers, many being brought to God by his ministry."

Paul Revere was captured along the way, but William Dawes and Samuel Prescott continued the midnight ride from Boston's Old North Church to warn the inhabitants of Concord that British troops were coming to seize their guns. In early dawn, APRIL 19, 1775, American "Minutemen," as poet Emerson wrote, fired the "shot heard round the world" by confronting the British on Lexington Green and at Concord's Old North Bridge. The conflict began that in eight years would end in independence. New England celebrates this as "Patriots' Day." Also on APRIL 19, in the year 1951, General Douglas MacArthur retired from 48 years of patriotic service. The most decorated soldier in U.S. history, he served in France in WWI, was Superintendent of West Point and the youngest Army Chief of Staff. He was Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific in WWII and received Japan's surrender. He commanded UN forces against North Korea, but was dismissed by President Truman for not fighting a limited war. Douglas MacArthur said: "Like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who has tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty."

His interpreter, Moses Tinda Tautamy, helped him minister to Indians along the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers, camping at night. Born APRIL 20, 1718, David Brainerd wrote in his Journal: "FORKS OF DELAWARE, Pennsylvania, Lord's day, July 21, 1745. Preached to the Indians...Divine truth seemed to make very considerable impressions and caused the tears to flow freely. Afterwards I baptized my interpreter and his wife, who were the first I baptized among the Indians...Though before he had been a hard drinker...it is now more than six months since he experienced this change; in which space of time he has been exposed to strong drink in places where it has been moving free as water; yet has never desired after it...He discourses feelingly of the conflicts and consolations of a real Christian." David Brainerd contracted tuberculosis and was nursed at the home of Princeton president Jonathan Edwards. Dying at age 29, his diary inspired millions, including John Wesley, William Carey and Oswald J. Smith. David Brainerd wrote: "Oh, how precious is time, and how it pains me to see it slide away, while I do so little to any good purpose. Oh, that God would make me more fruitful."

"Mark Twain," a river measurement meaning "12-feet-deep," was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, who died APRIL 21, 1910. Growing up on the Mississippi, he left school at age 12 when his father died, became a printer's apprentice, then piloted steamboats till the War between the States suspended river traffic. Clemens joined the Confederates, but after 2 weeks got discharged to work for his brother Orion, who was secretary to Nevada's Governor. After an attempt at mining, he became a reporter in Virginia City, Nevada, using the name "Mark Twain" for the first time. He moved to San Francisco, sailed the world, then married Olivia Langdon. His attempt at publishing failed and he paid off debts by lecturing across America. Mark Twain wrote: Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, Prince and the Pauper, Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court, and Joan of Arc. His later success was unfortunately offset by nearly all his family dying before him. He talked Ulysses S. Grant into writing his Civil War memoirs. Answering Bible skeptics, Mark Twain said: "If the Ten Commandments were not written by Moses, then they were written by another fellow of the same name."

A gunshot at high noon on APRIL 22, 1889, began the famous Oklahoma land rush. Within 9 hours some two million acres became the private property of settlers who staked their claims. Riding as fast as they could, many found desirable plots already taken by "Sooners," individuals who entered the territory sooner than was permitted. The remaining land was assigned to the various Indian tribes, who joined together in approving the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma in 1907. The Preamble begins: "Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessing of liberty; to secure just and rightful government; to promote our mutual welfare and happiness, we, the people of the State of Oklahoma, do ordain and establish this Constitution." Cherokee Will Rogers, who was an actor, cowboy philosopher and offered the nomination for Oklahoma Governor, said: "The Lord constituted everybody that no matter what color you are, you require the same amount of nourishment." Will Rogers remarked "Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip." Rogers quipped "The trouble with our praying is, we just do it as a means of last resort," and "Lord, let me live until I die."

William Shakespeare was born APRIL 23, 1564. His 37 plays impacted world literature. He married Ann Hathaway, had three children, moved to London, and became shareholding director of Globe Theater, writing such classics as Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. In King Henry VIII, 1613, act III, scene ii, line 456, Shakespeare wrote: "Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my king, he would not in mine age have left me naked to mine enemies." In Othello, 1604, act I, scene i, line 108, Shakespeare wrote: "You are one of those that will not serve God if the devil bid you." Four years before the Pilgrims landed in America at Plymouth Rock, Shakespeare died on this same day, APRIL 23, in 1616. In his Will, Shakespeare wrote: "I commend my soul into the hands of God, my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, through the only merits of Jesus Christ, my Saviour, to be made partaker of life everlasting." Carved on his tomb in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-on-Avon, England, is: "Good Friend For Jesus Sake Forbeare, To Digg The Dust Enclosed Heare. Blese Be Ye Man Spares Thes Stones, And Curst Be He Moves My Bones."

Originally for legislators to do research, it began APRIL 24, 1800, with a $5,000 grant from Congress. The British set fire to it during the War of 1812, burning hundreds books. Thomas Jefferson provided over 6,400 volumes to restock it. The Library of Congress relocated to its present site in 1897, and is now the largest library in the world with over 118 million items on more than 500 miles of shelves. The Library of Congress's Rare Book Division has 1,470 Bibles dating from the beginning of printing, including one of three existing copies of the original 15th Century Gutenberg Bible on vellum. Inscribed on the walls of the Library are the verses: "The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not" (John 1:5); "Wisdom is the principal thing therefore get wisdom and withall thy getting, get understanding" (Proverbs 4:7); "What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with thy God" (Micah 6:8); "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handywork (Psalm 19:1). Also inscribed in the Library is Alfred, Lord Tennyson's line "One God, one law, one element, and one far-off divine event, to which the whole creation moves."

Beginning APRIL 25, 1789, every session of the U.S. Senate has opened with prayer. This continued the Continental Congress' practice during the Revolution, as Franklin remarked in 1787: "In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection." The first Senate Chaplain was Bishop Samuel Provoost, who conducted George Washington's Inaugural Service at St. Paul's Chapel. All 62 Senate Chaplains have been Christian, though leaders of other faiths have periodically been invited to offer prayer. The U.S. Senate Chaplain after World War II was Peter Marshall, who prayed: "Our liberty is under God and can be found nowhere else. May our faith be not merely stamped upon our coins, but expressed in our lives." On February 7, 1984, President Reagan addressed the National Association of Secondary School Principals: "God...should never have been expelled from America's schools. As we struggle to teach our children...we dare not forget that our civilization was built by men and women who placed their faith in a loving God. If Congress can begin each day with a moment of prayer...so then can our sons and daughters."

English settlers landed in North America on APRIL 26, 1607, at the site of Cape Henry, named for Prince Henry of Wales. Their first act was to erect a wooden cross and commence a prayer meeting. They ascended the James River, named for King James, and settled Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America. Virginia, so named for the "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth, stated in its Charter, April 10, 1606: "Greatly commending...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." The Second Charter of Virginia, May 23, 1609, stated: "The principal Effect which we can expect or desire of this Action is the Conversion and reduction of the people in those parts unto the true worship of God and the Christian Religion." Virginia's Charter continued: "It shall be necessary for all such our loving Subjects...to live together, in the Fear and true Worship of Almighty God, Christian Peace, and civil Quietness, with each other."

Forced to resign from the Army for excessive drinking, he failed as a farmer and a businessman. Not until he volunteered for the Civil War did things change. He was promoted to brigadier general, captured Fort Henry and Vicksburg, and won Union control of the Mississippi. Lincoln placed him over the entire Army and within a year he forced Lee to surrender. His name was Ulysses S. Grant, born APRIL 27, 1822. As 18th President, Grant stated: "It seems fitting that on the occurrence of the hundredth anniversary of our existence as a nation, a grateful acknowledgment should be made to Almighty God for the protection and the bounties which He has vouchsafed to our beloved country." In his 2nd Annual Message, December 5, 1870, Ulysses S. Grant said: "...Such religious denominations as had heretofore established missionaries among the Indians, and perhaps to some other denominations who would undertake the work on the same terms-i.e., as a missionary work. The societies selected are allowed to name their own agents...and are expected to watch over them and aid them as missionaries, to Christianize and civilize the Indians, and to train him in the arts of peace."

Leading the charge at the Battle of Trenton, a musket ball struck his shoulder, hitting an artery. He recovered and continued to fight for General Washington, becoming friends with French officer Lafayette. After the Revolution, he studied law under Thomas Jefferson, was elected Senator, Governor of Virginia, and Secretary of State, where he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase and the Monroe Doctrine. Who was he? James Monroe, the 5th President of the United States, born APRIL 28, 1758. James Monroe stated in his Inaugural Address, March 4, 1817: "I enter on the trust to which I have been called by the suffrages of my fellow-citizens with my fervent prayers to the Almighty that He will be graciously pleased to continue to us that protection which He has already so conspicuously displayed." In his First Annual Message to Congress, 1817, President James Monroe stated: "For advantages so numerous and highly important it is our duty to unite in grateful acknowledgments to that Omnipotent Being from whom they are derived, and in unceasing prayer that He will endow us with virtue and strength to maintain and hand them down in their utmost purity to our latest posterity."

"Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" yelled Admiral David Farragut, who had lashed himself atop the mainsail to see over the smoke. His fleet of wooden ships with hulls wrapped in chains, and his four iron clad monitors, were attacking Fort Morgan in Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864. When one of his ships, the TECUMSEH, sank after hitting an underwater mine, called a torpedo, his fleet faltered in confusion, but Farragut drove them on to capture the last Confederate stronghold in the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier, APRIL 29, 1862, Farragut captured New Orleans, the Confederacy's largest city. Sailing the Mississippi River at night, his ships were hard to hit, as he tied tree branches to the riggings and covered the hulls with mud. The first U.S. Navy Admiral, Farragut declined offers to run for President. A statue of him is in Farragut Square, Washington, D.C. His son, Loyall Farragut, wrote in a book titled "The Life and Letters of Admiral David Glasgow Farragut": "He never felt so near his Master as he did when in a storm, knowing that on his skill depended the safety of so many lives." During his last illness, David Farragut asked for a clergyman to pray to the Lord, saying: "He must be my pilot now!"

The size of the U.S. doubled APRIL 30, 1803, with the Louisiana Purchase. Nearly a million square miles, at less than three cents an acre - it was the greatest land bargain in history! Of this land purchase from France, President Thomas Jefferson stated in his Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1805: "I know that the acquisition of Louisiana has been disapproved by some from a candid apprehension that the enlargement of our territory would endanger the union, but who can limit the extent to which the federative principle may operate effectively?" Why did France sell the Louisiana Territory? Napoleon Bonaparte needed money quickly for his military campaigns, therefore he sold all the French controlled lands west of the Mississippi for just fifteen million dollars. Napoleon fought in Europe, Egypt and Russia, yet in 1815 he was banished to the tiny island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic, where he commented to General Count de Montholon: "Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but upon what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force! But Jesus Christ founded His upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."

MAY 1, 305 AD, the most powerful man in the world, Emperor Diocletian, stepped down from ruling Rome. Two years prior he began a systematic persecution of Christians, intending to exterminate them. He forbade worship, burned books, arrested clergy, and demanded pagan sacrifices. From Europe to North Africa, hundreds were martyred. Suddenly Diocletian was struck with a painful intestinal disease and resigned. Eight years later Emperor Constantine ended the persecution of Christians. In 1984, President Reagan said: "In the fourth century, a monk thought he heard God telling him to go to Rome...He followed a crowd into the Coliseum and saw the gladiators. He realized they were going to fight to the death. He cried out, 'In the Name of Christ, stop!'...made his way through the crowd and climbed the wall into the arena...As he was pleading with the gladiators...one of them plunged his sword into his body...his last words were, 'In the Name of Christ, stop!' Suddenly the gladiators stood looking at this tiny form...In dead silence, everyone left. That was the last battle in the Coliseum. One tiny voice...'In the Name of Christ, stop!' We could be saying that today."

The director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, died MAY 2, 1972. For 48 years, under eight Presidents, he oversaw the Federal Bureau of Investigation, becoming famous for his dramatic campaigns to stop gangsters and organized crime. He established the use of fingerprints in law enforcement and successfully tracked down well-known criminals. FDR gave him the task of investigating foreign espionage and left-wing activist groups. J. Edgar Hoover stated: "The criminal is the product of spiritual starvation. Someone failed miserably to bring him to know God, love Him and serve Him." In the introduction to Edward L.R. Elson's book, America's Spiritual Recovery, 1954, J. Edgar Hoover wrote: "We can see all too clearly the devastating effects of Secularism on our Christian way of life. The period when it was smart to 'debunk' our traditions undermined...high standards of conduct. A rising emphasis on materialism caused a decline of 'God-centered' deeds and thoughts." J. Edgar Hoover continued: "The American home...ceased to be a school of moral and spiritual education. When spiritual guidance is at a low ebb, moral principles are in a state of deterioration. Secularism advances when men forget God."

He was a physician in the Revolutionary War, a member of the Continental Congress and a signer of the Constitution. He was Secretary of War under Washington and Adams, helping to plan the Military Academy at West Point. The Star-Spangled Banner was written while the British bombed the fort named for him. Who was he?... James McHenry, who died MAY 3, 1816. As president of the first Bible Society in Baltimore, James McHenry stated in 1813: "Neither let it be overlooked, that public utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability and usefulness." James McHenry continued: "In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw intrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong intrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience...It is a book...fitted to every situation."

Selling a million copies a year for over 100 years, McGuffey's Readers were the mainstay of public education in America. Generations of school children read them, making them some of the most influential books of all time. They were written by William McGuffey, who died MAY 4, 1873. A professor at the University of Virginia and president of Ohio University, he began one of nation's first teachers' associations. In the foreword of McGuffey's Reader, 1836, he wrote: "The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it are derived our prevalent notions of the character of God, the great moral governor of the universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free institutions." In McGuffey's 5th Eclectic Reader, 1879, is a lesson by William Ellery Channing, titled Religion The Only Basis of Society: "How powerless conscience would become without the belief of a God...Erase all thought and fear of God from a community, and selfishness and sensuality would absorb the whole man. Appetite, knowing no restraint...would trample in scorn on the restraints of human laws... Man would become...what the theory of atheism declares him to be-a companion for brutes."

