America's Entanglement with Christianity

To tell the story of early America is to dive deeply into the history of early American Christianity for they are so intertwined that there is not one without the other. In so much, the framing of America’s basic governing principles were directly modeled from Christian values. As evident from key documents leading up to the Revolutionary War, like the Declaration of Independence, the Mayflower Compact, and the Virginia Statue of Religious Freedom to the abolition of slavery, Christian faith has had a marked impact on American history and its values.

The United States is a nation that has proclaimed religious freedom since its founding. Though it does not claim it’s self necessarily a Christian nation, its foundation has been built upon the Christian worldview of human nature and God’s providence. The framing of its key political documents clearly rests upon Christian notions. Those that penned the Declaration of Independence plainly expressed their unrestrained faith in God. And, while the United States does not proclaim Christianity as its exclusive religion, Christianity unmistakably played an impactful role on the establishment of the United States’ government. Excerpts from the Declaration of Independence have clear Christian undertones.

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitles them . . .”[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 . . .”[2]

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor”[3]

Religious persecution, which so many founding groups of America faced, was an essential factor motivating groups like the Puritans to settle in the New World. Groups like the Quakers, Baptists, and other religious minorities found America as the place they would finally find religious freedom.

Penned by Puritan leaders, the Mayflower Compact bound the signers into a “Civil Body Politic” for the purposes of passing “just and equal Laws…for the general good of the Colony”.[4] While it was heavily steeped in Christianity, as stated in the Compact, their new colony was established “for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith”[5], it expressed the idea of self-government for the first time in the New World. And, while the American Constitution was not as heavily Christian themed, the same biblical principle, in which people bore their rights from God and not from a ruling elite, found in the Compact is also found in the Constitution.

Early American faith and religious freedom were the single most driving impetus for American freedom. As Thomas Jefferson authored the Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom in 1786, which served as a model for the new Constitution, he began “Whereas, Almighty God hath created the mind free…”[6]Jefferson, and his fellow founders, strongly felt the mind was free, free to pursue religion of one’s own choice, freedom to own land, vote, have a say in government, and so on. It can be argued that the desire for religious freedom, backed by Christian morals, directly resulted in right to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”[7].

Deliberately formed to protect and promote religious freedom, America was the first nation committed to the diversity of its faith traditions. Uniquely American, the nation’s founders framed key political documents to protect its citizen’s inalienable rights, or it’s God given rights. Reflected in these documents is the Christian principle of dignity and value of all human beings.

But, the Constitution, while based on Christian values, was not free from imperfection. People bound by slavery were excluded from Constitutional rights that it claimed all people were given by God. Yet again, it was Christian faith that was key to the abolition of slavery. For it was Christian objectors, attracted by strong religious fundamentals, which began and formed the abolitionist movement.[8]And, it was “non-conformist” believers, or Christians not directly connected with traditional state churches (those practicing the precious religious freedom, given to them by the First Amendment), that were found on the forefront of the abolitionist movement.[9]

Undoubtedly, Christianity was the basis for which the United States government was formed. Its importance laid the groundwork for what would later become the United States Constitution. There is no question the importance of Christianity in early American history. It played a formidable role in the making of a free nation.

Bibliography:

Edwards, Jonathan, William Bell. Crafton, and Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom and the Relief of Persons Unlawfully Holden in Bondage. The injustice and impolicy of the slave-trade, and of the slavery of the Africans: illustrated in a sermon preached before the Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom, and for the Relief of Persons Unlawfully Holden in Bondage, at their annual meeting in New-Haven, September 15, 1791. Providence: Printed by John Carter, 1792. Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926 (accessed February 12, 2020). https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/apps/doc/CY0101836870/SABN?u=vic_liberty&sid=SABN&xid=b4ece589.

Ragosta, John. Virginia Statute for Establishing Religious Freedom (1786). Accessed February 12, 2020.

https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Virginia_Statute_for_Establishing_Religious_Freedom_1786#its2.

“The Abolition of the Slave Trade: Christian Conscience and Political Action by John Coffey.” Jubilee Centre, May 12, 2014. http://www.jubilee-centre.org/the-abolition-of-the-slave-trade-christian-conscience-and-political-action-by-john-coffey/.

“The Declaration of Independence.” National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed February 11, 2020. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration.

"THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT." The Journal of Education 56, no. 19 (1403) (1902): 315. Accessed February 12, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/44056027.

1. [1] “The Declaration of Independence,” National Archives and Records Administration (National Archives and Records Administration), accessed February 11, 2020, https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration). [2]Ibid. [3] Ibid. [4] “The Mayflower Compact,” Journal of Education 56, no. 19 (1902): pp. 315-315, https://doi.org/10.1177/002205740205601912). [5]Ibid. [6] John Ragosta, Virginia Statute for Establishing Religious Freedom (1786), accessed February 12, 2020, https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Virginia_Statute_for_Establishing_Religious_Freedom_1786#its2). [7] “The Declaration of Independence,” National Archives and Records Administration (National Archives and Records Administration), accessed February 11, 2020, https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration). [8] “The Abolition of the Slave Trade: Christian Conscience and Political Action by John Coffey,” Jubilee Centre, May 12, 2014, http://www.jubilee-centre.org/the-abolition-of-the-slave-trade-christian-conscience-and-political-action-by-john-coffey/). [9] Jonathan Edwards, The Injustice and Impolicy of the Slave Trade: and of the Slavery of the Africans: Illustrated in a Sermon Preached before the Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom, and for the Relief of Persons Unlawfully Holden in Bondage, at Their Annual Meeting in New-Haven, September 15, 1791 (New-Haven: Green, 1792))