Founding Issues
Life

  1. "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."
    - United States Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

  2. "[W]here is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths ... ?"
    - George Washington, United States Founding Father, "Address of George Washington, President of the United States . . . Preparatory to His Declination", (Baltimore: George and Henry S. Keatinge, 1796), p. 23.

  3. "Let us have a Government, by which our lives, liberties, and properties will be secured."
    - George Washington, United States Founding Father, "Maxims of Washington", John Frederick Schroeder, D.D., collector and arranger, 1854, p.17

  4. "The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government."
    - Thomas Jefferson, United States Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval, July 12, 1816

  5. "Indeed moral virtue is substantially and essentially enforced by the precepts of Christianity, and may be considered to be the basis of it. But in addition to moral principles, the Christian doctrines inculcate a purity of heart and holiness of life which constitutes its chief glory. When we contemplate it in this light, we have a most striking evidence of its superiority over all the systems of pagan philosophy, which were promulgated by the wisest men of ancient times."
    - Zephaniah Swift, United States Founding Father, "The Correspondent", (Windham: John Byrne, 1793), p. 119.

  6. "[O]ur said people ... be so religiously, peaceably, and civilly governed [that] their good life and orderly conversation may win and incite the natives of ... [that] country to the knowledge and obedience of the only true God and Savior of mankind, and the Christian faith, which ... is the principal end of this plantation [colony]."
    - 1629 Charter of Massachusetts, "Historical Collections: Consisting of State Papers and other Authentic Documents: Intended as Materials for an History of the United States of America", Ebenezer Hazard, editor (Philadelphia: T. Dobson, 1792), Vol. I, p. 252.

  7. "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 ( John 17.3) and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom, let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of Him (Prov. 2, 3). Every one shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein]."
    - Harvard University, 1636, rules, Benjamin Pierce, "A History of Harvard University", (Cambridge, MA: Brown, Shattuck, and Company, 1833), Appendix, p. 5.

  8. "All the scholars are required to live a religious and blameless life according to the rules of God’s Word, diligently reading the holy Scriptures, that fountain of Divine light and truth, and constantly attending all the duties of religion. ... All the scholars are obliged to attend Divine worship in the College Chapel on the Lord’s Day and on Days of Fasting and Thanksgiving appointed by public Authority."
    - Yale University, 1787, rules, "The Laws of Yale College in New Haven in Connecticut", (New Haven: Josiah Meigs, 1787), pp. 5-6, Chapter II, Article 1, 4.

  9. “Congress ... will look upon them as their own children, ... 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. Congress will do every thing they can to assist you in this wise intention."
    - George Washington, United States Founding Father, "The Writings of Washington", John C. Fitzpatrick, editor (Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1932), Vol. XV, p. 55, from his speech to the Delaware Indian Chiefs on May 12, 1779. 46. George Washington telling the Delaware Indian Chiefs what children learned in America’s schools “above all” was “the religion of Jesus Christ.”

  10. Q. What is war? A. The curse of mankind; the mother of famine and pestilence; the source of complicated miseries; and the undistinguishing destroyer of the human species. Q. How is war divided? A. Into offensive and defensive. Q. What is the general object of an offensive war? ... A. [F]or the most part, it is undertaken to gratify the ambition of a prince, who wishes to subject to his arbitrary will a people whom God created free, and to gain an uncontrolled dominion over their rights and property. ... Q. What is defensive war? A. It is to take up arms in opposition to the invasions of usurped power and bravely suffer present hardships and encounter present dangers, to secure the rights of humanity and the blessings of freedom, to generations yet unborn. Q. Is even defensive war justifiable in a religious view? A. The foundation of war is laid in the wickedness of mankind ... God has given man wit to contrive, power to execute, and freedom of will to direct his conduct. It cannot be but that some, from a depravity of will, will abuse these privileges and exert these powers to the injury of others: and the oppressed would have no safety nor redress but by exerting the same powers in their defence: and it is our duty to set a proper value upon and defend to the utmost our just rights and the blessings of life: otherwise a few miscreants [unprincipled individuals] would tyrannize over the rest of mankind, and make the passive multitude the slaves of their power. Thus it is that defensive is not only justifiable, but an indispensable duty. Q. Is it upon these principles that the people of America are resisting the arms of Great Britain, and opposing force with force? A. Strictly so. ... And may Heaven prosper their virtuous undertaking!"
    - Francis Hopkinson, United States Founding Father, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, church choir leader, musician, noted poet and literary figure, "The Miscellaneous Essays and Occasional Writings of Francis Hopkinson, Esq. (Philadelphia: T. Dobson, 1792), Vol. I, pp. 111-116. Explaining that there was no anarchy or rebellion in the American declaration of independence, “A Political Catechism”, 1777