President Washington declared a National Day of Prayer, as did President John Adams when France threatened war, President Madison during the War of 1812, President Tyler when the previous president died, and President Taylor during a cholera epidemic. President Buchanan proclaimed a Day of Prayer to avert civil strife, as did President Lincoln during the Civil War, President Johnson when Lincoln was shot and President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. In 1952, President Truman made the National Day of Prayer an annual event, stating: "In times of national crisis when we are striving to strengthen the foundations of peace...we stand in special need of Divine support." President Reagan made it the first Thursday in May, stating: "Americans in every generation have turned to their Maker in prayer...We have acknowledged both our dependence on Almighty God and the help He offers us as individuals and as a Nation...Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim MAY 5, 1988, as a National Day of Prayer. I call upon the citizens of our great Nation to gather together on that day in homes and places of worship to pray."

In exchange for 60 guilders of brass buttons, scarlet cloth and trade goods, Manhattan Island was purchased from the Manhattan Indian tribe on MAY 6, 1626, by Peter Minuit, Dutch Governor of the New Netherlands Province. Naming the Island New Amsterdam, it was later taken over by the British and renamed New York City. The colony's original Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions, June 1, 1629, stated: "Patroons and colonists shall in particular, and in the speediest manner, endeavor to find out ways and means whereby they may support a Minister and Schoolmaster, that thus the service of God and zeal for religion may not grow cool and be neglected among them, and they shall, for the first, procure a Comforter of the sick there." In 1665, the Colonial Legislature of New York stated: "Whereas, The public worship of God is much discredited for want of...able ministers to instruct the people in the true religion, it is ordered that a church shall be built in each parish capable of holding 200 persons; that ministers of every church shall preach every Sunday, and pray for the king, queen, the Duke of York, and the royal family....Sunday is not to be profaned."

World War II ended in Europe on MAY 7, 1945, when German emissaries met at General Dwight Eisenhower's Headquarters, a schoolhouse in Reims, France, and signed an unconditional surrender. The War in Europe lasted five and half years, costing millions of lives. After the war, Eisenhower was elected the 34th President by the largest number of votes in history. In remarks broadcast from the White House as part of The American Legion "Back-to-God" Program, February 7, 1954, President Eisenhower stated: "As a former soldier, I am delighted that our veterans are sponsoring a movement to increase our awareness of God in our daily lives. In battle, they learned a great truth-that there are no atheists in the foxholes. They know that in time of test and trial, we instinctively turn to God for new courage... Whatever our individual church, whatever our personal creed, our common faith in God is a common bond among us." At the next year's "Back-to-God" Program, February 20, 1955, Eisenhower stated: "Without God, there could be no American form of Government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first-the most basic-expression of Americanism."

The 33rd U.S. President was born MAY 8, 1884. He was captain of a field artillery battery in France during World War I, a county judge, a U.S. Senator, and Vice-President under Franklin Roosevelt. He ended World War II by dropping the atomic bomb. His name was Harry S Truman. To the Federal Council of Churches, March 6, 1946, President Truman said: "We have just come though a decade in which the forces of evil in various parts of the world have been lined up in a bitter fight to banish from the face of the earth both of these ideals-religion and democracy...The right of every human being...to worship God in his own way, the right to fix his own relationship to his fellow men and to his Creator-these again have been saved for mankind." Truman continued: "Let us determine to carry on in a spirit of tolerance, and understanding for all men and for all nations-in the spirit of God and religious unity." President Truman told the Attorney General's Conference, 1950: "The fundamental basis of this nation's laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings...of Isaiah and St. Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days."

Mothers' Day was held in Boston in 1872 at the suggestion of Julia Ward Howe, writer of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." But it was Anna Jarvis, daughter of a Methodist minister in Grafton, West Virginia, who made it a national event. During the Civil War, Anna's mother organized Mothers' Day Work Clubs to care for wounded soldiers, both Union and Confederate, raised money for medicine, inspected bottled milk, improved sanitation and hired women to care for families where mothers suffered from tuberculosis. In her honor, Anna Jarvis persuaded her church to set aside the 2nd Sunday in May, the anniversary of her mother's death, as a day to appreciate all mothers. Encouraged by the reception, Anna organized it in Philadelphia, then began a letter-writing campaign to ministers, businessmen and politicians to establish a national Mothers' Day. In response, on MAY 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first National Mothers' Day as a "public expression of...love and reverence for the mothers of our country." In his Mother's Day Proclamation, 1986, President Ronald Reagan said: "A Jewish saying sums it up: 'God could not be everywhere-so He created mothers.'"

A surprise attack before dawn on MAY 10, 1775, gave America one of its first victories of the Revolutionary War. Ethan Allen, who commanded the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont, captured Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain without the loss of a man by overrunning the stronghold in the early morning while the British were sleeping. Allen, whose statue is now placed in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall, demanded immediate surrendered. The bewildered British captain asked in whose name such a request was being made. Ethan Allen responded: "In the Name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." Incredibly, 50 cannons were moved from Fort Ticonderoga to a position overlooking Boston Harbor, forcing the British ships to depart. On May 31, 1775, just three weeks after the victory of Fort Ticonderoga, Harvard President Samuel Langdon addressed the Massachusetts Provincial Congress: "If God be for us, who can be against us?..May our land be purged from all its sins! Then the Lord will be our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble, and we will have no reason to be afraid, though thousands of enemies set themselves against us."

The son of a rabbi, he was born MAY 11, 1888. At 4-years-old, he immigrated with his family from Russia to New York. Falling in love with America, he served as a U.S. infantry sergeant in World War I. He wrote some of the nation's most popular songs, including: "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "White Christmas" and "God Bless America," the royalties of which he gave to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Who was he? Irving Berlin, who in 1945 received the Army's Medal of Merit from President Truman, in 1955 he received the Congressional Gold Medal from President Eisenhower, and in 1977 he received the Freedom Medal from President Ford. On October 12, 2001, Congressman Mike Castle of Delaware stated: "In the aftermath of September 11...Republicans and Democrats burst into that song of the same name by Irving Berlin on the steps of the U.S. Capitol...It was a slogan for peace." Irving Berlin wrote: "God Bless America, Land that I Love, Stand Beside Her, and Guide Her, Through the Night, with the Light From Above, From the Mountains, to the Prairies, To the Oceans White with Foam, God Bless America, My Home Sweet Home, God Bless America, My Home Sweet Home!"

MAY 12, 1502, Christopher Columbus began his last voyage. Afflicted by Caribbean hurricanes, Columbus recorded seven months later: "The tempest arose and wearied me so that I knew not where to turn, my old wound opened up, and for 9 days I was lost without hope of life; eyes never beheld the sea so angry and covered with foam. The wind not only prevented our progress, but offered no opportunity to run behind any headland for shelter; hence we were forced to keep out in this bloody ocean, seething like a pot on a hot fire. The people were so worn out that they longed for death." Columbus' son, Ferdinand recorded on December 13, 1502, how a waterspout passed between the ships; "the which had they not dissolved by reciting the Gospel according to St. John, it would have swamped whatever it struck...for it draws water up to the clouds in a column thicker than a waterbutt, twisting it about like a whirlwind." Columbus' biographer, Samuel Eliot Morrison described: "It was the Admiral who exorcised the waterspout. From his Bible he read of that famous tempest off Capernaum, concluding, 'Fear not, it is I!' Then clasping the Bible in his left hand, with drawn sword he traced a cross in the sky and a circle around his whole fleet."

The first settlers to establish a permanent English settlement in the New World landed in Jamestown, Virginia, MAY 13, 1607. Many of the 100 colonists sent out by the London Company died of hunger, malaria, exposure or were killed by Indians. When their minister died, they wrote: "1607. To the glory of God and in memory of the Reverend Robert Hunt, Presbyter, appointed by the Church of England. Minister of the Colony which established the English Church and English Civilization at Jamestown...His people, members of the Colony, left this testimony concerning him. He was an honest, religious and courageous Divine. He preferred the Service of God in so good a voyage to every thought of ease at home. He endured every privation, yet none ever heard him repine. During his life our factions were ofte healed, and our greatest extremities so comforted that they seemed easy in comparison with what we endured after his memorable death. We all received from him the Holy Communion together, as a pledge of reconciliation, for we all loved him for his exceeding goodness." Concluding their tribute to Rev. Robert Hunt, the first Virginia settlers wrote: "He planted the first Protestant Church in America and laid down his life in the foundation of America."

Midnight, MAY 14, 1948, the State of Israel came into being and was immediately recognized by the United States and the Soviet Union. A homeland for the thousands of Jews who were persecuted and displaced during World War II, Israel was attacked the next day by the Transjordanian Army, the Arab Legion, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. Against all odds, Israel survived. In November of 1948, President Harry S. Truman wrote to Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the first president of Israel: "I want to tell you how happy and impressed I have been at the remarkable progress made by the new State of Israel." In 1968, President Johnson stated: "America and Israel have a common love of human freedom and a democratic way of life...Through the centuries, through dispersion and through very grievous trials, your forefathers clung to their Jewish identity and their ties with the land of Israel. The prophet Isaiah foretold - 'And He shall set up an ensign for the nations and He shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from all the four corners of the earth.'" President Johnson concluded: "History knows no more moving example of persistence against the cruelest odds."

Army Day, Navy Day and Air Force Day were combined in 1949 to be Armed Forces Day, celebrated the 3rd Saturday of May. Army Day formerly was the date the US entered World War I, Navy Day was President Theodore Roosevelt's birthday and Air Force Day was the day the War Department established a division of aeronautics. On Armed Forces Day, MAY 15, 1995, Secretary of Defense William Perry said: "In World War II, the United States Armed Forces helped defeat the forces of aggression and oppression on two sides of the globe...In the Cold War, we faced down the global Soviet threat. Today, our forces stand guard, at home and abroad, against a range of potential threats." Secretary Perry continued: "On Armed Forces Day, the nation says thank you to our men and women in uniform, their families, and the communities that support them...Daniel Webster said, 'God grants liberty only to those who love it and are always ready to guard and defend it.'" U.S. Army Chaplain Father William Thomas Cummings, who was among those captured by the Japanese at Bataan, Philippines, and died when the prisoner "hell ship" he was on was hit with a torpedo, said in a battlefield sermon: "There are no atheists in the foxholes."

Seward's Folly is what Alaska was called when it was first purchased from Russia, as it was thought to be of no value. Only when it was discovered to be rich in natural resources was appreciation shown to Secretary of State William Seward, who was born MAY 16, 1801. Serving under Abraham Lincoln, he was wounded by an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth the same night Lincoln was shot. Seward stated: "I do not believe human society...ever has attained, or ever can attain, a high state of intelligence, virtue, security, liberty, or happiness without the Holy Scriptures; even the whole hope of human progress is suspended on the ever-growing influence of the Bible." As the vice-president of the American Bible Society, 1836, William Seward stated: "I know not how long a republican government can flourish among a great people who have not the Bible; the experiment has never been tried; but this I do know: that the existing government of this country never could have had existence but for the Bible." Seward concluded: "And, further, I...believe that if at every decade of years a copy of the Bible could be found in every family in the land its republican institutions would be perpetuated."

The first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court was the president of the American Bible Society. Who was he? John Jay, who died MAY 17, 1829. A member of the Continental Congress, even serving as its president, John Jay signed the Treaty of Paris with Franklin and Adams, ending the Revolutionary War. He helped ratify the Constitution by writing the Federalist Papers with Madison and Hamilton. In 1777, Jay stated to an Ulster County Grand Jury: "The Americans are the first people whom Heaven has favoured with an opportunity of...choosing the forms of government under which they should live." To the New York Convention, December 23, 1776, John Jay said: "When you have done all things, then rely upon the good Providence of Almighty God for success, in full confidence that without his blessings, all our efforts will inevitably fail...The holy gospels are yet to be preached to these western regions, and we have the highest reason to believe that the Almighty will not suffer slavery and the gospel to go hand in hand. It cannot, it will not be." On May 17, 1829, as he was dying, John Jay was asked if he had any last words for his children. He replied: "They have the Book."

On MAY 18, 1920, in a small town in Poland, Karol Wojtyla was born. A chemical worker during World War II, he risked punishment by Communists for being ordained a priest. In 1967, he was Archbishop of Krakow, and in 1978, he became Pope John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope since 1522. Leader of one billion Catholics, he spoke eight languages and traveled a million miles in 170 countries, more than any other pope. In 1981, he survived an assassination attempt by a Muslim Turk, whom he forgave during a prison visit. The most recognized person in the world, Pope John Paul II met with Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush. He helped end communism in Europe. Having the third longest papal term in history, he died April 2, 2005. President Bush ordered flags flown half staff. In 1993, greeted by President Clinton in Denver, Pope John Paul said: "The inalienable dignity of every human being and the rights which flow from that dignity-in the first place the right to life and the defense of life-are at the heart of the church's message." Pope John Paul ended: "In spite of divisions among Christians, 'all those justified by faith through baptism are incorporated into Christ...brothers and sisters in the Lord.'"

The invincible Spanish Armada set sail MAY 19, 1588, to conquer England. Queen Elizabeth relied on Sir Francis Drake and his smaller, faster vessels. Drake ingeniously floated burning ships at night into the anchored Spanish fleet, dispersing them in a panic. Aided by gale force winds half of Spain's Armada was eventually wrecked. Had England lost, there would have been no Pilgrims, no New England, and no United States. In 1776, Adam Smith wrote in The Wealth of Nations: "The Spaniards, by virtue of the first discovery, claimed all America as their own, and...such was...the terror of their name, that the greater part of the other nations of Europe were afraid to establish themselves in any other part of that great continent...But...the defeat...of their Invincible Armada...put it out of their power to obstruct any longer the settlements of the other European nations. In the course of the 17th century...English, French, Dutch, Danes, and Swedes...attempted to make some settlements in the new world." A coin minted in Holland in 1588 had engraved on one side Spanish ships sinking and on the other side men kneeling under the inscription "Man Proposeth, God Disposeth."

