American Minute

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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."

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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."

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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."

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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.

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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."

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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."

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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."

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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."

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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."

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"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."

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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."

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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."

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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."

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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."

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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."