  11. Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. ... Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances [complaints] have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned with contempt from the foot of the throne. ... An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us! They tell us, sir, that we are weak - unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be next week, or next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? ... Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty and in such a country as that which we possess are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. ... Gentlemen may cry peace, peace - but there is no peace! The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? 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!!!
    - Patrick Henry, William Wirt, "Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry", (Philadelphia: James Webster, 1818), pp. 121-123. "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speach, Virginia House of Representative, March 23, 1775.

  12. The Congress. ... desirous ... to have people of all ranks and degrees duly impressed with a solemn sense of God’s superintending providence, and of their duty devoutly to rely ... on His aid and direction ... do earnestly recommend ... a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer; that we may with united hearts confess and bewail our manifold sins and transgressions and, by a sincere repentance and amendment of life, ... and through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, obtain His pardon and forgiveness.
    - Continental Congress, "Journals of the Continental Congress", (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905), Vol. IV, pp. 208-209, May 17, 1776. Prepared March 13, 1776, by William Livingston. Congress designated May 17, 1776, as the day for its observance.

  13. 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. ... The mere politician ... ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections 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 ... ? 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 ... reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail, in exclusion of religious principle."
    - George Washington, United States Founding Father, "Address of George Washington, President of the United States and Late Commander-in-Chief of the American Army, to the People of the United States, Preparatory to His Declination.", "Farewell Address", (Baltimore: George and Henry S. Keatinge, 1796), pp. 22-23.

  14. "The Jewish judges rode the circuits, and Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life, and he went from year to year in circuit, to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. I Sam. ch. 7, ver. 15 & 16."
    - James Kent, "Memoirs and Letters of James Kent", William Kent, editor (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1898), p. 123. James Kent, one of the two "Fathers of American Jurisprudence", describing the practice of the original United States Supreme Court as traveling to different regions in the country and noting that this had presidence in the Bible.

  15. "I believe in one God ... and I hope for happiness beyond this life."
    - Thomas Paine, "The Age of Reason", (Philadelphia: The Booksellers, 1794), p. 8.

  16. "And as my children will have frequent occasion of perusing this instrument and may probably be particularly impressed with the last words of their father, I think it proper here not only to subscribe to the entire belief of the great and leading doctrines of the Christian religion, such as the being of God, the universal defection and depravity of human nature, the divinity of the person and the completeness of the redemption purchased by the blessed Saviour, the necessity of the operations of the Divine Spirit; of Divine faith accompanied with an habitual virtuous life, and the universality of the Divine Providence: but also, in the bowels of a father’s affection, to exhort and charge them that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, that the way of life held up in the Christian system is calculated for the most complete happiness that can be enjoyed in this mortal state."
    - Richard Stockton, United States Founding Father, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, "Last Will and Testament"

  17. "My hopes of a future life are all founded upon the Gospel of Christ and I cannot cavil or quibble away [evade or object to]. ... the whole tenor of His conduct by which He sometimes positively asserted and at others countenances [permits] His disciples in asserting that He was God."
    - John Quincy Adams, United States Founding Father, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, "The Selected Writings of John and John Quincy Adams", Adrienne Koch and William Peden, editors (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1946), p. 292, John Quincy Adams to John Adams, January 3, 1817.

  18. "And as my children will have frequent occasion of perusing this instrument and may probably be particularly impressed with the last words of their father, I think it proper here not only to subscribe to the entire belief of the great and leading doctrines of the Christian religion, such as the being of God, the universal defection and depravity of human nature, the divinity of the person and the completeness of the redemption purchased by the blessed Saviour, the necessity of the operations of the Divine Spirit; of Divine faith accompanied with an habitual virtuous life, and the universality of the Divine Providence: but also, in the bowels of a father’s affection, to exhort and charge them that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, that the way of life held up in the Christian system is calculated for the most complete happiness that can be enjoyed in this mortal state."
    - Richard Stockton, United States Founding Father, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, "Last Will and Testament"

  19. "I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance equal in power and glory. That the scriptures of the old and new testaments are a revelation from God and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him. ... I believe that the souls of believers are at their death made perfectly holy and immediately taken to glory: that at the end of this world there will be a resurrection of the dead and a final judgment of all mankind when the righteous shall be publicly acquitted by Christ the Judge and admitted to everlasting life and glory, and the wicked be sentenced to everlasting punishment."
    - Roger Sherman, United States Founding Father, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Signer of the Constitution, Lewis Henry Boutell, "The Life of Roger Sherman", (Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, 1896), pp. 272-273.