MAY 20, 1927, at 7:52am, one of the greatest feats in aviation began as 25-year old Charles A. Lindbergh left Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, in his silver monoplane named "The Spirit of St. Louis." Thirty-three and a half hours later he landed in Paris, completing the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Lindbergh was decorated by the president of France, the King of England, and President Calvin Coolidge. The son of a Congressman, he was a test pilot for a St. Louis firm, performed feats of barnstorming and became an Air Service Reserve cadet, flying mail routes to Chicago. At the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences, February 1, 1954, Charles Lindbergh stated: "It was not the outer granduer of the Roman but the inner simplicity of the Christian that lived through the ages." On the Bicentennial of Air and Space Flight, February 7, 1983, President Ronald Reagan said: "We Americans have always been at our best when we've faced challenge... Whether...Daniel Boone or Charles Lindbergh...I've always believed that mankind is capable of greatness...But it depends on us. God gave angels wings. He gave mankind dreams. And with His help, there's no limit to what can be accomplished."

The American Red Cross was organized MAY 21, 1881, by Clara Barton, a schoolteacher who had moved to Washington at the outbreak of the Civil War. She distributed relief supplies to wounded soldiers and, at the request of President Lincoln, aided in searching for missing men. Clara Barton helped in hospitals in Cuba during the Spanish-American War and in Europe during the Franco-German war, working with Henri Dunant, founder of the International Red Cross. On May 18, 1918, at the opening of the Second Red Cross Drive in New York City, President Woodrow Wilson recognized those in this great service, stating: "Being members of the American Red Cross...a great fraternity and fellowship which extends all over the world...this cross which these ladies bore here today is an emblem of Christianity itself...When you think of this, you realize how the people of the United States are being drawn together into a great intimate family whose heart is being used for the service of the soldiers not only, but for the long night of suffering and terror, in order that they and men everywhere may see the dawn of a day of righteousness and justice and peace."

The SS SAVANNAH left MAY 22, 1819, from Savannah, Georgia, and 25 days later arrived in Liverpool, England, completing the first trans-Atlantic voyage by steamship. To pay tribute to the American Merchant Marine, President Franklin Roosevelt designated MAY 22, 1933 National Maritime Day. On May 20, 1986, Ronald Reagan stated: "When steam-powered vessels began to eclipse sailing ships in the latter part of the 19th century, it was largely the result of pioneering work by two Americans, John Fitch and Robert Fulton." In "The Thorny Road of Honor," 1856, Hans Christian Anderson wrote: "We are in America, on the margin of one of the largest rivers, an innumerable crowd has gathered, for it is said that a ship is to sail against the wind and weather...The man who thinks he can solve the problem is named Robert Fulton. The ship begins its passage, but suddenly stops. The crowd begins to laugh...Then suddenly...the wheels turn again...the ship continues its course...The builder of the bridge and earth-between Providence and the human race." Reagan said June 11, 1981: "The future's always looked bleak til people with brains and faith...found a way to make it better, people like Robert Fulton."

Fur trapper, Indian agent, and soldier; this was Kit Carson, who died MAY 23, 1868. Carson's exploits west of the Mississippi were as famous as Daniel Boone's east. In January of 1868, Kit was appointed superintendent of Indian Affairs in Colorado. Though suffering severe breathing pain, he brought the Ute Indian Chiefs to Washington to arrange a treaty. As they toured northern cities, meeting crowds and posing for pictures with dignitaries such as John C. Fremont and General James Carleton, Kit Carson became wearied. He almost died while staying with the Indian Chiefs at New York City's Metropolitan Hotel. Kit wrote: "I felt my head swell and my breath leaving me. Then, I woke...my face and head all wet. I was on the floor and the chief was holding my head on his arm and putting water on me. He was crying. He said, 'I thought you were dead. You called on your Lord Jesus, then shut your eyes and couldn't speak.' I did not know that I spoke...I do not know that I called on the Lord Jesus, but I might - it's only Him that can help me where I now stand...My wife must see me. If I was to write about this, or died out here, it would kill her. I must get home."

William Lloyd Garrison published the Boston anti-slavery paper "Liberator" and founded the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. Suffering hundreds of death threats for his politically incorrect stand on the value of human life, Garrison died MAY 24, 1879. He wrote: "I desire to thank God that He enables me to disregard 'the fear of man which bringeth a snare' and to speak His truth...while life-blood warms my throbbing veins...to oppose...the brutalizing sway - till Afric's chains are burst and freedom rules the rescued land." In "W.P. and F.J.T. Garrison," 1885-89, he wrote: "Wherever there is a human being, I see God-given rights inherent in that being, whatever may be the sex or complexion." Former slave Frederick Douglass wrote in My Bondage and My Freedom, 1855: "After reaching New Bedford, there came a young man to me with a copy of the Liberator...edited by William Lloyd Garrison...His paper took its place with me next to the Bible...It detested slavery...and, with all the solemnity of God's word, demanded the complete emancipation of my race...His words were... holy fire...The Bible was his text book...Prejudice against color was rebellion against God."

"America is another name for opportunity. Our whole history appears like a last effort of divine Providence in behalf of the human race" wrote poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. Born MAY 25, 1803, Emerson was friends with writers Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott He composed some of the best loved poems in American literature, including The Concord Hymn, written in 1837 for the dedication of the monument where the battle at North Bridge took place April 19, 1775. Emerson's most recognizable stanza is inscribed on the base of Daniel Chester French's Minute Man Statue: "By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled; Here once the embattled farmers stood; And fired the shot heard round the world. The foe long since in silence slept; Alike the conqueror silent sleeps, And Time the ruined bridge has swept, Down the dark stream that seaward creeps. On this green bank, by this soft stream, We place with joy a votive stone, That memory may their deeds redeem, When, like our sires, our sons are gone. O Thou who made those heroes dare, To die, and leave their children free, -Bid Time and Nature gently spare, The shaft we raised to them and Thee."

Oscar winning actor Marion Michael Morrison, better known as John Wayne, was born MAY 26, 1907. A U.S.C. football player, he worked behind-the-scenes at Fox Studios, before being discovered by director John Ford, who cast him in epic western and war films. On May 26, 1979, Jimmy Carter said: "I have today approved...a specially struck gold medal to John Wayne. For nearly half a century, the Duke has symbolized the American ideals of integrity, courage, patriotism, and strength and has represented to the world many of the deepest values that this Nation respects." Ronald Reagan said November 5, 1984: "I noted the news coverage about the death of my friend, John Wayne. One headline read 'The Last American Hero.'...No one would be angrier than Duke Wayne at the suggestion that he was America's last hero. Just before he died, he said in his unforgettable way, 'Just give the American people a good cause, and there's nothing they can't lick.'" In his album, America-Why I Love Her, 1977, John Wayne stated: "If we want to keep these freedoms, we may have to fight again. God forbid, but if we do, let's always fight to win...Face the flag, son...and thank God it's still there."

Twentieth-Century Fox made a motion picture in 1955 titled "A Man Called Peter," about the life of U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall, born MAY 27, 1902. He emigrated from Scotland, was ordained a Presbyterian minister, and became a U.S. citizen in 1938. A novel titled "Christy," written by his wife, Catherine, was made into a CBS television series. His son, Peter Marshall, Jr., is the renowned author of such best-selling books as: "The Light and the Glory," "From Sea to Shining Sea" and "Sounding Forth The Trumpet," which chronicle the Providential expansion of liberty throughout American history. On January 13, 1947, U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall stated: "The choice before us is plain: Christ or chaos, conviction or compromise, discipline or disintegration. I am rather tired of hearing about our rights...The time is come...to hear about responsibilities...America's future depends upon her accepting and demonstrating God's government." Opening a session of the 80th Congress, July 3, 1947, Peter Marshall prayed: "God of our Fathers...may it be ever understood that our Liberty is under God and...to the extent that America honors Thee, wilt Thou bless America."

He left Yale for four years to fight in the Revolutionary War. After graduation, he became a lawyer and taught school in New York. Dissatisfied with the children's spelling books, he wrote the famous "Blue-Backed Speller," which sold over one hundred million copies. After twenty-six years of work, he published the first American Dictionary of the English Language. His name was Noah Webster, and he died MAY 28, 1843. In his 1788 essay, "On the Education of Youth in America," printed in Webster's American Magazine, Noah Webster wrote: "Select passages of Scripture...may be read in schools, to great advantage. In some countries the common people are not permitted to read the Bible at all. In ours, it is as common as a newspaper and in schools is read with nearly the same degree of respect." Noah Webster continued: "My wish is not to see the Bible excluded from schools but to see it used as a system of religion and morality." In his book, "The History of the United States," published in 1832, Noah Webster wrote: "All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible."

Awarded the Navy's medal of heroism during World War II and the Pulitzer Prize for his book Profiles in Courage, he was the youngest elected President, serving just over 1,000 days before being shot. This was John F. Kennedy, born MAY 29, 1917. He stated in his Inaugural, January 20, 1961: "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." To President Quadros of Brazil, John F. Kennedy wrote January 31, 1961: "Once in every 20 years presidential inaugurations in your country and mine occur within days of each other. This year of 1961 is signalized by the happy coincidence. At this time, each of us assumes challenging duties...To each of us is entrusted the heavy responsibility of guiding the affairs of a democratic nation founded on Christian ideals."

Southern women scattered spring flowers on the graves of both the Northern and Southern soldiers who died during the Civil War. This was the origin of Memorial Day, which in 1868 was set on MAY 30. In 1968 it was moved to the last Monday in May. From the Spanish-American War, to World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, up through the present, all who gave their lives to preserve America's freedom are honored. Beginning in 1921, every President placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The number 21 being the highest salute, the sentry takes 21 steps, faces the tomb for 21 seconds, turns and pauses 21 seconds, then retraces his steps. Inscribed on the Tomb is the phrase: "HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOW BUT TO GOD." In his 1923 Memorial Address, President Calvin Coolidge stated: "There can be no peace with the forces of evil. Peace comes only through the establishment of the supremacy of the forces of good. That way lies through sacrifice...'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'"

In a Memorial Day Address, MAY 31, 1923, President Calvin Coolidge said: "Settlers came here from mixed motives...Generally defined, they were seeking a broader freedom. They were intent upon establishing a Christian commonwealth in accordance to the principle of self-government...It has been said that God sifted the nations that He might send choice grain into the wilderness." Coolidge continued "They had a genius for organized society on the foundations of piety, righteousness, liberty, and obedience of the law...Who can fail to see in it the hand of destiny? Who can doubt that it has been guided by a Divine Providence?" At the Memorial Day Ceremony, May 31, 1993, President Bill Clinton remarked: "The inscription on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier says that he is 'Known only to God.' But that is only partly true. While the soldier's name is known only to God, we know a lot about him. We know he served his country, honored his community, and died for the cause of freedom. And we know that no higher praise can be assigned to any human being than those simple words...In the presence of those buried all around us, we ask the support of all Americans in the aid and blessing of God Almighty."

“Don’t Give Up The Ship!” commanded 31-year-old Captain James Lawrence, as he lay wounded on the deck of the U.S.S. Chesapeake. Captain Lawrence fought Muslim Barbary pirates in 1804 and when the War of 1812 began, he commanded the U.S.S. Hornet which captured the privateer Dolphin and the H.M.S. Peacock. President Madison wrote May 25, 1813: “The brilliant achievements of our infant Navy, a signal triumph has been gained by Captain Lawrence...in the Hornet sloop of war...The contest in which the United States are engaged appeals...to the sacred obligation of transmitting...to future generations that...which is held...by the present from the goodness of Divine Providence.” On JUNE 1, 1813, Captain Lawrence sailed from Boston and was attacked by the British ship Shannon. Within an hour, nearly every officer was killed. Later, Captain Oliver Hazard Perry was inspired to name his flagship on Lake Erie “Lawrence.” Theodore Roosevelt wrote in Hero Tales from American History, 1895: “Lawrence, dying with the words on his lips, ‘Don’t give up the ship’ and Perry...with the same words blazoned on his banner...won glory in desperate conflicts and left a reputation hardly dimmed.”

A wedding took place in the White House, JUNE 2, 1886. One of three Presidents to marry in office and the only President to wed on White House grounds, Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom, and together they had five children. Cleveland, both the 22nd and 24th President, stated in his 2nd Inaugural, March of 1893: “Above all, I know there is a Supreme Being who rules the affairs of men and whose goodness and mercy have always followed the American people, and I know He will not turn from us now if we humbly and reverently seek His powerful aid.” In a Message to Congress, December 2, 1895, President Cleveland stated: “Reported massacres of Christians in Armenia and the development there and in other districts of a spirit of fanatic hostility to Christian influences naturally excited apprehension for the safety of the devoted men and women who, as dependents of the foreign missionary societies in the United States, reside in Turkey.” President Cleveland continued: “Several of the most powerful European powers have secured a right...not only in behalf of their own citizens...but as agents of the Christian world...to enforce such conduct of Turkish government as will refrain fanatical brutality.”

The Dutch sent Henry Hudson to find a water route across America to the Pacific. Though unsuccessful, he claimed the land along the “Hudson” River, where the Dutch West India Company founded New Netherlands, receiving its charter JUNE 3, 1621. The Chamber of Amsterdam wrote in articles for the Colony, 1624: “They shall within their territory practice no other form of divine worship than that of the Reformed religion...and thus by their Christian life and conduct seek to draw the Indians and other blind people to the knowledge of God and His word, without, however, persecuting any on account of his faith, but leaving each one the use of his conscience.” The Charter of Freedoms, June 7, 1629, gave land to wealthy “Patroons” who helped 50 families emigrate. It stated: “Colonists shall...in the speediest manner...find out ways and means whereby they may support a Minister and Schoolmaster, that thus the service of God and zeal for religion may not grow cool.” In 1664, the colony became New York. Franklin Roosevelt, who was born in New York, told the Detroit Jewish Chronicle, March 7, 1935: “All I know about the origin of the Roosevelt family in this country is that all branches bearing the name are apparently descended from Claes Martenssen Van Roosevelt, who came from Holland sometime before 1648.”

The turning point in the Pacific War began JUNE 4, 1942. American intelligence intercepted Japan’s plans to capture Midway Island and from there, Hawaii. The outnumbered U.S. Fleet ambushed the Japanese armada, but was losing badly. It was not until American dive bombers, navigating by guess and by God, sighted the Japanese aircraft carriers far below through a break in the clouds at the precise moment the Japanese planes had left to attack the U.S.S. Yorktown. In just five minutes, the screeching American dive bombers sank three Japanese carriers, and a fourth shortly after. After this providential event, Japan was forced to go on the defensive. On the Pacific War, President Roosevelt said, August 12, 1943: “Three weeks after the armies of the Japanese launched their attack on Philippine soil, I sent a proclamation...to the people of the Philippines... that their freedom will be redeemed...The great day of your liberation will come, as surely as there is a God in Heaven.” Roosevelt stated October 20, 1944: “On this occasion of the return of General MacArthur to Philippine soil...we renew our pledge. We and our Philippine brothers in arms-with the help of Almighty God-will drive out the invader.”

JUNE 5, 1967, the Six-Day War began. Egypt had 80,000 troops and 900 tanks advancing on Israel. Jordan and Syria, with Soviet weapons, violently shelled Jerusalem and Israeli villages. Cairo radio announced: “The hour has come in which we shall destroy Israel.” The hot line between Washington and Moscow was used for the first time. In a surprise move, Israeli air force destroyed 400 Egyptian planes, courageously drove Syria from the Golan Heights and captured all of Jerusalem. In a CBS-TV interview, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion stated: “In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.” Seven months later, at a dinner at the LBJ Ranch in Texas, President Lyndon B. Johnson toasted Israeli Prime Minister Eshkol, saying: “That is our intention in the Middle East and throughout our world. To pursue peace. To find peace. To keep peace forever among men. If we are wise, if we are fortunate, if we work together-perhaps our Nation and all nations may know the joys of that promise God once made about the children of Israel: ‘I will make a covenant of peace with them...it shall be an everlasting covenant.’”

“D-Day” was JUNE 6, 1944. 156,000 troops landed on the Normandy coast of France in the largest invasion force in history. Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight Eisenhower issued the order: “You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade...The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you...Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely...Let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.” President Roosevelt stated JUNE 6, 1944: “My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation...I ask you to join with me in prayer: 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...They will need Thy blessings...Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom...Help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith to Thee.”

The island was captured from the Spanish in 1655 by Admiral William Penn, father of Pennsylvania’s founder, but it was too far from England to defend, so the city turned to pirates for protection. The likes of Blackbeard, Calico Jack, and Captain Henry Morgan, namesake of the rum, attacked Spanish and French ships and returned with their booty. Soon Port Royal, Jamaica, surpassed Boston as England’s most prosperous settlement. It was called “the Sodom of the New World” for its “pirates, cutthroats, whores,” drinking, gambling, slave trading and “wild, reckless, whoring,” until JUNE 7, 1692, when an earthquake sank it under the sea. Over 2,000 drowned, graves opened and bodies washed about. Eye-witness Rev. Emmanuel Heath, wrote: “Port Royal was terribly destroyed by an earthquake and breaking in of the sea upon it. The destruction was sudden...in four minutes multitudes were killed by the falling houses...I believe God I never in my life saw such a terror...the earth opened and swallowed up people before my face...The sea swallowed up the greatest part of that wretched sinful place...They are so wicked, I fear God...will utterly destroy all by this dreadful Judgement.”

On JUNE 8, 1845, “Old Hickory” died. Wounded by a sword during the Revolutionary War, he later fought the Seminole Indians and in the War of 1812 defeated the British at New Orleans. He was governor of the Florida Territory, and is credited with proposing the name “Tennessee” at that State’s first convention. His wife Rachel died just three months before he took office as the 7th U.S. President. His name was Andrew Jackson. In his 2nd Inaugural, he said: “It is my fervent prayer to that Almighty Being before whom I now stand, and who has kept us in His hands from the infancy of our Republic to the present day...that He will...inspire the hearts of my fellow-citizens that we may be preserved from danger.” On December 30, 1836, to Mr. Donelson whose wife died, Andrew Jackson wrote: “We cannot recall her, we are commanded by our dear Saviour, not to mourn for the dead, but for the living...She has changed a world of woe for a world of eternal happiness, and we ought to prepare as we too must follow...’The Lord’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’” Of the Bible, President Jackson stated: “That book, Sir, is the Rock upon which our republic rests.”

Withholding taxes from people's paychecks began JUNE 9, 1943. Congress passed it as an emergency measure to get money to fight Hitler. The idea came from Beardsley Ruml, treasurer of Macy's and chairman of New York's Federal Reserve Bank. He called it the "pay-as-you-go" tax. So much money came in with so few complaints that it continued after the war. President John F. Kennedy, April 20, 1961, stated to Congress: "Introduced during the war when the income tax was extended to millions of new taxpayers, the wage-withholding system has been one of the most important and successful advances in our tax system in recent times. Initial difficulties were quickly overcome, and the new system helped the taxpayer no less than the tax collector." But Americans weren't always taxed so much. In a Veto Message to Congress, May 27, 1830, President Andrew Jackson stated: "Through the favor of an overruling and indulgent Providence our country is blessed with general prosperity and our citizens exempted from the pressure of taxation, which other less favored portions of the human family are obliged to bear."

The U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, graduated its first class JUNE 10, 1854. It was established under George Bancroft, Secretary of Navy for President James Polk. On June 16, 1845, Polk issued Order 27 to Secretary Bancroft: "The President...with heartfelt sorrow announces to the Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps the death of Andrew Jackson...The 8th day of June, about 6 o'clock, he resigned his spirit to his Heavenly Father...He believed the liberties of his country imperishable...He departed from this life in a full hope of a blessed immortality through the merits and atonement of the Redeemer." George Bancroft, known as the "father of American history" for compiling the nation's first comprehensive record, wrote in Progress of Mankind: "The Divine Being should...be known, not as a distant Providence...but as God present in the flesh...The consciousness of an incarnate God carried peace into the bosom of humanity." George Bancroft continued: "The idea of GOD WITH US dwelt and dwells in every system of thought that can pretend to vitality; in every oppressed people, whose struggles to be free have the promise of success; in every soul that sighs for redemption."

He sent Paul Revere on his midnight ride to warn Lexington the British were coming. A Harvard graduate, he was a successful doctor in Boston, but left his career when the British passed the hated Stamp Act. With Samuel Adams, he organized the Provincial Congress to protest. His name was Joseph Warren, born JUNE 11, 1741. Following the Boston Tea Party, King George III enacted the Intolerable Acts of 1774, blocking Boston harbor until citizens reimbursed the East India Tea Company, quartering British soldiers in private homes, allowing British officials to be unaccountable for their crimes and replacing Massachusetts' elected officials with royal appointees. In response, Dr. Joseph Warren wrote the Suffolk Resolves, urging Massachusetts to establish a free state, boycott British goods, form militias and no longer be loyal to a king who violates their rights. Fighting in the Battle of Bunker Hill, a monument marks where he died. Three years earlier Joseph Warren stated on the anniversary of the Boston Massacre: "If you perform your part, you must have the strongest confidence that the same Almighty Being who protected your pious and venerable forefathers...will still be mindful of you."

He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his WWII service in the Pacific. He studied at Yale, was a Congressman, Ambassador to the U.N., CIA director and Vice-President under Ronald Reagan before becoming the 41st U.S. President. His name was George H.W. Bush, born JUNE 12, 1924. In his Inaugural Address, January 20, 1989, President Bush said: "I have just repeated word for word the oath taken by George Washington 200 years ago, and the Bible on which I place my hand is the Bible on which he placed his...And my first act as President is a prayer. I ask you to bow your heads." In his Christmas Message, December 8, 1992, President George H.W. Bush stated: "As we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, whose life offers us a model of dignity, compassion, and justice, we renew our commitment to peace...Christ made clear the redemptive value of giving of oneself for others." President Bush continued: "The heroic actions of our veterans, the lifesaving work of our scientists and physicians, and generosity of countless individuals who voluntarily give of their time, talents, and energy to help others-all have enriched humankind and affirmed the importance of our Judeo-Christian heritage in shaping our government and values."

19-year-old Marquis de Lafayette purchased a ship and sailed to America, arriving JUNE 13, 1777. Trained in the French Military, he was appointed a major general. Lafayette endured the freezing winter at Valley Forge, and fought at Brandywine, Barren Hill and Monmouth. He led troops against the traitor Benedict Arnold and commanded at Yorktown, pressuring Cornwallis to surrender. On May 10, 1786, George Washington wrote from Mount Vernon to Marquis de Lafayette: "Your late purchase of an estate in the colony of Cayenne, with a view of emancipating the slaves on it, is a generous and noble proof of your humanity. Would to God a like spirit would diffuse itself generally into the minds of the people of this country." On August 15, 1787, in a letter from Philadelphia to the Marquis de Lafayette, George Washington wrote: "I am not less ardent in my wish that you may succeed in your plan of toleration in religious matters. Being no bigot myself to any mode of worship, I am disposed to indulge the professors of Christianity in the church with that road to Heaven which to them shall seem the most direct, plainest and easiest, and the least liable to exception."

Thirteen Stars and Thirteen Stripes. It was on JUNE 14, 1777, that the Second Continental Congress selected the Flag of the United States. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed a Proclamation making June 14th "National Flag Day." On JUNE 14, 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Joint Resolution of Congress (Public Law 396) which added the phrase "One Nation Under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. Eisenhower stated: "From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty. To anyone who truly loves America, nothing could be more inspiring than to contemplate this rededication of our youth, on each school morning, to our country's true meaning." President Eisenhower concluded: "In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource, in peace or in war."

The Legend of Robin Hood speaks of Richard the Lionheart. The real King Richard the Lionheart, so named for his courage in battle, joined the Third Crusade in 1190AD to win back Jerusalem from the Muslims, who had first taken it away from the Byzantine Christian and Jewish inhabitants in 638AD after a two year bloody siege led by Caliph Umar. Though Richard the Lionheart did not retake Jerusalem, he arranged a truce with Saladin for the protection of religious pilgrims. On his return trip to England, Richard was captured by a rival king in Austria and spent three years in prison. He was eventually found and purchased back with an enormous "king's ransom." Richard returned to England and took back the throne from his brother John. Just five years later Richard died in battle and John again ruled oppressively in England. The angry barons responded by capturing London and, on JUNE 15, 1215, surrounded King John on the plains of Runnymeade, forcing him to sign the Magna Carta. This was the first time in history that the arbitrary powers of a king were limited. The Magna Carta ends with the words: "for the salvation of our souls, and the souls of all our...heirs, and unto the honor of God."

The father of the American space program died JUNE 16, 1977. He developed the famed V-2 rocket for Germany before emigrating to the US, where in 1958, he launched America's first satellite. He became the director of NASA, the U.S. guided missile program and founded the National Space Institute. His name was Wernher von Braun, and he stated: "The laws of nature that enable us to fly to the Moon also enable us to destroy our home planet with the atom bomb. Science itself does not address the question whether we should use the power at our disposal for good or for evil. The guidelines of what we ought to do are furnished in the moral law of God." Wernher von Braun continued: "It is no longer enough that we pray that God may be with us on our side. We must learn to pray that we may be on God's side." In the foreword to his Anthology on the Creation and Design exhibited in Nature, Wernher von Braun stated: "Viewing the awesome reaches of space...should only confirm our belief in the certainty of its Creator. I find it difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe."

"Don't Shoot Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes!" was the order given JUNE 17, 1775, by Colonel William Prescott to troops on Breed's Hill, adjacent Bunker Hill, which guarded the north entrance to Boston Harbor. They were aiming at 2,300 British soldiers, under General Howe, marching up with bayonets fixed. Twice the Americans repelled them until they ran out of gunpowder. The British then burned the nearby town of Charlestown. This first action of the Continental Army saw over 1,000 British killed, and nearly 500 Americans. On this same day 300 miles away in Philadelphia the Continental Congress drafted George Washington's commission as commander-in-chief, for which he refused a salary. Washington wrote his wife: "Dearest...It has been determined in Congress, that the whole army raised for the defense of the American Cause shall be put under my care, and that it is necessary for me to proceed immediately to Boston to take...command...I shall rely therefore, confidently, on that Providence which has heretofore preserved, and been bountiful to me...I...got Colonel Pendleton to Draft a Will...the Provision made for you, in case of my death, will, I hope, be agreeable."

The War of 1812 began on JUNE 18, 1812. The British had captured American ships and enslaved sailors. They incited Indians to capture Fort Mims, massacring 500 men, women and children. They captured the Capitol, burnt the White House, bombarded Fort McHenry and attacked New Orleans. Outraged, many volunteered for the Army, including Davy Crockett. In his Proclamation of War, President James Madison stated: "I do moreover exhort all the good people of the United States...as they feel the wrongs which have forced on them the last resort of injured nations...to consult the best means under the blessing of Divine Providence of abridging its calamities." In the three years of the War, President Madison, who had introduced the First Amendment in the First Session of Congress, issued two separate Proclamations of Public Humiliation and Prayer, followed by a Proclamation of Public Fasting, in which he stated: "in the present time of public calamity and war a day may be...observed by the people of the United States as a day of public humiliation and fasting and of prayer to Almighty God." After the War, Madison proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God.

The first formal "Father's Day" was celebrated JUNE 19, 1910. It began in Spokane, Washington, when a woman named Sonora Louise Smart Dodd heard a Mother's Day sermon at church. She wanted to honor her father, who raised six children by himself after his wife died. Sonora drew up a petition that was supported by the Young Men's Christian Association and the ministers of Spokane. In 1972, President Nixon established Father's Day as a permanent national observance. On Father's Day, 1988, President Ronald Reagan stated: "Children, vulnerable and dependent, desperately need security, and it has ever been a duty and a joy of fatherhood to offer it. Being a father requires strength in many ways...and more than a little courage...to persevere, to fight discouragement, and to keep working for the family." Reagan continued: "In that strength, and with God's grace, fathers find the patience to teach, the fortitude to provide, the compassion to comfort, and the mercy to forgive. All of this is to say that they find the strength to love their wives and children selflessly." President Reagan concluded: "Let us each take this occasion to express our thanks and affection to our fathers, whether we can do so in person or in prayer."