  20. [N]othing is more certain than that the forms of liberty may be retained when the substance is gone. In government, as well as in religion, “the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” 2 Cor. 3:6"
    - John Dickinson, United States Founding Father, Signer of the Constitution, "The Political Writings of John Dickinson", (Wilmington: Bonsal and Niles, 1801), Vol. I, p. 199.

  21. "[T]he 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. Without religion, I believe that learning does real mischief to the morals and principles of mankind."
    - Benjamin Rush, United States Founding Father, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, "Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical", (Philadelphia: Thomas and Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), p. 8, “On the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic.”, "Letters of Benjamin Rush", L. H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton, New Jersey: American Philosophical Society, 1951), Vol. I, p. 294, to John Armstrong on March 19, 1783; James Henry Morgan, "Dickinson College: The History of One Hundred and Fifty Years 1783-1933", (Carlisle, PA: Dickinson College, 1933), p. 11.

  22. "The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effectual means of extirpating [extinguishing] Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools. [T]he Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life. ... [It] should be read in our schools in preference to all other books from its containing the greatest portion of that kind of knowledge which is calculated to produce private and public temporal happiness."
    - Benjamin Rush, United States Founding Father, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, "Letters of Benjamin Rush", L. H. Butterfield, editor (Princeton, New Jersey: American Philosophical Society, 1951), Vol. 1, p. 521, to Jeremy Belknap on July 13, 1789. "Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical", (Philadelphia: Thomas and Samuel F. Bradford, 1798), pp. 94, 100, "A Defence of the Use of the Bible as a School Book."

  23. "The reflection and experience of many years have led me to consider the holy writings not only as the most authentic and instructive in themselves, but as the clue to all other history. They tell us what man is, and they alone tell us why he is what he is: a contradictory creature that seeing and approving of what is good, pursues and performs what is evil. All of private and of public life is there displayed. ... From the same pure fountain of wisdom we learn that vice destroys freedom; that arbitrary power is founded on public immorality."
    - Gouverneir Morris, United States Founding Father, Signer and Penman of the Constitution, "Collections of the New York Historical Society for the Year 1821", (New York: E. Bliss and E. White, 1821), p. 30, from “An Inaugural Discourse Delivered Before the New York Historical Society by the Honorable Gouverneur Morris on September 4, 1816.”

  24. "The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts."
    - John Jay, United States Founding Father, Original Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, co-author of the "Federalist Papers", "John Jay: The Winning of the Peace. Unpublished Papers 1780-1784", Richard B. Morris, editor (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1980), Vol. II, p. 709, to Peter Augustus Jay on April 8, 1784.

  25. "The great pillars of all government and of social life ... [are] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone, that renders us invincible."
    - Patrick Henry, United States Founding Father, Moses Coit Tyler, "Patrick Henry" (New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1897), p. 409, to Archibald Blair on January 8, 1799.

  26. "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth"
    - Thomas Jefferson, The title of the book he wrote which today many call "The Jefferson Bible"

  27. "[T]his rule of trying every principle ... by its fruits. ... is certain and infallible. ... There seems, indeed, to be an exact analogy between this rule in religious matters, and reason in our common and civil concerns. Reason is the best guide and director of human life."
    - John Witherspoon, United States Founding Fahter, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, "The Works of John Witherspoon", (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. V, p. 314, “The Trial of Religious Truth by Its Moral Influence,” October 9, 1759.

  28. "He [King George III] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. ... Determined to keep open a market where men should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce [slave trade]."
    - Thomas Jefferson, "The Writings of Thomas Jefferson", Albert Ellery Bergh, editor (Washington, D. C.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Assoc., 1903), Vol. I, p. 34.

  29. Slavery, or an absolute and unlimited power in the master over the life and fortune of the slave, is unauthorized by the common law. ... The reasons which we sometimes see assigned for the origin and the continuance of slavery appear, when examined to the bottom, to be built upon a false foundation. In the enjoyment of their persons and of their property, the common law protects all.
    - James Wilson, United States Founding Father, Signer of the Constitution, US Supreme Court Justice, "The Works of the Honorable James Wilson", Bird Wilson, editor (Philadelphia: Lorenzo Press, 1804), Vol. II, p. 488, lecture on “The Natural Rights of Individuals.”