JUNE 20, 1632, King Charles I of England granted a charter for the Colony of Maryland, named for his wife, Queen Henrietta Maria, stating: "Charles, by the Grace of God, of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith...Whereas our well beloved...subject Coecilius Calvert, Baron of Baltimore, in our Kingdom of Ireland...being animated with a laudable, and pious Zeal for extending the Christian Religion...hath humbly besought Leave of Us that he may transport, by his own...expense, a numerous Colony of the English Nation, to certain...parts of America...partly occupied by Savages, having no Knowledge of the Divine Being." Maryland's Charter continued: "With the increasing Worship and Religion of Christ within said Region...shall...be built...Churches, Chapels, and Places of Worship." Lord Baltimore sent two ships, the Ark and the Dove, to settle the colony. Buying land from the Indians, they founded the city of St. Mary's, as a refuge for persecuted Catholics. In 1649, they extended liberty to Protestants by issuing the Toleration Act, which stated: "That no person...within this province...professing to believe in Jesus Christ shall...from henceforth be any ways troubled or molested...in respect of his or her religion."

The U.S. Constitution went into effect JUNE 21, 1788, when New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratified it. The 55 writers of the U.S. Constitution consisted of: 26 Episcopalians, 11 Presbyterians, 7 Congregationalists, 2 Lutherans, 2 Dutch Reformed, 2 Methodists, 2 Roman Catholics, 2 Quakers and 1 Deist-Dr. Franklin, who stated during the Constitutional Convention, June 28, 1787: "I therefore beg leave to move-that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning." The Journal of the U.S. House of Representatives, March 27, 1854, recorded the 33rd Congress' unanimous vote to print Congressman James Meacham's report, which stated: "At the adoption of the Constitution, we believe every State-certainly 10 of the 13-provided as regularly for the support of the Church as for the support of the Government...Down to the Revolution, every colony did sustain religion in some form. It was deemed peculiarly proper that the religion of liberty should be upheld by a free people." Congressman Meacham concluded: "Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle."

In Medieval Europe no one voted except the kings. In colonial America only landowners voted. After the Revolution, States gradually let those without land vote, but many had religious and literacy tests. In 1870, the 15th Amendment let former slaves vote. In 1920, the 19th Amendment let women vote. In 1924, American Indians could vote in Federal Elections. In 1961, the 23rd Amendment let District of Columbia residents vote in Federal Elections. In 1964, the 24th Amendment let vote those who could not pay a poll tax. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act removed literacy tests. On JUNE 22, 1970, President Nixon extended the Voting Rights Act to let 18-year-olds vote. The Supreme Court, in Oregon v Mitchell, limited this right so the 26th Amendment was passed in 1971 to confirm it. President Nixon stated March 24, 1970: "In other areas, too, there were long struggles to eliminate discrimination...Property and even religious qualifications for voting persisted well into the 19th century-and not until 1920 were women finally guaranteed the right to vote." On August 24, 1972, Nixon said: "For the first time in the 195-year history of this country, men and women 18 to 21 years of age will have the chance to vote."

Indians along the Delaware River called themselves "Lenape," meaning in Algonquin "the people," and were in three clans: Turtle, Wolf and Turkey. William Penn, called "Miquon" meaning quill, and Turtle chief Tamanend made a peace treaty JUNE 23, 1683, under an elm tree in what was to be Philadelphia. The Peace Treaty with the peaceful Quakers lasted 70 years. In 1697, Tamanend's last message before he died was "We and Christians of this river have always had a free roadway to one another, and though sometimes a tree has fallen cross the road, yet we have removed it again and kept the path clear." During the French & Indian War, the Turkey clan attacked English settlers. In 1778, Turtle clan chief Gelelemend signed the first Indian treaty with the U.S. Government and later was converted to Christianity by German Moravian missionaries. The Wolf clan converted, being called Christian Munsee, but were mistakenly confused with hostile Indians and tragically many were killed. The Lenape Indians fled to Canada, Oklahoma and Kansas, where in 1861, John Henry Killbuck, great-grandson of Chief Gelelemend, was born. John attended the Moravian Seminary and in 1884 was one of the first Christian missionaries to the Yupik Indians in Alaska.

His travels were exceeded only by Lewis and Clark. He led expeditions up the Missouri River, discovered the South Pass through the Rockies and the first land route to California. He led settlers across the Santa Fe Trail, the Mojave Desert and up the Oregon Coast. His name was Jedediah Smith, born JUNE 24, 1798. In a letter to his brother, Ralph, December 24, 1829, Jedediah Smith wrote: "Many Hostile tribes of Indians inhabit this Space...In August 1827, ten Men who were in company with me lost their lives by the Amuchabas Indians...in July 1828, fifteen men who were in company with me lost their lives by the Umpquah Indians...Many others have lost their lives in different parts...My Brother...I have need of your Prayers...to bear me up before the Throne of Grace." On May 27, 1831, Jedediah Smith was ambushed by Comanches near Sante fe and killed. Just four months earlier, January 26, 1831, Jedediah Smith wrote to his brother Ralph in Wayne County, Ohio: "Some, who have made a profession of Christianity & have by their own negligence caused the Spirit to depart think their day of grace is over; but where did they find Such doctrine? I find our Saviour ever entreating & wooing us."

The Korean War started JUNE 25, 1950. Communist North Korea invaded South Korea, killing thousands. General Douglas MacArthur was given command of the U.N. Forces and after a daring landing of troops at Inchon, he recaptured the city of Seoul. Political involvement prolonged the war, resulting in high casualties. President Truman stated in his 1952 Christmas Message: "Our hearts turn first of all to our brave men and women in Korea. They are fighting and suffering and even dying that we may preserve the chance of peace in the world." President Truman continued: "Let us remember always to try to act...in the spirit of the Prince of Peace. He bore in His heart no hate and no malice-nothing but love for all mankind. We should...follow His example...As we pray for our men and women in Korea...let us also pray for our enemies...Through Jesus Christ the world will yet be a better and a fairer place." General Douglas MacArthur stated: "History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster."

The United Nations Charter was signed JUNE 26, 1945, by 51 member nations. Two months earlier, President Truman addressed the delegates: "At no time in history has there been a more important Conference than this one in San Francisco which you are opening today...As we are about to undertake our heavy duties, we beseech our Almighty God to guide us in the building of a permanent monument to those who gave their lives that this moment might come." In 1953, President Eisenhower addressed the UN: "The whole book of history reveals mankind's never-ending quest for peace and mankind's God-given capacity to build." As UN actions began opposing the U.S., former President Herbert Hoover told the American Newspaper Publishers Association in 1959: "I suggest that the United Nations be reorganized...with those peoples who disavow communism, who stand for morals and religion, and who love freedom...What the world needs today is a definite, spiritual mobilization of the nations who believe in God against this tide of Red agnosticism." Hoover continued: "It is a proposal for moral and spiritual cooperation of God-fearing free nations...rejecting an atheistic other world."

Helen Keller was born JUNE 27, 1880. At the age of two she suffered an illness that left her blind and deaf. Her parents took her to Dr. Alexander Graham Bell who recommended the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston. There, at age of 7, Helen was tutored by Anne Sullivan through the sense of touch. Eventually Helen Keller learned to read Braille and began attending Radcliffe College, where Anne Sullivan interpreted lectures. Helen became concerned about all the blind, especially those blinded in war or by poor working conditions. She received numerous international honors for her efforts. Helen Keller learned to type on a Braille typewriter and wrote many books between 1903-41, including: The Story of My Life, Optimism, The World I Live In, The Song of the Stone Wall, Out of the Dark, My Religion, Midstream, Let Us Have Faith, and The Open Door. Helen Keller stated: "The Bible is one mighty representative of the whole spiritual life of humanity." Helen Keller wrote: "I thank God for my handicaps, for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God." Helen Keller concluded: "Four things to learn in life: To think clearly without hurry...To love everybody sincerely...To act in everything with the highest motives...To trust God unhesitatingly."

The Constitutional Convention was in a deadlock over how large and small states could be represented equally. Some delegates even gave up and left. Then, on JUNE 28, 1787, 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin spoke and shortly after, the U.S. Constitution became a reality. As recorded by James Madison, Franklin stated: "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." Franklin continued: "In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard and 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...And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?" Franklin concluded: "We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that 'except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it.'...I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed...no better than the Builders of Babel."

"I would rather be right than President," stated Henry Clay, who died JUNE 29, 1852. The son of a Baptist minister, he was elected Speaker of the U.S. House 6 times, serving in Congress over 40 years with Daniel Webster and John Calhoun. The State of Kentucky placed Henry Clay's statue in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall. Struggling to hold the Union together prior to the Civil War, Henry Clay stated in 1829 to the Kentucky Colonization Society in Frankfort: "Eighteen hundred years have rolled away since the Son of God...offered Himself...for the salvation of our species...When we shall...be translated from this into another form of existence...we shall behold the common Father of the whites and blacks, the great Ruler of the Universe." In an obituary address upon his death, Representative John C. Breckinridge recalled Henry Clay as saying: "The vanity of the world, and its insufficiency to satisfy the soul of man, has been long a settled conviction of my mind. Man's inability to secure by his own merits the approbation of God, I feel to be true. I trust in the atonement of the Saviour of mercy, as the ground of my acceptance and of my hope of salvation."

The first settlement in North America was Fort Caroline at St. John's River in Florida, founded by French Christians known as Huguenots. On JUNE 30, 1564, they set a day of Thanksgiving and offered the first Protestant prayer in North America: "We sang a psalm of Thanksgiving unto God, beseeching Him that it would please Him to continue His accustomed goodness towards us." Rep. Charles E. Bennett sponsored a bill, September 21, 1950, establishing the Fort Caroline National Memorial. In 1989, Rep. Bennett recited the history: "The 425th anniversary of the beginning settlements by Europeans...renamed from Fort Caroline to San Mateo, to San Nicolas, to Cowford and finally to Jacksonville in 1822...Three small ships carrying 300 Frenchmen led by Rene de Laudonniere anchored in the river known today as the St. Johns." Charles Bennett continued: "On June 30, 1564, construction of a triangular-shaped fort...was begun with the help of a local tribe of Timucuan Indians...Home for this hardy group of Huguenots,..their strong religious...motivations inspired them." Rep. Bennett ended: "Fort Caroline existed but for a short time...Spain...captured...the fort and...slaughtered most of its inhabitants in September of 1565."

Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders charged up Cuba's San Juan Hill and captured it JULY 1, 1898. After eight hours of heavy fighting over 1,500 Americans lay dead or wounded. Just 4 months prior the U.S. ship Maine was blown up in Havana's Harbor. Teddy Roosevelt resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and organized the first volunteer cavalry, made up of polo riders, cowboys and even Indians. President James Buchanan previously stated December 19, 1859: "When a market for African slaves shall no longer be furnished in Cuba...Christianity and civilization may gradually penetrate the existing gloom." President Ulysses S. Grant stated December 2, 1872: "Slavery in Cuba is...a terrible evil....It is greatly to be hoped that...Spain will voluntarily adopt...emancipation...in sympathy with the other powers of the Christian and civilized world." On July 6, 1898, after the battle, President McKinley wrote: "At a time...of the...glorious achievements of the naval and military arms...at Santiago de Cuba, it is fitting that we should pause and...reverently bow before the throne of divine grace and give devout praise to God, who holdeth the nations in the hollow of His Hands."

One bullet grazed his elbow, but a second lodged in the back of President James Garfield, who was shot JULY 2, 1881, as he waited in the Washington, D.C., train station. He had been in office four months. Though not wounded seriously, unsterile medical practices caused him to die two months later. A distinguished Civil War major general, James Garfield was also a college president and a preacher for the Disciples of Christ. In his Inaugural Address, March 4, 1881, President James Garfield stated: "Let our people find a new meaning in the divine oracle which declares that 'a little child shall lead them,' for our own little children will soon control the destinies of the Republic." President Garfield continued: "Our children will not be divided...concerning our controversies. They will surely bless their fathers and their fathers' God that the Union was preserved, that slavery was overthrown, and that both races were made equal before the law." Earlier, as a U.S. Congressman chairing the Committee on Appropriations, James Garfield stated July 4, 1876: "If the next century does not find us a great nation...it will be because those who represent the...morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces."

Washington, D.C., was in a panic as 70,000 Confederate troops were marching toward it just sixty miles away. The furious fighting lasted three days. As General Lee found his ammunition running low, he ordered General Pickett to make a direct attack. After an hour of murderous fire and bloody hand-to-hand combat, the Confederates were pushed back and the Battle of Gettysburg was finally over JULY 3, 1863, with over 50,000 casualties. President Abraham Lincoln confided to a general wounded in the battle: "When everyone seemed panic-stricken...I went to my room...and got down on my knees before Almighty God and prayed." Days later, July 15, 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving, Praise and Prayer: "It is meet and right to recognize and confess the presence of the Almighty Father and the power of His hand equally in these triumphs and in these sorrows....I invite the people of the United States to...render the homage due to the Divine Majesty for the wonderful things He has done in the nation's behalf and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to subdue the anger which has produced and so long sustained a needless and cruel rebellion."

The Declaration of Independence was approved JULY 4, 1776. John Hancock signed first, saying "the price on my head has just doubled." Benjamin Franklin said "We must hang together or most assuredly we shall hang separately." Of the 56 signers: 17 lost their fortunes, 12 had their homes destroyed, 5 became prisoners of war, 1 had two sons imprisoned on the British starving ship Jersey, 1 had a son killed in battle, 1 had his wife die from harsh prison treatment and 9 signers died during the War. As Samuel Adams signed the Declaration, he said: "We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come." John Adams said: "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." Adams continued: "I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration...Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory...Posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even though we [may regret] it, which I trust in God we shall not."

Once political enemies, they became close friends in later life. Both served in the Continental Congress. One was elected the second President and the other elected the third. An awe swept America when they died on the same day, JULY 4, 1826, exactly 50 years since they both signed the Declaration of Independence. Their names were John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. In his Second Annual Message to Congress, December 5, 1826, President John Quincy Adams stated: "Since your last meeting at this place, the fiftieth anniversary of the day when our independence was declared...two of the principal actors in that solemn scene - the hand that penned the ever-memorable Declaration and the voice that sustained it in debate - were by one summons, at the distance of 700 miles from each other, called before the Judge of All to account for their deeds done upon earth." President John Quincy Adams added in an Executive Order, July 11, 1826: "A coincidence...so wonderful gives confidence... that the patriotic efforts of these...men were Heaven directed, and furnishes a new...hope that the prosperity of these States is under the special protection of a kind Providence."

A decade prior to the Civil War there were two major political parties in the United States: Democrats, favoring freedom of choice to own slaves; and Whigs, wanting a big tent party. In Ripon, Wisconsin, anti-slavery activists met on February 28, 1854, then held their first State Convention in Jackson, Michigan, JULY 6, 1854. They named their party Republican, with the chief plank being "to prohibit...those twin relics of barbarism: polygamy and slavery." Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican President, appointed Justice Stephen Field, who wrote in the Supreme Court decision Davis v. Beason, 1890: "Bigamy and polygamy are crimes by the laws of all civilized and Christian countries...They...destroy the purity of the marriage relation...degrade woman and debase man...There have been sects which denied...there should be any marriage tie, and advocated promiscuous intercourse of the sexes as prompted by the passions of its members...Should a sect of either of these kinds ever find its way into this country, swift punishment would follow...The constitutions of several States, in providing for religious freedom, have declared expressly that such freedom shall not be construed to excuse acts of licentiousness."

Hawaii became a U.S. Territory JULY 7, 1898, as President McKinley signed the Treaty of Annexation. Discovered by Captain James Cook in 1778, the islands were united by King Kamehamaha. After his death in 1819, his wife and son abolished the pagan religion which practiced human sacrifice. The next year the first missionaries, led by Hiram Bingham, arrived from New England, creating a written language and translating the Bible. Hawaii's Motto, "The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness," was first uttered by Queen Ke'opuolani in 1825 as she was baptized into the Christian faith. Kawaiaha'o, the first Christian Church in Hawaii, was built between 1836-1842 in New England style architecture. It was called the "Westminster Abbey of Hawaii." Fourteen thousand coral slabs, quarried by hand from reefs 10 to 20 feet under water, comprise the main structure. Each slab weighed more than 1,000 pounds. On April 19, 1970, President Nixon spoke at the church, saying: "Reverend Akaka...I wanted to attend...this great church, with all of its history that is here...having in mind the fact that today...you will be commemorating the 150th anniversary of Christianity in...these islands."

The Liberty Bell got its name from being rung JULY 8, 1776, to call the citizens of Philadelphia together to hear the Declaration of Independence read out loud for the first time. Made in England, this massive bell, weighing over 2000 pounds, was rung on each successive anniversary, until 1835, when it cracked on JULY 8 while tolling at the funeral of the famous Supreme Court Justice John Marshall. Inscribed on the Liberty Bell is a verse from the Old Testament Book of Leviticus, chapter 25, verse 10: "Proclaim Liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." At the 150th anniversary of the Declaration, 1926, President Calvin Coolidge stated: "People at home and abroad consider Independence Hall as hallowed ground and revere the Liberty Bell as a sacred relic. That pile of bricks and mortar, that mass of metal, might appear as only the outgrown meeting place and the shattered bell...but to those who know, they have become consecrated. They are the framework of a spiritual event." Calvin Coolidge continued: "The world looks upon them because of their associations of 150 years ago, as it looks upon the Holy Land because of what took place there nineteen hundred years ago."

"Old Rough and Ready" died JULY 9, 1850. He fought the British in the War of 1812, the Sac Indians in the Black Hawk War, and the Seminole Indians in Florida. Zachary Taylor's courageous victories in the Mexican War, being greatly outnumbered by Santa Anna's forces, made him a national hero. Zachary Taylor was elected the 12th U.S. President. Presented with a Bible by a delegation of ladies from Frankfort, Kentucky, President Zachary Taylor's acknowledgment was printed in the Frankfort Commonwealth, February 21, 1849: "I accept with gratitude...your gift of this inestimable Volume. It was for the love of the truths of this great Book that our fathers abandoned their native shores for the wilderness. Animated by its lofty principles they toiled and suffered till the desert blossomed as a rose." Zachary Taylor continued: "The same truths sustained them...to become a free nation; and guided by the wisdom of this Book they founded a government." Refusing to be sworn in on the Sabbath, President Zachary Taylor told a Sabbath-School celebration in the City of Washington, July 4, 1849: "The only ground of hope for the continuance of our free institutions is in the proper moral and religious training of the children."

Millard Fillmore became the 13th President, JULY 10, 1850, when President Zachary Taylor died unexpectedly. President Millard Fillmore stated: "A great man has fallen among us and a whole country is called to...mourning...I dare not shrink; and I rely upon Him who holds in His hands the destinies of nations to endow me with the requisite strength for the task." President Millard Fillmore was remembered for sending Commodore Perry to open trade with Japan, admitting California, which had just begun the Gold Rush, into the Union as a free state, and when the Library of Congress caught on fire, he and his Cabinet formed a bucket brigade to help extinguish the flames. After being sworn into office, President Millard Fillmore, who was a member of the Episcopal Church, stated: "The Sabbath day I always kept as a day of rest. Besides being a religious duty, it was essential to health. On commencing my Presidential career, I found that the Sabbath had frequently been employed by visitors for private interviews with the President. I determined to put an end to this custom, and ordered my doorkeeper to meet all Sunday visitors with an indiscriminate refusal."

He intentionally fired into the air, but his political rival, Aaron Burr, took deadly aim and fatally shot him in a duel JULY 11, 1804. Born in the West Indies, he fought in the Revolution and was aide-de-camp to General Washington. He helped write the Constitution and convinced the States to ratify it by writing The Federalist Papers. His name was Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury. In "The Farmer Refuted," February 23, 1775, Hamilton wrote: "The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the Hand of the Divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power." Alexander Hamilton continued: "Good and wise men, in all ages...have supposed that the Deity, from the relations we stand in to Himself, and to each other, has constituted an eternal and immutable law, which is indispensably obligatory upon all mankind." On April 16, 1802, Hamilton wrote to James Bayard: "Let an association be formed to be denominated 'The Christian Constitutional Society,' its object to be first: The support of Christian religion; second: The support of the United States."

Born a slave around JULY 12, 1864, George Washington Carver became a scientist of international renown. On January 21, 1921, Carver addressed the United States House Ways and Means Committee on behalf of the United Peanut Growers Association on the use of peanuts to improve Southern economy. Initially given ten minutes to speak, the committee was so captivated, his time was extended. Explaining the many products derived from the peanut, including milk, mock beef and mock chicken, George Washington Carver stated: "If you go to the first chapter of Genesis, we can interpret very clearly, I think, what God intended when he said 'Behold, I have given you every herb that bears seed. To you it shall be meat.' This is what He means about it. It shall be meat. There is everything there to strengthen and nourish and keep the body alive and healthy." After nearly two hours, the chairman asked: "Dr. Carver, how did you learn all of these things?" Carver answered: "From an old book" "What book?" asked the Chairman. Carver replied, "The Bible." The Chairman inquired, "Does the Bible tell about peanuts?" "No, Sir" Dr. Carver replied, "It tells about the God who made the peanut. I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut and He did."

After George Washington retired from being President, he became Commander-in-Chief of the Army for a second time. The year before he died he received an urgent plea from President John Adams, as France, in the midst of revolution, was demanding extortion payments not to harass American ships. The cry went out "Millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute." Washington agreed and replied, JULY 13, 1798: "Satisfied, therefore, that you have...exhausted, to the last drop, the cup of reconciliation, we can, with pure hearts, appeal to Heaven for the justice of our cause; and may confidently trust the final result to that kind Providence who has, heretofore, and so often, signally favored the people of these United States." George Washington continued: "Thinking in this manner, and feeling how incumbent it is upon every person, of every description, to contribute at all times to his country's welfare, and especially in a moment like the present, when everything we hold dear and sacred is so seriously threatened, I have finally determined to accept the commission of Commander in Chief of the Armies of the United States." Then, on March 6, 1799, President John Adams declared a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer to the Most High God."

Leslie Lynch King, Jr., born JULY 14, 1913, was the 38th President of the United States. Renamed by his stepfather, he was the only Eagle Scout to be President. On a football scholarship, he attended the University of Michigan, graduated from Yale Law School and served in the Navy during World War II. He was House Minority Leader until Richard Nixon resigned, when he became the only President not elected. His name was Gerald Rudolph Ford, who stated upon assuming the Presidency, August 9, 1974: "I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers." On September 8, 1974, President Ford stated: "The Constitution is the supreme law of our land and it governs our actions as citizens. Only the laws of God, which govern our consciences, are superior to it. As we are a Nation under God, so I am sworn to uphold our laws with the help of God." In a Proclamation of Prayer, December 5, 1974, President Ford quoted President Eisenhower: "Without God there could be no American form of government...Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first-the most basic-expression of Americanism."

The Continental Congress was evacuating Philadelphia as the British had just won the Battle of Brandywine, forcing Washington's troops to retreat to Valley Forge. In addition, Congress was informed that the war had interrupted trade with the King's authorized printers in England, thereby causing a shortage of Bibles, commonly used in education. The Continental Congress voted September 11, 1777, to import Bibles from Scotland or Holland into different parts of the Union, stating: "The use of the Bible is so universal and its importance so great...it was resolved accordingly to direct said Committee of Commerce to import 20,000 copies of the Bible." Five years later, September 10, 1782, the Continental Congress again responded to the shortage of Bibles by authorizing the publisher of The Pennsylvania Magazine, Robert Aitken, who died JULY 15, 1802, to print America's first English language Bible- "A neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools." Congress stated: "Resolved, That the United States in Congress assembled highly approve the...undertaking of Mr. Aitken...and...recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States, and hereby authorize him to publish this recommendation."

Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy JULY 16, 1969, being the first mission to walk on the moon. In Proclamation 3919, President Richard Nixon stated: "Apollo 11 is on its way to the moon. It carries three brave astronauts; it also carries the hopes and prayers of hundreds of millions of people...That moment when man first sets foot on a body other than earth will stand through the centuries as one supreme in human experience...I call upon all of our people...to join in prayer for the successful conclusion of Apollo 11's mission." President Richard Nixon spoke to the astronauts on the moon, July 20, 1969: "This certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made from the White House...The heavens have become a part of man's world...For one priceless moment in the whole history of man all the people on this earth are truly one...one in our prayers that you will return safely to earth." President Nixon greeted the astronauts on the U.S.S. Hornet, July 24, 1969: "The millions who are seeing us on television now...feel as I do, that...our prayers have been answered...I think it would be very appropriate if Chaplain Piirto, the Chaplain of this ship, were to offer a prayer of thanksgiving."

Apostle of the Indies, Bartolome' de Las Casas," died JULY 17, 1566. He left Spain in 1502 for the West Indies and later returned to Europe. Then he heard Dominican Father Antonio de Montesinos speak Pentecost Sunday, August 15, 1511, on the verse: "I am a voice crying in the wilderness." Las Casas returned to the Americas and dedicated his life to helping Indians. He became the first priest ordained in the New World. Las Casas petitioned King Ferdinand and later Emperor Charles V to end military conquest and use peaceful means to convert Indians, as he explained in his treatise "Concerning the Only Way of Drawing All Peoples to the True Religion." When Las Casas' writings "A brief report on the Destruction of the Indians" and "Apologetica historia de las Indias" were translated in Europe, an outrage arose, pressuring Spain to enact New Laws protecting Indians, though colonists largely ignored them. Las Casas declared in his tract Confesionario that any Spaniard who refused to release his Indians is to be denied absolution. Las Casas stated: "The main goal of divine Providence in the discovery of these tribes...is...the conversion and well-being of souls, and to this goal everything temporal must necessarily be directed."

Prior to the Revolution, British troops were marching toward Fort Duquesne when they were ambushed by the French and Indians. Not accustomed to fighting unless in an open field, the British were annihilated. 23-year-old Colonel George Washington rode back and forth during the battle delivering orders for General Braddock. Eventually, Braddock was killed and every officer on horseback was shot, except Washington. George Washington wrote of the Battle of Monongahela to his brother John, JULY 18, 1755: "As I have heard, since my arrival at this place, a circumstantial account of my death and dying speech, I take this early opportunity of contradicting the first, and of assuring you, that I have not as yet composed the latter. But by the All-Powerful Dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!" An Indian warrior later declared: "Washington was never born to be killed by a bullet! I had seventeen fair fires at him with my rifle and after all could not bring him to the ground!"

"V" for Victory! It was on JULY 19, 1941, that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill held up two fingers as a sign of victory. It became a symbol for all Western European resistance during WWII, with V signs painted on walls and over Nazi posters. A year earlier, Churchill stated before the House of Commons, June 18, 1940: "I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization....The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war." Churchill continued: "If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science." Churchill concluded: "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'"

"One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," stated Neil Armstrong, JULY 20, 1969, as he became the first man to walk on the moon. He, along with Colonel Aldrin, had landed their lunar module, the "Eagle," and spent a total of 21 hours and 37 minutes on the moon's surface, before redocking with the command ship "Columbia." Addressing a joint session of Congress, September 16, 1969, Commander Neil Armstrong stated: "To those of you who have advocated looking high we owe our sincere gratitude, for you have granted us the opportunity to see some of the grandest views of the Creator." Years later, April 21, 1972, Astronauts Charles Duke and John Young explored the rugged highlands of the moon's Descartes region during the Apollo 16 mission. On June 22, 1996, in Lila Cockrell Theatre, San Antonio, Texas, during a Prayer Rally at the State Republican Convention, Astronaut Charles Duke stated: "I used to say I could live ten thousand years and never have an experience as thrilling as walking on the moon. But the excitement and satisfaction of that walk doesn't begin to compare with my walk with Jesus, a walk that lasts forever."