  30. "Indeed moral virtue is substantially and essentially enforced by the precepts of Christianity and may be considered to be the basis of it. But in addition to moral principles, the Christian doctrines inculcate a purity of heart and holiness of life which constitutes its chief glory. When we contemplate it in this light, we have a most striking evidence of its superiority over all the systems of pagan philosophy which were promulgated by the wisest men of ancient times."
    - Zephaniah Swift, "The Correspondent", (Windham: Printed by John Byrne, 1793), p. 119.

  31. "We regard it [public instruction] as a wise and liberal system of police by which property, and life, and the peace of society are secured. We seek to prevent in some measure the extension of the penal code by inspiring a salutary and conservative principle of virtue and of knowledge in an early age. ...[W]e seek ... to turn the strong current of feeling and opinion, as well as the censures of the law and the denunciations of religion, against immorality and crime."
    - Daniel Webster, "The Works of Daniel Webster", (Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1853), Vol. I, pp. 41-42, from a speech at Plymouth on December 22, 1820.

  32. "The Supreme Governor of the World rewards or punishes nations and civil communities only in this life. ... Political bodies are but the creatures of time. They have no existence as such but in the present state; consequently, are incapable of punishments or rewards in a future. We can conceive no way in which the divine Being shall therefore manifest the purity of his nature ... towards such societies but by rewarding or punishing them here, according to their public conduct."
    - Chandler Robbins, "A Sermon Preached Before His Excellency John Hancock, Esq Governour; His Honor Samuel Adams, Esq. Lieutenant Governour; the Honourable the Council, and the Honourable the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, May 25, 1791, Being the Day of General Election", (Boston: Thomas Adams, 1791), p. 32.

  33. "[D]emocracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy, such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man’s life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure, and every one of these will soon mould itself into a system of subordination of all the moral virtues and intellectual abilities, all the powers of wealth, beauty, wit, and science, to the wanton pleasures, the capricious will, and the execrable [abominable] cruelty of one or a very few."
    - John Adams, "The Papers of John Adams", Robert J. Taylor, editor (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1977), Vol. I, p. 83, from “An Essay on Man’s Lust for Power, with the Author’s Comment in 1807,” written on August 29, 1763, but first published by John Adams in 1807.

  34. "He who is void of virtuous attachments in private life is, or very soon will be, void of all regard of his country. There is seldom an instance of a man guilty of betraying his country who had not before lost the feeling of moral obligations in his private connections. ... [P]rivate and public vices are in reality ... connected. ... Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all persons employed in places of power and trust be men of unexceptionable characters. The public cannot be too curious concerning the characters of public men."
    - Samuel Adams, United States Founding Father, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, "Father of the American Revolution", Governor of Massachusetts, "The Writings of Samuel Adams", Harry Alonzo Cushing, editor (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907) Vol. III, pp. 236-237, to James Warren on November 4, 1775.

  35. "Those who wish well to the State ought to choose to places of trust men of inward principle, justified by exemplary conversation. Is it reasonable to expect wisdom from the ignorant, fidelity [faithfulness] from the profligate [unfaithful], assiduity [diligence] and application to public business from men of a dissipated [careless] life? Is it reasonable to commit the management of public revenue to one who hath wasted his own patrimony [inheritance]? Those, therefore, who pay no regard to religion and sobriety in the persons whom they send to the legislature of any State are guilty of the greatest absurdity and will soon pay dear for their folly."
    - John Witherspoon,United States Founding Father, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, "The Works of John Witherspoon", (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. IV, pp. 266-267, from “A Sermon Delivered at a Public Thanksgiving after Peace.”

  36. Shall we establish nothing good because we know it cannot be eternal? Shall we live without government because every constitution has its old age and its period? Because we know that we shall die, shall we take no pains to preserve or lengthen our life? Far from it, Sir: it only requires the more watchful attention to settle government upon the best principles and in the wisest manner [so] that it may last as long as the nature of things will admit."
    - john Witherspoon, "The Works of John Witherspoon", (Edinburgh: J. Ogle, 1815), Vol. IX, p. 129, from his “Speech in Congress upon the Confederation.”

  37. "The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted."
    - United States Consititution, Article III, Section III

  38. "No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation."
    - United States Constitution, Amendment V,

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