The Monkey Trial ended JULY 21, 1925, as John Scopes, a Tennessee High school biology teacher was fined for teaching a theory of origins called evolution. William Jennings Bryan, a three time Democrat Presidential candidate, was the prosecuting attorney arguing against evolution. Bryan objected to a tooth being presented as proof of humans evolving from apes. Later the tooth was found to be that of an extinct pig. William Jennings Bryan was a Colonel in the Spanish-American War, a U.S. Representative and Secretary of State under President Wilson. He edited the Omaha World Herald and founded The Commoner newspaper. Dying just 5 days after the trial, William Jennings Bryan's statue is in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall. He gave over 600 public speeches during his Presidential campaigns, one of his favorites being "The Prince of Peace." William Jennings Bryan stated: "I am interested in the science of government but I am more interested in religion...I enjoy making a political speech...but I would rather speak on religion than on politics. I commenced speaking on the stump when I was only twenty, but I commenced speaking in the church six years earlier-and I shall be in the church even after I am out of politics."

"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on," wrote poet Carl Sandburg, who died JULY 22, 1967. A son of Swedish immigrants who worked on the railroad, Sandburg left school after 8th grade, borrowed his father's railroad pass and traveled as a hobo. He volunteered for military service, was sent to Puerto Rico in the Spanish-American War, and then attended college on a veteran's bill. Carl Sandburg wrote children's fairytales, called Rootabaga Stories, and mused of his wanderings in American Songbag. In 1926, he wrote Abraham Lincoln-The Prairie Years, and in 1939 he wrote Abraham Lincoln-The War Years, for which he received a Pulitzer Prize. In 1959, Sandburg was invited to address Congress on Lincoln's birthday. In his Complete Poems, for which he won a Pulitzer, 1951, Carl Sandburg wrote: "All my life I have been trying to learn to read, to see and hear, and to write. At sixty-five I began my first novel...It could be, in the grace of God, I shall live to be eighty-nine...I might paraphrase: 'If God had let me live five years longer I should have been a writer.'" Carl Sandburg wrote: "I see America not in the setting sun of a black night of despair...I see America in the crimson light of a rising sun fresh from the burning, creative hand of God."

Roger Sherman was the only person to sign all four of America's founding documents: the Articles of Association-1774, Declaration of Independence-1776, Articles of Confederation-1777, and U.S. Constitution-1787. At age 19, Roger Sherman's father died and he supported his family as a shoe cobbler. He helped two younger brothers attend college and become clergymen. Roger Sherman was a surveyor and merchant, but when a neighbor needed legal advice, he studied to help, only to be inspired to be a lawyer. Roger Sherman was elected a state senator, a judge and a delegate to the Continental Congress. He helped draft the Declaration of Independence and gave instructions to an embassy to Canada: "That all civil rights and the right to hold office were to be extended to persons of any Christian denomination." Roger Sherman made 138 speeches at the Constitutional Convention, and in the first session of Congress, thought a First Amendment unnecessary, as religion was under each States' jurisdiction. Elected a U.S. Senator at age 70, Roger Sherman died JULY 23, 1793. Inscribed on his tomb is: "He ever adorned the profession of Christianity which he made in youth and...died in the prospect of a blessed immortality."

Tennessee's Constitutional Convention composed its State Constitution in 1796. The U.S. Congress accepted it and President George Washington signed the bill admitting Tennessee as the 16th State on June 1, 1796. The Tennessee Constitution, Article XI, Section III, stated: "All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences." Though Article XI, Section IV, stated: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under this State," Article VIII, Section II, stated: "No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this State." After the Civil War, Tennessee was the first State readmitted to the Union on JULY 24, 1866. President Andrew Johnson issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Pardon to former Confederates on September 7, 1867: "Every person who shall seek to avail himself of this proclamation shall take the following oath...'I do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support...the Constitution of the United States...So help me God.'"

Ulysses S. Grant was commissioned JULY 25, 1866, as General of the Army, the first to hold that rank. His Civil War victories resulted in his election as the 18th U.S. President. In his First Annual Message, December 6, 1869, President Grant wrote: "The Society of Friends...succeeded in living in peace with the Indians in the early settlement of Pennsylvania...These considerations induced me to give the management of a few reservations of Indians to them." In his 2nd Annual Message, December 5, 1870, President Grant wrote: "Religious denominations as had established missionaries among the Indians...are expected to watch over them and aid them...to Christianize and civilize the Indians, and to train him in the arts of peace." To Congress, January 1, 1871, President Grant wrote: "Indians of the country should be encouraged...to adopt our form of government, and it is highly desirable that they become self-sustaining, self-relying, Christianized, and civilized." In his 3rd Annual Message, December 4, 1871, President Ulysses S. Grant wrote: "I recommend liberal appropriations to carry out the Indian peace policy, not only because it is humane and Christianlike...but because it is right."

On JULY 26, 1775, Benjamin Franklin became the first U.S. Postmaster General, a position he held prior to the Revolution under the British Crown. He established a volunteer fire department, a circulating public library, an insurance company, a city police force, a night watch and a militia. He set up the lighting of city streets and coined the electrical terms "positive" and "negative." On June 28, 1787, as Governor of Pennsylvania, Benjamin Franklin hosted the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, where he moved: "That henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning." Franklin wrote April 17, 1787: "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." Benjamin Franklin wrote his own epitaph: "THE BODY of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN - Printer. Like the cover of an old book, Its contents torn out, And stripped of its lettering and gilding, Lies here, food for worms; Yet the work itself shall not be lost, For it will (as he believed) appear once more, In a new, And more beautiful edition, Corrected and amended By The AUTHOR."

"FREEDOM IS NOT FREE" is the inscription on the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C. The Korean War ended JULY 27, 1953, with the armistice signed at Panmunjom. Begun three years earlier as a UN "police" action, the outnumber U.S. troops fought courageously against the Communist Chinese and North Korean troops, who were supplied with arms and MIG fighters from the Soviet Union. With temperatures sometimes forty degrees below zero, and Washington politicians limiting the use of air power against the Communists, there were nearly 140,000 American casualties in the defense of the Pusan Perimeter and Taego; in the landing at Inchon and the freeing of Seoul; in the capture of Pyongyang; in the Yalu River where nearly a million Communist Chinese soldiers invaded; in the Battles of Changjin Reservoir, Old Baldy, White Horse Mountain, Heartbreak Ridge, Pork Chop Hill, T-Bone Hill, and Siberia Hill. First Lady Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower stated in a conversation at the Doud home regarding their son John, who was serving in Korea: "He has a mission to fulfill and God will see to it that nothing will happen to him till he fulfills it."

The 14th Amendment was adopted JULY 28, 1868, because southern States, though forced to end slavery by the 13th Amendment, did not grant citizenship to freed slaves. Black Codes were passed requiring freed slaves to be "apprenticed" to "employers" and punished any who left. Illinois Republican Congressman John Farnsworth said March 31, 1871: "The reason for the adoption [of the 14th Amendment]...was because of...discriminating...legislation of those States...by which they were punishing one class of men under different laws from another class." Republican John Bingham of Ohio, who introduced the 14th Amendment, said: "I repel the suggestion...that the Amendment will...take away from any State any right that belongs to it." After the Amendment was ratified, though, Federal judges did just as Thomas Jefferson had warned Mr. Hammond in 1821: "The germ of dissolution of our...government is in...the federal judiciary...working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little today and a little tomorrow...until all shall be usurped from the States." Thus the 14th Amendment, written to give rights to freed slaves, became used by Federal Courts to take other rights, eventually religion, away from States' jurisdiction.

Alexis de Tocqueville was born JULY 29, 1805. A French social scientist who traveled the United States in 1831, he wrote in Democracy in America: "Religion in America...must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it...This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or a party, but it belongs to the whole nation." De Tocqueville stated: "The sects that exist in the United States are innumerable. They all differ in respect to the worship which is due to the Creator; but they all agree in respect to the duties which are due from man to man. Each sect adores the Deity in its own peculiar manner, but all sects preach the same moral law in the name of God...Moreover, all the sects of the United States are comprised within the great unity of Christianity, and Christian morality is everywhere the same." De Tocqueville added: "There is no country in the whole world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence than in America...and nothing better demonstrates how useful it is to man, since the country where it now has the widest sway is both the most enlightened and the freest."

King Charles II gave him land in America in payment of a debt owed to his father. As he had been imprisoned in the Tower of London for being a Quaker, he invited persecuted Christians of Europe to join his colony of religious toleration. Soon Quakers, Mennonites, Pietists, Amish, Anabaptists, Lutherans, Reformed, Moravians, Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, Dunkers (German Baptist), Brethren, Schwenckfelders, French Huguenots, Catholics and even Jews joined his "holy experiment." His name was William Penn, and he died JULY 30, 1718. His first city, named Philadelphia, meaning "Brotherly Love," allowed the only English-speaking Catholic Church in the world in 1733. Philadelphia's first synagogue was built in 1782. The Charter granted March 4, 1681, stated: "Whereas our trusty and well beloved subject, William Penn, Esquire, son and heir of Sir William Penn, deceased, out of a commendable desire to enlarge our English Empire...and also to reduce the savage natives by gentle and just manners to the Love of Civil Societe and Christian religion, hath humbly besought leave of us to transport an ample colony unto a certain country hereinafter describe in the parts of America not yet cultivated and planted."

On his third voyage, Columbus sailed south along the west coast of Africa and was caught in the doldrums, a notorious condition of no winds and intense heat. After drifting aimlessly for eight days, the winds returned, but now they were running low on water. Columbus promised to name the first new land he discovered after the Trinity. On JULY 31, 1498, he sighted an island off the coast of Venezuela having three peaks, which he named Trinidad. There they obtained fresh water and in the process were the first Europeans to see South America. Booker T. Washington referred to a similar story at the Atlanta Exposition, September 18, 1895: "A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal, 'Water, water; we die of thirst!' The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back, 'Cast down your bucket where you are.'...The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River." Booker T. Washington concluded: "I would say 'Cast down your bucket where you are'...making friends of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded."

"There she blows!" cried the lookout, sighting Moby Dick. Captain Ahab and his chief mate Starbuck sailed the seas to capture this great white whale. But as fate would have it, when the harpoon struck, the rope flew out entangling Ahab, pulling him under. This classic was written by Herman Melville, born AUGUST 1, 1819. Grandson of a Boston Tea Party Indian, Melville's father died when he was 12. Raised by a mother who inspired his imagination with biblical stories, Herman Melville shipped out as a cabin boy on a whaling ship and later sailed the South Seas with the Navy. He fell among Typee cannibals in the Marquesas Islands. Rescued, he wrote in an account: "These disclosures will...lead to...ultimate benefit to the cause of Christianity in the Sandwich Islands." In his classic novel, Moby Dick, Herman Melville wrote: "With this sin of disobedience... Jonah flouts at God...He thinks that a ship made by men will carry him into countries where God does not reign." In 1983, The U.S. District Court stated in Crockett v. Sorenson: "Better known works which rely on allusions from the Bible include Milton's Paradise Lost...Shakespeare...and Melville's Moby Dick...Secular education...demands that the student have a good knowledge of the Bible."

Navy torpedo boat PT 109 was rammed AUGUST 2, 1943, by a Japanese destroyer and sunk. The commander sustained permanent back injuries yet helped survivors swim miles to shore, which unfortunately was behind enemy lines in the Solomon Islands. After a daring rescue, he was awarded the Medal of heroism. Though one of his brothers was killed in the war, he went on to become a Congressman, Senator, and the 35th U.S. President. His name was John F. Kennedy, who stated in his Inaugural Address: "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." In the White House Rose Garden, November 21, 1961, John F. Kennedy said: "When we all - regardless of our particular religious convictions - draw our guidance and inspiration, and really, in a sense, moral direction, from the same general area, the Bible, the Old and the New Testaments, we have every reason to believe that our various religious denominations should live together in the closest harmony." Kennedy concluded: "The basic presumption of the moral law, the existence of God, man's relationship to Him - there is generally consensus on those questions."

"There are but 155 years left...at which time...the world will come to an end," wrote Christopher Columbus in his book Libro de Las Profecias, composed in 1502 between his 3rd and 4th voyages. "The sign which convinces me that our Lord is hastening the end of the world is the preaching of the Gospel recently in so many lands." Though his predictions were off, Columbus revealed his motivation for setting sail on his first voyage AUGUST 3, 1492, with the Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria: "I spent seven years in your royal Court arguing the case with so many persons of such authority and learned in all the arts, and in the end they concluded that all was idle nonsense...yet the outcome will be the fulfillment of what our Redeemer Jesus Christ said...that...all that was written by him and by the prophets to be fulfilled." Columbus continued: "The Holy Scriptures testify...that this world will come to an end...St. Augustine says that the end of this world will occur in the seventh millennium following the Creation." Columbus ended: "I have already said that for the execution of the enterprise of the Indies, neither reason, nor mathematics, nor world maps were profitable to me; rather the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled."

"To sink the foe or save the maimed, Our mission and our pride, We'll carry on 'til Kingdom Come, Ideals for which we've died." Thus went the anthem of the US Coast Guard, which was established AUGUST 4, 1790, when Congress authorized ten boats to be built for the Revenue Marine. Four years later they were charged with stopping slave-traders from bringing new slaves from Africa. They freed almost 500 slaves. President Herbert Hoover stated December 27, 1929: "A further proposal...is the definite expansion of the Coast Guard...in the matter of border patrol." On June 1, 1945, President Truman listed casualties of the Battle of Okinawa: "Navy and Coast Guard losses were 4,729 killed and 4,640 wounded." At the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London, September 20, 1952, Truman stated: "I was just reading...about the Coast Guard's icebreaker that has been closer to the North Pole than any other ship in delivering food and supplies to a station up there...That, my young friends, is what makes this country great." At a US Coast Guard commencement, May 18, 1988, President Reagan stated: "It's our prayer to serve America in peace. It's our commitment to defend her in war."

The first book printed in America was the Bay Psalm Book by John Eliot, who was baptized in England as an infant on AUGUST 5, 1604. Called "Apostle to the Indians," he sailed to America and preached his first sermon in the Algonquian language in 1646. He translated the Ten Commandments, Lord's Prayer and the Bible-the first to be printed in America, in 1663. In a 1674 census, 4,000 "Praying Indians" were in 14 self-ruling villages with houses, streets, bridges, and their own ministers. John Eliot wrote: "The Word of God is the perfect System of Laws to guide all moral actions of man." In a Brief Narrative, July 20, 1670, Eliot wrote: "These Indians being of kin to our Massachusett Indians...received amongst them the light and love of the Truth...On a day of Fasting and Prayer, Elders were ordained...The Teacher of the Praying Indians of Nantucket, with a Brother...who made good Confessions of Jesus Christ...did make report that there be about ninety families who pray unto God in that island, so effectual is the Light of the Gospel." Sadly, after the death of Pilgrim leader William Bradford and Indian chief Massasoit, tensions led to King Phillip's War in 1675 and hundreds of these Indians died.

Camelot and King Arthur's Court, Knights of the Round Table, Guinevere, Sir Lancelot, the Holy Grail - our imaginations soar with history and legend immortalized by poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, born AUGUST 6, 1809. Son of a clergyman, he recorded the courage of the British Cavalry in The Charge of the Light Brigade as they rode to their deaths fighting in Russia. Honored by Queen Victoria as Poet-Laureate, Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote: "Cast all your cares on God; that anchor holds." In 1905, U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Josiah Brewer referred to Tennyson in his lecture The Promise and Possibilities of the Future: "Some think...that we are mere atoms of matter tossed to and fro...Speaker Reed once said...great events of history were brought about by an intelligent and infinite Being...If you will reflect a little you will be led to the conclusion that, as Tennyson writes 'Through the ages one increasing purpose runs.'" Justice Brewer continued "If there be a purpose running through the life of the world, is it not plain that one thought in the divine plan was that in this republic should be unfolded and developed in the presence of the world the Christian doctrine of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man?"

The largest town in Kentucky had less than 2,000 people, yet 25,000 arrived at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, AUGUST 7, 1801, from as far away as Ohio and Tennessee, to hear Barton W. Stone and other Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian ministers. Part of the Second Great Awakening, these "camp meetings" were described by Rev. Moses Hodge: "Nothing that imagination can paint can make a stronger impression...Sinners dropping down on every hand, professors praying, others in raptures of joy!...There can be no question but it is of God, as the subjects...can give a clear and rational account of their conversion." The revival began in the lawlessness Kentucky frontier in 1797 when James McGready and his small church agreed to: "bind ourselves to observe the 3rd Saturday of each month for one year as a day of fasting and prayer for the conversion of sinners in Logan County and throughout the world...pleading with God to revive His work." Previously, in June of 1800, 500 gathered at the Red River and later 8,000 at the Gaspar River, some from 100 miles away. Reports stated: "The power of God seemed to shake the whole assembly...the cries of the distressed arose...No person seemed to wish to go home."

AUGUST 8, 1974, televised from the Oval Office, 37th President Richard Nixon said: "Good evening. This is the 37th time I have spoken to you from this office...To continue to fight...for my personal vindication would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the President and the Congress...Therefore, I shall resign...If some of my judgments were wrong...they were made in what I believed...to be the best interest of the Nation." Nixon continued: "In the Middle East, 100 million people in the Arab countries, many of whom have considered us their enemy...now look on us as their friends. We must continue to build on that friendship so that...the cradle of civilization will not become its grave." Nixon went on speaking: "I have taken heart from what Theodore Roosevelt once said about the man in the arena, 'whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...If he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.'...In leaving...I do so with this prayer: May God's grace be with you in all the days ahead." Privately to his Cabinet, President Nixon said: "Mistakes, yes...for personal gain, never...I can only say to each...of you...we come from many faiths...but really the same God...You will be in our hearts and...in our prayers."

“So great is my veneration for the Bible, and so strong my belief that, when duly read and meditated upon, it is of all books in the world that which contributes to make men good, wise, and happy, that the earlier my children begin to read it, and the more steadily they pursue the practice of reading it throughout their lives, the more lively and confident will be my hopes that they will prove useful citizens to their country, respectable members of society, and a real blessing to their parents.

“I have, myself, for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year. My custom is to read four or five chapters every morning, immediately after rising from bed. It employs about an hour of my time, and seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day.

“You know the difference between right and wrong. You know some of your duties, and the obligation you are under of becoming acquainted with them all. It is in the Bible you must learn them, and from the Bible how to practise them. Those duties are—to God, to your fellow-creatures, to yourself. ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself.’ On these two commandments (Jesus Christ expressly says) ‘hang all the law and the prophets.’ That is to say that the whole purpose of divine revelation is to inculcate them efficaciously upon the minds of men. Let us, then, search the Scriptures." -John Quincy Adam, Sixth President of the United States (The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States, Benjamin F. Morris (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 2007), p. 215.)

"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime & pure, [and] which denounces against the wicked eternal misery, and [which] insured to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." -Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Signer of the Declaration of Independence (Bernard C. Steiner, The Life and Correspondence of James McHenry (Cleveland: The Burrows Brothers, 1907), p. 475. In a letter from Charles Carroll to James McHenry of November 4, 1800.)

IN CONGRESS, November 1, 1777

FORASMUCH as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of; And it having pleased him in his abundant Mercy not only to continue to us the innumerable Bounties of his common Providence, but also to smile upon us in the Prosecution of a just and necessary War, for the Defence and Establishment of our unalienable Rights and Liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased in so great a Measure to prosper the Means used for the Support of our Troops and to crown our Arms with most signal success:

It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive powers of these United States, to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth Day of December next, for Solemn Thanksgiving and Praise; That with one Heart and one Voice the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor; and that together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favour, and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD, through the Merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance; That it may please him graciously to afford his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public Council of the whole; to inspire our Commanders both by Land and Sea, and all under them, with that Wisdom and Fortitude which may render them fit Instruments, under the Providence of Almighty GOD, to secure for these United States the greatest of all human blessings, INDEPENDENCE and PEACE; That it may please him to prosper the Trade and Manufactures of the People and the Labour of the Husbandman, that our Land may yet yield its Increase; To take Schools and Seminaries of Education, so necessary for cultivating the Principles of true Liberty, Virtue and Piety, under his nurturing Hand, and to prosper the Means of Religion for the promotion and enlargement of that Kingdom which consisteth "in Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost."

And it is further recommended, that servile Labour, and such Recreation as, though at other Times innocent, may be unbecoming the Purpose of this Appointment, be omitted on so solemn an Occasion. -Journals of the American Congress From 1774 to 1788 (Washington: Way and Gideon, 1823), Vol. II, pp. 309-310.

In 1777, Congress issued an official resolution instructing the Committee on Commerce to import 20,000 copies of the Bible. With the outbreak of war with England, the sea lanes had been cut off to the colonies. This meant that goods that were once common in the colonies were no longer being imported—including Bibles printed in England. Congress decided to act.

    The legislation of Congress on the Bible is a suggestive Christian fact, and one which evinces the faith of the statesmen of that period in its divinity, as well as their purpose to place it as the corner-stone in our republican institutions. The breaking out of the Revolution cut off the supply of "books printed in London." The scarcity of Bibles also came soon to be felt. Dr. PATRICK ALLISON, one of the chaplains to Congress, and other gentlemen, brought the subject before that body in a memorial, in which they urged the printing of an edition of the Scriptures.1

The committee approved the importing of 20,000 copies of the Bible from Scotland, Holland, and elsewhere. Congressmen resolved to pass this proposal because they believed that "the use of the Bible is so universal, and its importance so great."2 Even though the resolution passed, action was never taken. Instead, Congress began to put emphasis on the printing of Bibles within the United States. In 1777 Robert Aitken of Philadelphia published a New Testament. Three additional editions were published in 1789, 1779, and 1781. The edition of 1779 was used in schools. Aitken's efforts proved so popular that he announced his desire to publish the whole Bible; he then petitioned Congress for support.

1 Benjamin F. Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia, PA: G.W. Childs, 1864), 215. This 800-page book is available on CD from American Vision.

2 From a report submitted to Congress, quoted in John Wright, Early Bibles in America, 3rd rev. ed. (New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1894), 55.

Abigail Adams (1744-1818), was the wife of 2nd President, John Adams and the mother of 6th President, John Quincy Adams.  At the age of twenty she married John Adams and they had five children.  She strongly supported her husband's career.  Her letters and memoirs are now considered major historical documents revealing life during the Revolutionary era.

On October 16,1774, just prior to the outbreak of war with Great Britain, Abigail wrote to John Adams from their home in Braintree:

"I dare not express to you, at three hundred miles distance, how ardently I long for your return ... And whether the end will be tragical, Heaven only knows.  You cannot be, I know, nor do I wish to see you, an inactive spectator; but if the sword be drawn, I bid adieu to all domestic felicity, and look forward to that country where there are neither wars nor rumors of war, in a firm belief that through the mercy of its King we shall both rejoice there together...  Your most affectionate, Abigail Adams." ¹

On June 18, 1775, in the midst of the conflict with Britain, Abigail Adams writes to her husband John:

"The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; but the God of Israel is He that giveth strength and power unto His people.  Trust in Him at all times, ye people, pour out your hearts before Him; God is a refuge for us.  Abigail Adams." ²

Near the time of November 5, 1775, Abigail wrote to her friend, Mercy Warren:

"A patriot without religion in my estimation is as great a paradox as an honest Man without the fear of God.  Is it possible that he whom no moral obligations bind, can have any real Good Will towards Men?  Can he be a patriot who, by an openly vicious conduct, is undermining the very bonds of Society?...  The Scriptures tell us "righteousness exalteth a Nation." ³

On February 8,1797, Abigail writes to her husband John at the occasion of his election as the 2nd President of the United States:

"You have this day to declare yourself head of a nation.  'And now, O Lord, my God, Thou hast made thy servant ruler over the people.  Give unto him an understanding heart, that he may know how to go out and come in before this great people; that he may discern between good and bad.  For who is able to judge this thy so great a people?' were the words of a royal Sovereign; and not less applicable to him who is invested with the Chief Magistracy of a nation, though he wear not a crown, nor robes of royalty.

"... though personally absent... my petitions to Heaven are that 'the things which make for peace may not be hidden from your eyes.'  ...That you may be enabled to discharge them with honor to yourself, with justice and impartiality to your country, and with satisfaction to this great people, shall be the daily prayer of you.  Abigail Adams." 4 

¹ October 16, 1774, writing to her husband John Adams form their home in Braintree.  Letters of Abigail Adams to Her Husband (Old South Leaflets, No. 6, Fourth Series, 1886), pp. 1-3.  Catherine Millard, The Rewriting of America's History (Camp Hill, PA: Horizon House Publishers, 1991), p. 85.

² June 18, 1775, in writing to her husband John Adams.  Charles Francis Adams, ed., Familiar Letters of John Adams and his wife Abigail Adams - during the Revolution, p. XXVI, pp. 3-4.  Catherine Millard, The Rewriting of America's History (Camp Hill, PA: Horizon House Publishers, 1991), p. 88.

³ L.H. Butterfield, ed., Adams Family Correspondence (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1963), Vol. I, p. 323, from Abigail Adams to Mercy Warren, circa Nov. 5, 1775.  David Barton, The Myth of Separation (Aledo, TX: WallBuilder Press, 1991), p. 95, 249.  Also Jan Payne Pierce, The Patriot Primer III (Fletcher, NC: New Puritan Library, Inc., 1987), p. 44.  Warren-Adams Letters, Vol. I, p. 72.  Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Glory of America (Bloomington, MN: Garborg's Heart 'N Home, Inc., 1991), 3.11.

4 February 8, 1797, in writing to her husband John at the occasion of his election as the 2nd President of the United States.  Charles Francis Adams, ed., Familiar Letters of John Adams and his wife Abigail Adams - during the Revolution. p. XXII.  Catherine Millard, The Rewriting of America's History (Camp Hill, PA: Horizon House Publishers, 1991), p. 86.

John Adams was George Washington's Vice President, he was the 2nd President of the United States, and he signed the Declaration of Independence.  He also influenced the American states to ratify the Constitution.

"I have examined all religions, as well as my narrow sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life, would allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best Book in the world.  It contains more philosophy than all the libraries I have seen."

(Source: John Adams.  This was written in a letter to Thomas Jefferson on December 25, 1813.  This can be found in the "Adams-Jefferson Letters.")

"The Christian religion is, above all the Religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of Wisdom, Virtue, Equity, and Humanity.  Let the Blackguard Paine say what he will; it is Resignation to God, it is Goodness itself to Man."

(Source: John Adams.  This was a response to Thomas Paine's assertions and stated in Adams' diary on July 26, 1796.)

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) was the son of John Adams (our 2nd President) and our 6th President.  He was a devout Christian.  Here is a quote from him as he was in London and negotiating the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814.

"I find in the New Testament, Jesus Christ accosted  in His own presence by one of His disciples as God, without disclaiming the appellation.  I see Him explicitly declared by at least two other of the Apostles to be God, expressly and repeatedly announced, not only as having existed before the worlds, but as the Creator of the worlds without beginning of days or end of years.  I see Him named in the great prophecy of Isaiah concerning him to be the mighty God! . . .

The texts are too numerous, they are from parts of the Scriptures too diversified, they are sometimes connected by too strong a chain of argument, and the inferences from them are, to my mind, too direct and irresistible, to admit of the explanations which the Unitarians sometimes attempt to give them, or the evasions by which, at others, they endeavor to escape from them."

Some great videos from a conservative website called NMA TV.


http://www.nmatv.com/video/1913/We-Must-Take-America-Back

http://www.nmatv.com/video/1812/We-The-People-Stimulus-Package

http://www.nmatv.com/video/1903/2A-Today-for-the-USA-Part-1

http://www.nmatv.com/video/1904/2A-Today-for-the-USA-Part-2

http://www.nmatv.com/video/1906/2A-Today-for-the-USA-Part-3

GREAT VIDEOS - THANKS BROTHER!

Sadly, I think that we aren't far from a point of no return - one where such damage is done that there isn't much left to fix. If there is to be demands from the people or removal from office, these efforts need to be escalated.

It is obvious that the RULE OF LAW and the CONSTITUTION is being trampled. If our so-called representatives get by with this without CRIMINAL charges and removal from office, they will simply slow the train down and ruin the country anyway. SO, it's my opinion that the full force of the LAW and the CONSTITUTION must be used to CLEAN HOUSE AND PUT THE TRAITORS IN PRISON!